Snowboarding star Mark McMorris airlifted to Vancouver General Hospital

    1 of 1 2 of 1

      One of Canada's best known snowboarders was operated on twice this weekend after a serious accident on a backcountry trip near Whistler.

      Mark McMorris was airlifted to Vancouver General Hospital, where he first went into surgery on Saturday (March 25) to control bleeding from his spleen.

      Last night, more surgery was performed to repair a broken jaw and a fractured left arm.

      Canada Snowboard physician Dr. Rodney French said in a news release that he also suffered a stable pelvic fracture, rib fractures, and a collapsed left lung.

      “While both the mandible and humerus fractures were complicated injuries, the surgeries went very well and both fractures are now stabilized to heal in excellent position," French said. "It is too early to speculate on a timeline for Mark's recovery."

      McMorris, a 23-year-old Olympic bronze medallist, won three X Games medals this year and was the Overall FIS world champion in 2016-17.

      The executive director of Canada Snowboard, Patrick Jarvis, remains optimistic that McMorris "will be prepared for the rehabilitation required to make a comeback to competition" in advance of the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. 
        
      "We fully support Mark and he is already under the incredible care of the staff of the Vancouver General Hospital.” Jarvis said. "Mark has shown incredible resilience and commitment to recovering from injury and we know that PyeongChang 2018 will be a strong motivation for his comeback."

      McMorris is the son of Saskatchewan MLA and former deputy premier Don McMorris.

      Prior to his accident, McMorris put out some tweets about snowboarding in B.C. You can see them below.

      Comments