In Vancouver, Saranac Lake’s John Morgan reflects on brother Jimmy’s fatal sled accident

These Vancouver Winter Olympics began with the harrowing accident that claimed Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili .

Yesterday, the New York Times caught up with Saranac Lake’s John Morgan, who does sliding commentary for NBC.

Morgan reflected on his experience in 1981, watching his brother Jimmy’s fatal crash at the bobsled championship in Italy.

Morgan said that when he got to his brother’s sled, it was on its side. A Russian doctor was attending to Jimmy Morgan. Jeff Jost, one of Jimmy Morgan’s teammates, looked at John Morgan, his eyes glazed. Blood was all over, although Jost and the other two sledders were not seriously injured.

“I reached over to check Jimmy’s pulse, and there was none,” Morgan said. “There’s a picture of me leaning over and holding his wrist.”

The videotape, Jastrow said, showed Jimmy Morgan appearing to hit the wall with his neck. Morgan said his brother slammed into the exposed, protruding wood. “He caught his neck on wood from the chute that keeps you in the track,” he said.

After riding with his brother in an ambulance to a hospital, where Jimmy Morgan was declared dead, Morgan called home to Saranac Lake, N.Y., to begin funeral arrangements.

Three decades later, John Morgan — himself a former champion bobsledder — is still at the center of sled sports, here in the North Country and around the world.

For more about Saranac Lake’s remarkable bobsled history, including more great photos like the one at the top of this post, go to the Bunksplace website here.

Tags: olympics