Industry News
Youth athlete Lily Kunstadt suffered devastating injuries in a freak accident during summer training with the Club de Ski Mont Tremblant skier in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, on August 31. The Canadian U14 athlete was hit by a malfunctioning T-bar going down the mountain as Kunstadt was going uphill on the T-bar. The downhill T-bar lifted Kunstadt up and catapulted her into the air. When she hit the ground, she broke her back in two places, fractured ribs, and sustained second-degree burns to her face. The accident has left her paralyzed from the waist down.
Kunstadt was airlifted to Lausanne Hospital, where she underwent a seven-hour surgery to repair four broken vertebrae. After several weeks in hospital in Switzerland, the 13-year-old ski racer was repatriated back to Canada. She is now in the Rehabilitation Ward of the Ottawa Hospital, where she is learning to use a wheelchair. According to the update on the GoFundMe page, she will later transfer to a specialist pediatric rehab facility in Toronto for up to 4-6 months.
Meanwhile, Lily Kunstadt was awarded the ‘Quebec U14 Athlete of the Year’ award at the Audi Summit Meeting by Ski Quebec Alpin for the 2023-24 season. She was awarded the U14 Athlete of the Year for her incredible performances and great work ethic during the 2023-24 season. The ‘International Athlete of the Year 2023-24’ award went to World Cup ski racer Valérie Grenier.
Lily Kunstadt was also awarded the Rising Start at the Chelsea, Quebec, Hall of Fame. The young athlete is hoping that she can attend the Hall of Fame Celebration in person at the end of October. She is further hoping to be able to participate in Research and Clinical Trials for Youth with Spinal Cord Injuries. These would most likely take place in Australia, Sweden, Norway, or the United States.
Lily Kunstadt’s parents, Eric and Shannon, run the Kunstadt Sport ski and bike store in Kanata near Ottawa, Ontario. To help Lily’s family with the financial burden of the long recovery ahead, a GoFundMe campaign was started by Marie-Hélène McKinlay, President of the Club de Ski Mont Tremblant. So far, the campaign has raised around CAD 388,000 (USD 281,000).
