Skiing accidents involving the rich and famous

06 January 2014 - 16:50 By Sapa-dpa
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Heather Mills leaves the Leveson inquiry in central London after giving evidence. The inquiry, headed by judge Brian Leveson, could last a year, and its findings are expected to have a lasting impact on the news industry, leading to tighter media rules or an overhaul of the current system of self-regulation Picture: NEIL HALL/GALLO IMAGES
Heather Mills leaves the Leveson inquiry in central London after giving evidence. The inquiry, headed by judge Brian Leveson, could last a year, and its findings are expected to have a lasting impact on the news industry, leading to tighter media rules or an overhaul of the current system of self-regulation Picture: NEIL HALL/GALLO IMAGES

List of recent cases, in chronological order, of people in the public eye who have been injured while skiing:

Sonny Bono, US popstar turned politician: January 1998 - Bono was said to have been killed instantly when he skied into a tree in the Heavenly Valley Resort in Nevada. The 62-year-old was missing for several hours before his body was found.

Princess Caroline of Monaco: February 2001 - Caroline, at the time 44-years-old, was in collision with another skier in Arlberg, Austria, and suffered a severe knee injury.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian-born US politician: December 2006 - While governor of California, Schwarzenegger, broke his right leg on a skiing holiday in Sun Valley, Idaho. At the time, 59 years old, the former bodybuilder and actor was able to leave hospital after some immediate treatment and was operated on three days later in California.

Dieter Althaus, German politician: January 2009 -Althaus, then the head of the German state of Thuringia, collided on the slopes in Austria with a 41-year-old woman. The woman died of her injuries, while Althaus suffered a traumatic brain injury. He was later found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

Natasha Richardson, British actress: March 2009 - Richardson suffered a brain injury and died at 46 after a fall during a private skiing lesson on a beginners' slope in the Canadian resort of Mont Tremblant. She is said to have declined medical treatment before being rushed to hospital after complaining of a headache.

Dieter Zetsche, Daimler CEO: December 2009 - Zetsche, 56, chief executive of German industrial giant Daimler, sustained a broken shoulder after being knocked down by a woman on a snowboard in Austria. Though in pain, Zetsche did not take any extra time off work, and showed up shortly after at a Detroit car show with his left arm in a sling.

Heather Mills, British model: May 2011 - Mills, ex-wife of Beatles star Paul McCartney was on Moelltaler Glacier in Austria training for a spot of the British Disabled Ski Team (she had lost a leg in a 1993 car accident) when she hit a ski pole that had frozen solid. She wound up shattering a shoulder blade.

Prince Johan Friso of The Netherlands: February 2012 - Friso was buried in an avalanche while skiing in Lech, Austria. The 43-year-old suffered brain damage and went into a coma. He died a year and a half later.

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden: December 2013 - Victoria injured her foot in a fall during a ski holiday with her family in Switzerland and was treated in hospital. A spokeswoman for the royal family said the incident involving the 36-year-old whose daughter is second-in-line to the throne was "very undramatic."

Michael Schumacher of Germany, Formula One legend: December 2013 - Schumacher was put into a medically induced coma after striking his head on a rock and suffering severe brain injuries while skiing off-piste at the Meribel resort in the French Alps.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany: December 2013 - Merkel suffered a fractured pelvis in a skiing accident in the Swiss Alps. The German leader had been cross-country skiing in the Engadin valley.

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now