THE GAZETTE
A Colorado Springs spine surgeon died Saturday in a skiing accident while on vacationing in British Columbia, his brother-in-law said Sunday.
Dr. Richard Lazar, 52, was skiing with another doctor at a ski resort about 150 miles west of Calgary when he hit an object and suffered brain and internal injuries, said Bruce Simon, Lazar’s brother-in-law. He was flown to a hospital in Calgary, where he died. It wasn't immediately known what object he hit.
Lazar was skiing a marked double-black diamond run that included exposed cliff and rocks, said Jordan Petrovics, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort spokesman.
“Due to the weather, they did the best they could to get him to the hospital as quickly as possible,” Petrovics said.
Lazar was born in Phoenix and moved to Colorado Springs in 1998, where he worked as a spine surgeon for Colorado Springs Orthopaedic Group.
He had three sons with his wife of 27 years, Jennifer Simon. Lazar’s two youngest sons attend Fountain Valley School of Colorado and his oldest is a sophomore at Denver University.
“If you met him, and you didn’t know what he did, you would have never guessed he had a background in engineering or medicine,” Bruce Simon, Lazar’s brother-in-law. “He was a very open and outward person.
“He was one of those people who always listens well.”
When not in the operating room, Lazar was known to hop on a flight outside the country. He rode his bicycle in Europe and went hunting in South America, Bruce Simon said. He was also an “avid skier,” often hitting the slopes with his three sons.
“My brother in law was always an adventurer,” Bruce Simon said. “It just seems crazy he’s not coming back from this trip — he’s been on so many.”
Lazar's most recent vacation to Canada was a hut-to-hut skiing trip, though he left early from Colorado with another doctor to get in a few extra ski runs, Simon said.
“You never worry because Rich seemed to be one of those guys who was invincible,” Simon said. “This is the first time he came up against that immovable force.”
The Calgary Herald contributed to this report.
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