Ski racer turns personal challenge into fight for safety of others.

By Judy Monchuk
Photo by Paul Zizka

Public perception of brain injuries to athletes has changed dramatically in the decade since former Crazy Canuck skier Dave Irwin’s most devastating wipeout left him near death.

“Right now there’s a lot of important issues in the media about head injuries,” says Irwin, 57, a two-time Olympian and World Cup champion. “People are interested. But when I look back 10 or 20 years ago, it’s disgusting that there was no understanding at all. It’s black and white.”

Today, sport-related concussions are big news. Hockey superstar Sidney Crosby has been out of the game since January after suffering blows to the head. Headlines regularly trumpet struggles faced by former athletes who suffered head trauma during their playing days. Gone is the belief that an athlete should just “shake it off” after a head-first collision or getting their bell rung. 

Irwin was the wildest of the Canadian ski racers who captivated the sporting world in the late 1970s and early 1980s as they attacked the iciest mountains with abandon and racked up a string of World Cup victories. But it was on a practice run for a slow-speed ski-cross race that Irwin suffered a near-fatal accident on March 23, 2001. After misjudging a bump, he smashed his knee into his forehead.
Despite wearing a helmet, his entire brain was bruised and contused. He was on life support for two weeks. His painstaking recovery has been described as miraculous, largely aided by the help of his partner Lynne Harrison. But that doesn’t mean it’s been complete. He has major memory gaps and the tell-tale bluntness of many who have suffered neurological trauma.

“I can talk to people for 15 minutes and they won’t know I’m brain injured,” he says. “I find that quite outstanding. Quite a success.”

Irwin’s experience led to the creation of the Dave Irwin Foundation For Brain Injury, which has raised more than $350,000 since 2002 through their Dash for Cash races at Sunshine Village each February. Part of that has gone towards advocacy work and research, including a study of Ontario junior hockey players that found one-in-four players on the two teams studied suffered a concussion during the 2009-2010 season. The foundation stresses the importance of wearing ski helmets before hitting the slopes, a message the public heeds far more than in the past.

At public speaking engagements, Irwin tells his story and puts a personal face on the struggles faced by those who have suffered brain injury. Yet he’s surprised by a suggestion that his current actions could be considered inspirational.

“It was a simple inspiration before, when I was a ski racer,” he says. “It’s harder for me to understand what the inspiration is right now.”

September/October 2011