Worst injury (or death) you've witnessed irl?

[Flyoverland Captive]

I've seen two ski-area deaths, at the same hill (Wild Mountain, MN.)

First was back in the early 80's; I saw it from the chair. A little girl crashed and was sitting below a small lip (on Wild, for those who know the hill) putting her skis on. Guy jumped the lip, saw her too late, and hit her, snapping her neck. She was the daughter of patrollers, if memory serves. Tragic.

Second was around 2006-ish. An older liftie was walking up a run (Ego Alley) right below the chair. I saw him on the way up; he was taking his time. On the way down, he was laying on the snow, not moving. My buddies stopped while I rushed down to get ski patrol. They rushed up with a defibrillator and worked on him for a while, but he didn't make it. Turns out his doctor had told him to hike up once a day for heart health; it didn't work.

[neufox47]

MakersTeleMark describing having seen a climber deck got me thinking... what's the most awful injury you've witnessed someone receive, or have you seen someone die IRL?

I was at Tucks the day this was filmed and I recall seeing this guy fall going through a choke, hit his face, and leave a trail of blood down 800' of the ravine as he ragdolled down... that was pretty bad (around 3:35 in the video)

I also saw a little kid on a bike get hit fully head-on by a pickup truck. He flew probably 10' into the air like it was GTA or something, tumbling head over heels. The windshield looked like a bowling ball hit it (luckily the kid had a helmet or it would've been his brains splattered everywhere). Kid lived, btw, but he was definitely pretty fucked up.

So what's the worst you've seen?

I was the second person on the scene for that. Thankfully a nurse beat me to him. I totally forgot that there was a first aide cache 50 yards from where that guy stopped sliding. Had I remembered, a dirty t-shirt probably wouldn't have been used as the first dressing.

[couloirman]

I watched myself have a parachute malfunction and tumble hundreds of feet down the Eiger North Face. Does that count?

[k2skier112]

Riding the school bus home one day in the 7th grade. A 5 year old child darted out in the road, bus driver locks 'em up, thwump, BUMP...look behind us (I was seated in the back of course) and there was a mangled red blob in the road, he was hit by the rear tires also. Baby sitter was freaking out, old gray haired bus driver quit on the spot, we all walked home, couldn't even tell the blob was a human being just moments ago.

[natty dread]

I've forgotten more of these than I remember from the job, but one of the worst was on a random Sunday:
standing in line at a breakfast spot U district Seattle. Hear a big boom, like a dumpster being dropped, but don't think too much of it. Then see black smoke from behind a building down the block. I start walking in that direction, then hear screams, so pick up the pace. Walk around the building and the first thing I see is a big hyster boom lift with all four of its tires on fire. Then I see dude on the pavement with burning wires all around him, his legs are on fire, barely breathing.
Guy's first day on the job painting the building, his head had made contact with a 72K volt power line, which threw him 30 feet down from the bucket.
Breakfast was a little quiet after that.

[Trace Hardslab]

I've seen gruesome death up close and personal. Spent 3 hours in a hole in the snow desperately trying to keep our friend in the game after he was mangled from head to toe in the avalanche.

The thing is, partly by choice and partly by the grace of God, I remember the man who lived, not the man who died. The man who lived was a good friend to a lot of us. He was a rippin skier & a great roommate. He was quick to smile & a tireless trail breaker. He packed bong rips for us deadbeats. He was a good sport about putting up with my shit. I can still hear him laugh. We were lucky to know him.

So, not gonna regale you with the grim details of his last hours. His life was awesome though, I can tell you that.