PARK CITY, Utah — Mickey McPartland was skiing down an intermediate trail with his son Dax on Wednesday at Park City Mountain.
“He was behind me," said Mickey. "He caught an edge, and I saw a ski fly off. I stopped, pulled over — I can't find him.”
Mickey found his son in the trees on the side of the trail.
“He smashed his head into a tree and fell down into a tree well, or tree hole, and was buried in the snow, face-down, unconscious," he said.
In the moment, Mickey was scared for Dax’s life.
“His helmet is crushed," he said. "I'm just panic-stricken, like, 'Oh my god.'”
The 19-year-old was rushed to the University of Utah Hospital, where doctors found bleeding in his brain, fractured vertebrae and broken ribs.
This happened just over a week after a man who was considered an "expert" skier died in an accident while skiing through some trees at Solitude Mountain Resort.
Dr. Wing Province, an emergency physician and medical director at Park City Hospital, sees a lot of head injuries during the ski season.
"Wearing a helmet is the number one way you can prevent those," he said. "A lot of times folks say, 'Well, I got a concussion even though I was wearing a helmet,' but oftentimes those concussions could have been brain bleeds or skull fractures, and the helmet protected the brain from that and left them with just a concussion, as opposed to something more traumatic.”
There’s no question that the helmet saved Dax’s life, Mickey said.
“It’s in pieces," he said. "If he hadn’t had that helmet, even the surgeon said, he probably wouldn't be here.”
The McPartlands are hoping Dax will be able to leave the hospital on Saturday so he can be home for the holidays.
