Skier battles aftermath of serious injury

by John Meyer, March 30th, 2005, published in "Denver Post"

At a U.S. Ski Team fundraiser in New York City last November, downhiller Bryon Friedman walked onto the stage with his guitar and an anxiety he hid remarkably well to play a few songs he wrote in his spare time on the World Cup tour.

"I'm a little nervous," Friedman told an audience of about 800 that helped the team raise about $900,000. "I've never played in front of this many people before."

I was struck by the irony: This guy has raced the gnarliest downhill courses in the world at speeds in excess of 70 mph, and he's worried about performing with his guitar?

He played beautifully.

Friedman, whose original tunes are reminiscent of Jack Johnson's, has had a lot more time to write since Jan. 5, when he suffered a gruesome injury in a downhill training run at Chamonix, France. He broke the tibia and fibula in his lower right leg, causing severe trauma and nerve damage that could prevent him from racing next season.

"When you get injured and you have a lot of time to think and your emotions are kind of scrambled, it's a great time to write," Friedman said last week. "It's been therapeutic in that way."

Friedman, 24, was off to a great start in what was supposed to be his second full season on the World Cup. He was seventh in the downhill at Beaver Creek on Dec. 3, and seventh at Val Gardena, Italy, on Dec. 18. Now his career stands threatened.

"It was a huge blow to him, because the year before he really started to find his groove in the World Cup and had some good results," said U.S. Ski Team downhill and super-G coach John McBride of Aspen. "He's obviously a very talented young man who can be a contender on the World Cup."

Friedman's crash happened in front of McBride, who was up in a tree videotaping the official training run. Friedman got thrown off-balance and into the air by a bump at 60-70 mph, just as he was transitioning to a left-footed turn. When he landed, he caught an edge and cartwheeled three times into a safety fence. The leg snapped on the first rotation.

"Every time he came back down on the broken leg, it was just crushing it and hammering it," McBride said. "By the time he was to the fence, his leg was bent at 90 degrees, mid-calf. I knew right away he was messed up bad. I touched his leg and it felt like a taut water balloon, there was so much blood already in his lower leg."

Sitting on the side of the hill in excruciating pain, realizing his promising season was over, Friedman was devastated.

"It was the first time I thought to myself, 'Why do I keep subjecting myself to this pain?"' said Friedman, who lives in Park City, Utah. "I've been through a couple of knee surgeries, and at some point you ask yourself, 'Is this worth all the pain you endure?'

"After I realized the seriousness of the injury, my focus changed from caring about (ski racing) to just wanting to be able to walk fine, get the surgeries taken care of, get home, that kind of thing."

The broken bones weren't the biggest concern. Bleeding in the muscle compartments of the lower leg caused excessive swelling, which doctors had to relieve through surgery.

"There was so much pressure in there that the blood couldn't flow," Friedman said. "If it's not fixed, you lose your leg."

Friedman also suffered nerve damage. He has no tactile feeling in his right foot, but he feels tingling and sharp pain.

"It's like a weird pain; it's a nerve pain," Friedman said. "I'm just dying for the nerves to come back to life."

Doctors tell him they will eventually, but can't predict how long it will take.

"Now that I'm starting to walk, I can't wait to be able to ride a bike hard and run again, play sports and ski eventually," said Friedman, who has lost 25 pounds since the crash. "Mentally I've had a tough time. It's been awful."

Despite the doubts that flooded him on the side of the mountain in Chamonix, Friedman remains committed to ski racing, even if he has to miss next season.

"It's something I've done my whole life, I'm finally at the World Cup level, and I have to give it another shot," Friedman said. "I want to feel like I did in Beaver Creek. ...

"The way I see it is, if anyone can come back from this, it's me. I'm going to do the best I can; I'm just hoping I get healthy and everything comes back. It's not going to be easy. I have to get stronger and work hard to get back to where I was."