A 20-year-old Airdrie speed skater considers herself lucky.
Brianne Tutt is currently recovering from a Dec. 15 crash that sent her to hospital and ended her 2012-2013 season.
Tutt doesn’t remember all of the crash, which happened during a practise session at the Calgary Oval. A fellow skater was practicing in the outside lane when he collided with Tutt. She flew over top of him and her left shoulder hit the ice first and then her head.
“He had his head down,” she said. “You don’t skate with your head down and not in the outside lane. From what I remember, I was convulsing and shaking and bleeding from my ears and nose. I kept asking what happened.”
A firefighter who was watching his child practice helped Tutt before she was taken to hospital. The crash left her with a collection of injuries, including a broken collarbone and ribs, a cracked vertebrae and a skull fracture. She’s also deaf in her left ear and five days after the crash, she was diagnosed Bells Palsy, a form of facial paralysis due to the trauma of her head hitting the ice.
The other skater suffered a concussion.
Tutt is facing a six-to-eight-week recovery period for the bulk of her injuries, but it may take three months for the paralysis in Tutt’s face to heal. Yet, she considers herself lucky.
“In a sense, we both got lucky,” she said. “My shoulder dampened the impact (on my head). The skull fracture goes from one side to the other, but I don’t have a concussion which is good.”
She hopes to start doing light dry-land workouts after eight weeks with the intent of being back in skates in March, but Tutt is approaching her return to the ice with an air of caution. Thanks to the skull fracture, she can’t sustain another head injury for six months or it could put her long-term speed skating career in jeopardy.
Just prior to the crash, Tutt had returned from overseas where she competed on the fall World Cup circuit. She competed at events in the Netherlands, Germany and Russia, placing 19th in her three-kilometre races and 11th and 13th in the mass start, a new speed skating race that sees 20 skaters take off from the start line at the same time, which Tutt called “pretty hectic.”
Tutt was preparing for the winter circuit until the crash cut her season short.
“My season was going really good,” she said. “Usually, I’m not as strong in the fall, but I made the team and went overseas for a month. It’s going to be hard watching the winter trials and watching someone else take that spot.”
While she recovers, Tutt is already mentally preparing herself to resume training in the spring and for the 2013-2014 season, which is an Olympic season. She has been aiming to compete in Sochi, Russia for the past few years and isn’t about to let the crash derail that dream.
The speedskating season runs from October to March, so Tutt’s hoping skating through the off-season will put her a few strides ahead of her fellow skaters, but there’s also the matter of taking back her spot on World Cup team. Because she isn’t able to complete this season, Tutt isn’t able to obtain the points needed to make the team. She’s in the process of applying to Skate Canada for a bye onto team.
If the bye doesn’t go through, she’ll still be able to skate for a spot on the Olympic team, but without the funding provided by Skate Canada.
However, a fellow skater is helping Tutt get set up in the event the bye doesn’t go through.
After hearing about the accident, Kevin Jagger, a former banker who is training in Calgary to compete in speedskating, set up a fundraiser to help offset Tutt’s medical bills. According to Tutt, donations have been pouring in from the local skating community, as well as the Netherlands and Germany. Jagger originally set a goal of $1,500, but the total has surpassed $3,000.
While a bulk of the money will go towards Tutt’s recovery, she said the extra donations will help with other expenses that she will accrue as she returns to her full-time training.
“(Kevin’s) new to the sport and I don’t skate with him, so it was completely unexpected,” Tutt said.
“I’m happy that the fundraising’s going good. Hopefully, I can get a few more sponsors and (if the bye doesn’t go through) I’ll just have to do a lot more fundraising. I can still skate and I can still try for the team. The good thing is I can take a bit of time in the spring and get a head start on everyone. I’m trying to look at it as positively as I can.”
To donate to Jagger’s fundraiser for Tutt, visit www.fundrazr.com/campaigns/3PPZ33
