Published on February 24, 2014 | by Jonathan Albanese Photography by Courtesy of Richard Long
2The Richard Long Story
Richard Long was fast, he was agile, and he had the aspirations to become the next great Canadian Olympic skier, when tragedy struck. He was 15 at the time.
On Nov. 12, 2007, Long was doing a giant slalom training run on Aprapahoe Basin, Colorado, when he fell and went head first into a tree.
“I was skiing down and on one turn my boot kicked, and I tried to stop [because] I was sliding,” said Long.
Long sustained three skull fractures, an injury to his left temporal lobe, broken bones, a ruptured spleen, and a stroke.
Long’s father and ski coach Brammer Long, was skiing approximately 30km away at Copper Mountain, when he had heard what happened to his son.
“When I got the initial phone call I thought there was fairly a high certainty of death. I didn’t know for the first two weeks if he was going to live because he was on life support and circuital condition,” said Brammer Long.
Upon awaking from a two week coma, Long’s ability to communicate and walk was damaged due to the severity of his brain injury, which he is still affected by today.
“I have words that I want to say but I can’t because it’s stuck in my mouth. It’s the stroke that is frustrating. I try to explain things but my mouth won’t allow me. It’s frustrating,” said 21-year-old Long.
Brammer Long credits his son’s determination and strength as key components in saving his life, and allowing himself to comeback from such a horrific injury.
“His physical size [and] strength at the time of the accident saved his life. We were told by the doctors and ski patrols that because of his strength and conditioning, that is what physically saved his life initially. And then what enabled him in his recovery [was] his determination and motivation to get better.”
After months of rehabilitation and physical training, Long was cleared by a doctor to ski competitively, but his comeback fell short.
“I wanted to come back and race after my accident. [Luckily] one of my doctors signed my waiver allowing me to race [again].”
“I tried to come back, but I had that fear I couldn’t do it.”
Although Long will never ski competitively ever again, his injuries have not stopped him from doing what he loves.
Long is now back on skis and is coaching 10-year-olds, with the hope of one day being an Olympic Ski Coach for Canada.
“I want to help them as best as I can. I want to get them skiing as best as they can, and get them doing what I was doing.”
About the Author
Jonathan Albanese is a third year Media Studies student at the University of Guelph Humber. Last year Jonathan was a co-host on GuHu Radio's hit show "TGIFF, Mike and John in the Morning", and was an intern at Sportsnet 590 The Fan. Jonathan is now a writer and editor for Radix. Follow him on twitter at @John_Alba.
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