Methow Valley native Casey Smith, a member of the U.S. Biathlon Team, is back home near Winthrop recuperating from multiple injuries suffered in a skiing accident at the International Biathlon Cup races in Canmore, Alberta.
In a blog posting last Friday (March 13), Smith said that “after 11 days I was released from the hospital but spent another three days with a family in Calgary before I was allowed to travel home to Washington. Now I am just resting and trying to recover as much as I can at home, but this is still going to be a very slow process. For example, this morning my big outing was walking around the driveway for about 10 minutes, which was pretty much exhausting.”
Smith said in the blog post that he is grateful for the concern expressed about his accident and recovery.
“So many people have been very helpful with their thoughts, prayers and visits. Having a huge support group has been very nice, thank you to anyone who has helped and continues to help,” he said.
In the blog post, Smith said he was on a practice run before the race and lost traction while coming around a turn. He crashed into a tree and was temporarily knocked unconscious.
“Finally the event volunteer medical staff arrived with my mom [Betsy] who was at the event as one of the coaches. I was very glad she was there because she has been an EMT for many years and knew the right things to do.”
Smith was transported to a hospital in Calgary. “It was determined that I broke almost all of the ribs on my left side, my left shoulder blade in multiple places, part of my back – not the spine, but there are some little bones off the side of the spine which I broke most of, and I punctured my left lung. Luckily because of how the breaks were, none of my bones were displaced and I did not have to have any surgery,” Smith said in the blog post.
Cards and notes can be sent to Smith at 19191 Highway 20, Winthrop, WA 98862.
