Caleb Moore: A Death That Could Have Been Avoided

When a player is injured the result is temporarily devastating.  However, when a promising sports figure dies it is forever tragic and the damage is permanent.

Caleb Moore was one of the most promising and enthusiastic X Games participants who not only excelled at what he did but also more importantly had the unwavering potential to be one of the best.

Unfortunately, his passion to be the best and to compete at the highest level resulted in his untimely demise because he chose one of the most dangerous events to be initiated into any sports competition.  He chose to participate in the snowmobile freestyle event.

And why not? Since he has 15 he had been a dedicated advocate of free styling with ATV’s and always seemed to have that innate thrill seeking knack that made him a wunderkind superman of extreme sports. 

Eventually, he decided to up the ante by going one step further by competing in the snowmobile freestyle event at the winter X Games.  Despite the expected and known dangers that come with the profession he proved time and time again that he could efficiently compete in a sport that required not only constant bravery and perseverance but that he could also out do himself and come out a consistently rewarded competitor. 

This was the case at every moment except for the one where everything went wrong.  The moment when his young and unexplored life was over before it began.

I remember distinctly watching as Caleb attempted what appeared to be an impressive backflip.  As he soared confidently and valiantly through the air, all I could think was “He’s got this, he’s on his way to win another consecutive medal.”  However in those few seconds, all the hopes and dreams of this young man being an X Games superstar literally came crashing down on him.

Just before his vehicle could complete the clean landing, the skis on the front of his snowmobile made slight contact on their tips with the front of the slick, snow covered ramp.  Caleb was not only launched face first into the embankment below, but shortly thereafter the snowmobile, as it was flipping end over end, crushed him with its immense weight and tumbling speed.  For a while afterward, Caleb was completely motionless.

Eventually, with the help of his trainers, he was able to walk off under his own power and seemed to be slightly shaken up as result of accident, but ultimately appeared to be relatively unharmed in light of the severity of the wipe out.  Unfortunately, this was wishful thinking.

Caleb was initially admitted to a hospital for an examination for a concussion that he had unsurprisingly sustained during the accident.  However, the worst was yet to come.

Shortly after he was diagnosed with a concussion, it was discovered that there was intense bleeding around his heart and was flown to a hospital in Grand Junction for immediate surgery.  While there it was also discovered that Caleb had severe brain complications.

While it seemed the situation couldn’t get any worse, inevitably the worst-case scenario became a reality.  At the age of 25, Caleb Moore, a young and enthusiastically inspirational athlete died Thursday morning.

This tragedy not only shocked the X Games world into a stunned and depressed silence, but it also had a devastating and reflective impact on the world of sports as a whole.

While athletes have suffered severe injuries with torn ligaments, long-term brain damage and even paralysis, none of these injuries resulted in such an immediate death sentence. 

With this unexpected and tragic situation comes the obvious question. Should this event be allowed to be practiced and recognized in the current X Games and future events?

The short answer is no.

While there is always a tangible risk to competing in any high octane, physically enduring competitive sport, there is usually always a way to minimize the damage that can be taken to our bodies no matter what the circumstance. 

However, there isn’t any type of innovative or protective pads or equipment that can prevent deaths like these from occurring in a similar situation.  Unfortunately, while it may seem unfair to those who compete in this event to be stripped of the privilege to continue to excel in this niche event, is it really worth another community, another family to have to go through the same emotionally scarring tragedy?

Again, while the situation is complicated and the tensions for dealing with this are difficult to comprehend, the answer is simple and clean cut.  If death is an inevitable part of any televised and nationally recognized sport, then in no way shape or form should it continue to be a present part of the extreme sports world.