Father makes emotional appeal after son's brain punctured by skier
Unidentified man thrust his ski pole at teen's head, leaving him seriously injured
The father of a 13-year-old North Vancouver skier who suffered a serious brain injury on Grouse Mountain made an emotional appeal on Wednesday for the person responsible to come forward.
David Keir says on the evening of March 30 his son Max and an unidentified man in a yellow ski jacket swerved to avoid each other while skiing down a run called The Cut. He says the man thrust a ski pole at the boy's head with sufficient force to puncture his brain.
"The CT scan revealed a bullet-size hole above the temporal bone," said Keir.
"It went through his skin, through the bone, through the brain membrane and into the right temporal lobe."
Keir was speaking at a news conference organized by the North Vancouver RCMP who say they have exhausted all their leads.
"We don't know if it was intentional or accidental," said Sgt. Peter DeVries. "We need new information to progress the investigation."
Keir says Max was initially treated by ski patrol and then received stitches in an emergency room for the deep laceration.
But later that same evening he became dazed, confused and started vomiting. He was rushed back to hospital where he underwent emergency brain surgery.
"There were bone fragments and a pool of blood in his brain," said Keir. "When doctors showed me that image, you freak out as a parent."
<a href="https://twitter.com/nvanrcmp?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nvanrcmp</a> are asking for public assistance in finding witnesses to an incident on <a href="https://twitter.com/grousemountain?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@grousemountain</a> on March 30: <a href="https://t.co/iKz77mhlR0">https://t.co/iKz77mhlR0</a>. Did you see it happen? Have video? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/skiing?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#skiing</a> <a href="https://t.co/arWYeoxfr5">pic.twitter.com/arWYeoxfr5</a>
—@nvanrcmpEight weeks later, Keir says his son is slowly recovering and just beginning to return to school for an hour a day.
He contends the incident was not accidental because Max reported that the man threw his ski pole at him.
"Someone is out there with big time anger issues," said Keir. "Maybe that person will do the right thing and come forward or, at the very least, get some help."
North Vancouver RCMP are still appealing for witnesses. They're especially interested in speaking with an unidentified woman who helped Max with his wound at the bottom of the ski run.
Anyone with information or video is asked to contact Const. Yushi Ebisawa with North Vancouver RCMP at 604-969-7345, or by email at yushi.ebisawa@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.
At the time, Max was wearing a white Adidas brand hooded sweatshirt, a dark blue tuque and tan-coloured ski pants.
