Freestyle motocross racer Jeremy Lusk dies

[garybeck]

Source: Yahoo News

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP)—Jeremy Lusk, an American freestyle motocross racer, died of head injuries Tuesday after crashing while trying to land a backflip in competition. He was 24.

Jorge Ramirez, chief of the intensive care unit at Calderon Hospital where Lusk was taken, said the motocross racer suffered severe brain damage and a possible spinal cord injury.

Lusk won a gold medal at the 2008 X Games. He was injured Saturday night when he failed to complete a full rotation while attempting a Hart Attack backflip and slammed headfirst into the dirt. Lusk crashed in almost identical fashion in the freestyle semifinals at the 2007 X Games but was not hurt.

Ramirez said Lusk died with his parents and his wife, Lauren, at his side.

“He was in a medicine-induced coma as a protective measure, and the medicine was being reduced to see how his organism responded,” he said. “That didn’t mean he was going to wake up. He was in shock and that got worse last night, until he stopped responding and entered into cardiac and respiratory failure.”


Read more: http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ap-obit-lusk&prov=ap&type=lgns

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The video is on Youtube but I won't encourge watching it by posting the link.

[Blue_In_AK]

1. Hazards of the profession, I guess,

but still very sad.

[Hoopla Phil]

6. Yep, on both.

[indepat]

2. Such a senseless waste

:cry:

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

24. No more senseless than the kids that die at football practice.

No more than the cheerleaders that die in car accidents after football games.

David

[AndyA]

3. Sometimes the price paid for entertainment and sports is too high.

I don't understand the attraction of this type of sport, but I guess he understood the risks involved. Sending good thoughts to his wife and family.

[garybeck]

8. and what message does this sport send to our kids? n/t

[CRF450]

20. Its purely for entertainment.

Kids can be safe on a dirtbike if taught properly by a parent or instructor. Most of these guys started riding dirtbikes as young 5 years old. Accidents can happen in any sport and cause injury.

Besides, most of the high risk stunts these guys attempt are practiced in a huge foam pit which keeps them from being hurt no matter how they land. If they're confident enough with the stunt then they move on to actually landing it on the dirt, hopefully without getting injured.

[Bigmack]

4. Buy your son a motorcycle...

.. for his last birthday.

[roguevalley]

11. my sister lost half her leg and nearly her life on a motorcycle crash.

people who do this type of sport don't view fear like the rest of us. they don't feel it the same way. RIP, kid. what a waste. very sad for all of his family. :(

[shadowknows69]

5. Very tragic

"He died doing what he loved"

Thought I'd make that obligatory quote if no one else has yet.

[Robb]

7. The sport is going higher and higher

The penalty for error in these events is rapidly approaching 100% fatal.

Very sad. IIRC he was a talented racer before he got into the X-games stuff. :(

[PassingFair]

9. Why HIM, God. Why him?

Live fast, die young.

Participating in a sport like this
invites fatal injury.

Sad anyway...

:cry:

[Wilber_Stool]

10. And he walked away from it.

It didn't look that bad.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

12. You may have viewed the 2007 crash he walked away from. He was out like a light.

R.I.P.

[qanda]

13. I saw the video and it looked like the medical staff did all the wrong things

Looked like they were more interested in moving him fast than saving his life. Very sad.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

25. Whatever they did it didn't kill him, he died of head trauma.

[Wilber_Stool]

23. Oops

you're right. I just googled it and hit the first YouTube link.

[frylock]

14. a buddy of mine here at work knows jeremy's mil..

came over to my cube to break the news. i made the mistake of watching the vid. he was incredibly good at what he did.

[cosmicone]

15. Hope he was an organ donor

at least something good would come out of the senseless and tragic death.

[jmowreader]

16. I hate to break this up, but...

YouTube contains quite a few videos of Jeremy Lusk crashing while attempting to do that stunt, and only one of his fatal crash.

[liberal renegade]

17. It' a wonder it doesn't happen more often.

[CRF450]

19. Because the riders involved in the sport or professionals.

Crashes, broken bones and such happens all the time, but fatalities rarely happen in a sanctioned event such as motocross. Most deaths on a dirtbike or 4 wheeler involves regular people doing stupid stuff.

[liberal renegade]

22. what he was doing wasn't motocross racing

It was EXTREME sports. He rolled the dice and lost

[CRF450]

18. I am one of those involved in the motocross sport.

Not freestyle like this man, I dont have the balls big enough to do that stuff. Its just normal trail riding and a little bit of motocross track riding once in a while. Honestly, I get bang up more playing a little bit of football than riding on a motocross track with 50 foot jumps for 20 minutes at a time. All professional sports has its dangers, please dont make this one out as "just of those" sports that can kill you. Sanctioned events like this rarely have fatal accidents. Most of the dirtbike/4 wheeler accidents you'll hear of are kids riding on the streat doing stupid shit or attemptiing a stunt that dont have the experience or training to pull off.

RIP Lusk, you will be missed.

[truthisfreedom]

21. If you have to die young, it's best to have it happen while you're doing something you love.

As tragic as it is for his family and loved ones, the fatal accident occurred without harming anyone else directly and it was relatively quick and painless. I'd say he did a pretty good job of attempting perfection. I made a clean getaway from powered 2-wheel devices a few years ago after watching several friends have life-shattering accidents on bikes and scooters, mostly because of other people's carelessness. They weren't attempting the near-impossible. They were just driving from one place to another.

I don't want to die or be seriously injured anytime soon, but I don't think Jeremy worried about it too much. RIP Jeremy. You made the impossible seem within reach.

[Skittles]

26. I think people like him are nuts

but I also think life would be very boring indeed without people like him. My sympathy to his family and friends.

[MrSlayer]

27. This kid was great at what he did.

Unfortunately this is the worst hazard of the sport. R.I.P. Jeremy. Balls the size of watermelons.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM-P27lxBEg