Olympic skateboard hopeful Sky Brown, 11, after 15-foot fall: 'My helmet and arm saved my life'
Sky Brown is assuring her fans she’s OK, adding that her helmet and arm “saved my life” after a horrific fall off the side of the vert ramp in training. The 11-year-old skateboarding hopeful from Britain shared a scary video of the accident, calling it “my worst fall yet,” with a message from her hospital bed.
Brown wrote in the YouTube video description that her helmet and arm “saved my life.” She suffered skull fractures and broke her left wrist and hand. That, she said, won’t stop her from going for a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, delayed to July 2021 due to the COVID-19 crisis. It will be skateboarding’s debut at the Games.
The video begins with Brown, the 2019 World bronze medalist, training on the vert ramp. She falls between the ramps and the person holding the camera runs to her aid. After a quick clip of a firetruck’s lights and the helicopter landing, Brown talks to fans from her hospital bed with balloons and stuffed animals.
“I don't usually post my falls or talk about them, because I want people to see the fun in what I do, but this was my worst fall, and I just want everyone to know that I'm OK," Brown said.
"It's OK to fall sometimes. I'm just going to get back up and push even harder. I know there's a lot going on in the world right now and I want everyone to know that whatever we do we've got to do it with love and happiness."
Her father, Stewart Brown, told BBC Sports that Sky fell head-first to the ground and “everyone was fearful for her life” the first night at the hospital. He shared more details in an Instagram post, saying she was unconscious when taken to the hospital and had “lacerations to her heart and lungs.”
He said she is doing well, and she’s expected to make a full recovery.
“4 days later Sky sits across from me with her full memory back, smiling, watching TikTok while Eating her favorite bad snacks.
“More importantly her Doctors and the trauma team say it’s a miracle how well she is dealing with the pain and recovering incredibly fast. They said it’s shocking and believe it’s because of her grit, positivity and attitude.”
Brown was the youngest person to compete at the Vans U.S. Open in 2016 at the age of 8. She was scheduled to compete for a spot at the Olympics during qualifying in May, but it was postponed. She is hoping to beat the record for youngest Olympian, set by swimmer Margery Hinton at the age of 13 years, 43 days in Berlin in 1928.
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