Crash
It has been a decade since Kevin Pearce had a near-death experience which ended his bid for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. On New Year’s Eve, 2009 Pearce was training at Park City Mountain Resort in Utah when he fell in the superpipe and sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI).
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At the time, Pearce was the favorite to win the halfpipe gold at the 2010 Vancouver games. He beat his largest rival Shaun White in multiple competitions leading up to the Games. However, he never made it to the Olympics due to his life-changing crash. Pearce was unconscious for 32 days and was “unrecognizable with all the tubes coming out of him”, according to his brother Adam.
Kevin’s journey to recovery is documented in the emotional roller coaster The Crash Reel, released in 2013. Since then Pearce has started the organization LoveYourBrain, which aims to help those recovering from any type of brain injury.
“LoveYourBrain is a non-profit organization that improves the quality of life of people affected by TBI (including concussion). We are the leading organization providing holistic support to the TBI community.” — Kevin Pearce
Kevin was just 22 years old when he crashed, ending his Olympic dreams. Pearce now 32, reminds people that if he had not been wearing a helmet on December 31st, 2009 he would not be here today to help others.
