Airbag saves Matthias Mayer from serious injury
By Peter Gilbert
Last Updated: 20/12/15 10:24am
Olympic champion Matthias Mayer will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery following his crash in Saturday’s World Cup downhill in Val Gardena, Italy.
Mayer broke two vertebrae but was saved from suffering serious injury due to a radical protective airbag vest he was wearing under his race suit.
The airbag inflated to soften the Austrian's landing when he crashed to the ground after losing control on the Sasalong course during a nasty-looking crash.
Mayer was airlifted to hospital and had four vertebrae bolted together to aid his recovery.
The airbag system has been in development for a number of years and Mayer's crash was the first time it had inflated during a World Cup race.
"A crash can never be something favorable," International Ski Federation (FIS) technical expert Gunter Hujara said. "[But] maybe we have seen here he was saved from a spine injury today."
"It's always tough to know what the injury would be like otherwise," Canadian skier Erik Guay said.
"But it's been quite a few years in development and it's great that it works when it's supposed to."
