PARK CITY, Utah, March 5, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — A Park City Mountain Resort ski instructor is still in a coma after suffering life-threatening injuries in a snowboarding accident last Saturday morning in Park City.
Orem resident Casey Fehlberg, 30, was snowboarding with some friends when, according to his brother, Marc Fehlberg, he was attempting a trick and caught the edge of the jump. He was thrown through the air off-balance, landing face-first.
Emergency and rescue crews responded quickly, and Casey Fehlberg was taken by medical helicopter to the University of Utah Medical Center
Marc Fehlberg said his brother was wearing a helmet, but because of the way he landed, the helmet didn’t provide as much protection as it would have had he landed almost any other way. He was knocked unconscious on impact.
Casey remains in a medically-induced coma while his care team continues to work to manage the swelling in his head, Mark Fehlberg told Gephardt Daily.
“The top priority right now is to prevent any further brain damage,” he added. “As soon as the swelling subsides and he is a bit more stable, they will focus more on diagnosing the extent of any brain damage that has already occurred and what they think the longer term prognosis is.”
In an online update posted 9 a.m. March 5, Fehlberg said the fluid in his brother’s brain continues to spike, and doctors are unable to reduce the medication that is keeping him in the coma until he stabilizes.
Casey Fehlberg is a part-time ski instructor at the Park City Mountain Resort and had just transferred to the University of Utah to pursue a degree in law. While attending BYU, he was the school’s mascot, “Cosmo.”
The family has set up the GoFundMe to help offset Fehlberg’s medical cost because he did not have health insurance. As of Saturday morning the account had raised nearly $50,000.
