WINNIPEG – A 13-year-old girl died Monday after she was severely injured in a skiing accident last week at Holiday Mountain ski resort in south-central Manitoba.
Kelsey Brewster, a Grade 8 student at Thomas Greenway Middle School in Crystal City, died on Monday.
The beginning skier, who was on a school trip, had finished her lessons and was skiing with friends on March 5 when she ended up on a difficult ski run, lost control and hit a fence, Holiday Mountain general manager Bernice Later said.
She was taken off the hill on a toboggan by the hill’s medic and loaded directly into a ground ambulance, which was at the hill extremely quickly, Later said. The ambulance took her to Boundary Trails Health Centre in Winkler and from there, STARS air ambulance took her to Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg.
“We’re all devastated by it,” Later said. “We’ve never had a fatality in our 55-year history.”
Brewster was wearing a helmet when she crashed and all of Holiday Mountain’s helmets were replaced last year, Later said.
Staff at Holiday Mountain know the girl, Later added.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.”
Superintendent Keith Murray of the Prairie Spirit School Division, which oversees Thomas Greenway School, said an investigation into the crash has been delayed until next week out of respect for the family.
They’ll be looking at the procedures around all school extra-curricular activities and risk management for students, he said.
“One of the things we have identified was Kelsey was skiing in an area where she was not approved to go,” Murray said, explaining the students on the trip had their skiing abilities reviewed and they were told where they could safely ski. “So we will ensure our chaperones going on future trips are on the ski hill at the towers and making sure the children are directed the correct way — just some extra vigilance.”
A crisis response team, including counsellors, have been at Brewster’s small school since Friday morning, he said. Thomas Greenway has just 80 students.
“The kids all know each other,” Murray said, as do the parents and staff. “They’re under a great deal of stress right now.”
Brewster’s funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Kin Centre in Pilot Mound, Man.
“Kelsey is lovingly remembered by her parents Chris and Heather, and her sister Jenna. She was predeceased by her infant sister Emily,” her obituary says.
Holiday Mountain is at La Riviere, Man., 130 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg. Crystal City is 20 kilometres southwest of La Riviere.
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CORRECTION: Kelsey Brewster died Monday. An earlier version of this story reported the wrong day.
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