Celebrity Skier Sarah Burke Still Comatose After Surgery The athlete underwent surgery to repair a torn artery that caused bleeding between her skull and her brain By Rennie Dyball Rennie Dyball Rennie Dyball is a former editor at PEOPLE. She left PEOPLE in 2017. People Editorial Guidelines Published on January 12, 2012 01:30PM EST Photo: David Zalubowski/AP Sarah Burke, the star X Games skier who was injured this week on a training run in Park City, Utah, remains in critical condition. The Canadian ski pro, 29, “sustained serious injuries and remains intubated and sedated in critical condition,” a doctor at University of Utah hospital said in a statement released by Burke’s publicist, according to Fox Sports. The Associated Press reported Thursday that she underwent successful surgery to repair a torn vertebral artery that caused bleeding between her brain and her skull. For now, it seems her prognosis is uncertain. William Couldwell, the doctor who performed the operation, says that the team of doctors need to “observe the course of her brain function before making definitive pronouncements about Sarah’s prognosis for recovery.” The four-time Winter X Games champion in halfpipe skiing – and pioneer in her sport – “landed a trick down in the bottom end of the pipe and kind of bounced from her feet to her head,” Peter Judge, the CEO of the Canadian freestyle team, told tells Toronto’s Globe and Mail. “It wasn’t anything that looked like a catastrophic fall, so I’m a bit mystified.” Burke’s family, who remain by her bedside, released a statement to the Toronto Star in which they said they “wish to express their sincere thanks to everyone, all over the world, for their heartfelt thoughts, prayers and well wishes.”