Skier without Ski Helmet Dies in Austria on Vacation
A British mother of three died in a skiing accident on a half-term holiday with her family in the Austrian Alps.
Tracy Boland, 46, suffered fatal injuries when she collided with a 26-year-old Dutch woman on the Kitzsteinhorn mountain in Kaprun, Austria.
Her husband, Paul, was skiing with her when the accident happened just after midday on Tuesday. Their children were at a nearby ski school.
A doctor was on the same ski slope and arrived within minutes but could not revive Mrs Boland. She was declared dead on the mountain. The other skier was also injured but is due to be discharged from hospital. Neither woman was wearing a helmet, police said.
A police spokesman said: “The accident is a mystery. There are no witnesses and we do not think that the two skiers were skiing very fast. They were in a relatively easy ski area and the conditions were good.
“It was a very fine day with a clear sky and there was no snowfall. There were not many people on the slopes. This slope is very broad and is not for advanced skiers, just beginners.
“The British lady was skiing behind her husband. He did not see what happened. He heard the crash and he looked back and his wife was on the ground. The Dutch lady has not been able to explain what happened. She has spinal injuries but they are not severe. She is being released tomorrow and we will interview her then.”
In Austria skiers are advised to wear helmets but they are compulsory only for children.
Mrs Boland, described as an experienced skier, is understood to have flown to Austria last Saturday for a week-long break with her husband and their three children, Charlotte, Patrick and Philip, aged from 8 to 12. It is believed that another British family accompanied them.
A post-mortem examination carried out yesterday showed that she had suffered a severed aorta.
Mr Boland and the children were preparing to return to their four-bedroomed detached home in Marlow, Buckinghamshire today. Pat Payne, who lives next door, said: “They are just a really lovely couple and she was a lovely caring person.”
The Foreign Office said that it had received no formal request for consular assistance for the family.
The Kaprun resort is where 155 people died when fire swept through a funicular railway ski lift in 2000.
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This unfortunate women suffered a “severed aorta” according to her post-mortem mentioned in this article. It’s a reasonable assumption that this is what caused her death.
The aorta is the largest artery in the human body and extends from the heart down to the abdomen:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aorta
What has this got to do with her not wearing a Ski Helmet? The Aorta is nowhere near her head.
Why is this article titled: “Skier with Ski Helmet Dies in Austria….”?
Why is it not titled: “Skier without full Military Kevlar Body Armor Dies in Austria…”?
Or “Skier without bunch of bananas on her head Dies in Austria…”?
I think wearing a ski helmet is a sensible choice. But articles like this just make this site look stupid.
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