INTERVIEWS

Dave Irwin’s strong will to survive and recover started within days of waking up from his coma. Lynne Harrison was amazed at his progress. "He was doing leg lifts the first day in the neuro ward, even though he was still in a reduced state of consciousness. He was doing left lifts -- it was just this automatic response for an athlete. And he was getting his body to connect to his brain via movement." Four months after the accident Dave Irwin was out of the hospital and back home. Within a year of his crash he was on the slopes skiing again – in his mind, an essential move. Watch video

A year after Dave Irwin started skiing he and his family formed the Dave Irwin Foundation for brain injury. Its main purpose was to educate Canadians about brain injury and to raise money to help survivors and their families. Watch video

 

 

 

One of the most devastating consequences of Dave Irwin’s accident was that he lost custody of his children. Caitlin and Dean Irwin were teenagers at the time of his crash. They visited him often when he was in the hospital, but they eventually moved in with their mother full time. 

His daughter, Caitlin, now 21 years old,  feels that she now has a clearer understanding of her dad’s frustration at losing her and her brother. Watch video