Snowmobiler Caleb Moore Dies After X Games Crash
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AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post(NEW YORK) — Texas snowmobiler Caleb Moore died Thursday after succumbing to injuries he sustained last week at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo., when his snowmobile flipped on top of him in a violent crash during competition.
“This morning Caleb Moore passed away,” the Moore family said in a statement through family spokeswoman Chelsea Lawson. “He will be truly missed and never forgotten.
“The family wishes to express their deep gratitude for all the prayers and support they have received from all the fans, friends and family around the world that Caleb has inspired.”
This is the first death as a result of a competitor’s sustaining injuries during competition in the 17-year reign of the X Games.
Another recent X Games competitor to succumb to serious injuries was Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke. The 29-year-old died on Jan. 19, 2011, nine days after sustaining a traumatic brain injury in an accident on a half-pipe course during a training run in Utah.
Moore, a 25-year-old medal-winning athlete from Krum, Texas, had been in critical condition after developing complications in his heart and brain after an accident last Thursday night during the Snowmobile Freestyle finals. Moore was completing a back-flip when he came up short and the skis on his sled hit the landing, causing the 450-pound machine to flip end-over-end.
Moore went over the handlebars of the snowmobile and it came crashing down on top of him. He tumbled down the slope for several feet before coming to a stop at the bottom, where he lay on the ground for a few minutes.
Moore eventually got up and walked off the course with help, but he was rushed to Aspen Valley Hospital with a concussion, according to an X Games Medical report. While there, doctors discovered bleeding around Moore’s heart and he was flown to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo.
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