#TheCrashReel is a
documentary describing snowboarder #KevinPearce ’s protracted recovery after a
horrific crash a few weeks before the 2010 winter Olympics. He fell on his head
as he was trying a particularly difficult jump – as part of the daredevil escalation
started by archrival Shaun White. Pearce suffered massive brain damage and
spent weeks in intensive care, slowly regaining consciousness and control of
his body and mind. And what was his strongest desire once he could have any?
According to the pitch for the trailer on YouTube, “when he recovers, all he wants to do is get
on his snowboard again, even though medics and family fear it could kill him”
– in an attempt to get back “that feeling” only snowboarding could give him.
Pearce
has all my sympathy – and I do hope he has done well since he announced in 2011
that he would not compete, after all. The YouTube summary reminded me, though,
of a story I read a few years ago about a crystal meth addict. When his home
drug lab blew up, he lost much of the skin on his hands and face – and a few
fingers which needed to be amputated (I am not sure about his eyes). And what
was the first thing he wanted to do after he was released from hospital?
Naturally, cook some crystal meth.
