Injured skier dies in hospital

THE man who suffered a severe arm injury in a skiing accident at Seelands on Wednesday died in a Brisbane hospital on Thursday.

The news came as a shock to emergency workers who stabilised him near the scene of the accident.

His death was confirmed by a spokesperson for Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital yesterday but no further details were available.

According to witnesses, the 51-year-old Caboolture man was being towed on a kneeboard when his ski rope became caught on his arm.

Friends of the man said the experienced skier was pulling himself forward on his ski rope just before the mishap.

When he let go of the rope the excess rope wrapped around his left arm and the boat’s forward motion pulled the rope tight, causing his ‘degloving’ in which the flesh was ripped from the bone on his upper arm.

An ambulance officer who treated the man at the scene said he was astonished that the man had died.

“His blood pressure was good and there wasn’t that much blood loss,” the officer said.

“Doctors have told me it could have been an infection, a reaction to anaesthetic or any number of things but I am still bewildered.”

The officer said he felt terrible about the way he comforted the family at the scene.

“It was a question about whether he would keep his arm – we certainly weren’t expecting him to die.”

Staff at the Big River Holiday Park, where the man had been part of a large group of repeat holidaymakers for some 15 years, extended their condolences to the man’s family.