Dallas Seavey: "Please do not drink and drive this weekend"

Note: This story has details of massive injuries to dogs, dog death, and human trauma. 

Dallas Seavey at the restart of Iditarod 51. Seavey
released a statement today about a fatal incident
involving one of his dog teams and a snow machine
allegedly driven by a drunk driver on Saturday.

A trooper report spotted on Sunday morning reported a snowmachine accident involving a sled dog team outside of Cantwell, Alaska around 8:30pm on November 18. The dispatch gave little detail as to the event or the condition of those involved. All that was known was that no charges had been filed and the investigation was ongoing. Many within the mushing community and fandom alike wondered who it could be, and those in the know remained silent waiting for an official statement.

Wednesday morning, Dallas Seavey made a statement via his social media page indicating that a team from his kennel was the one involved. Handler Josiah and a team of nine Dallas Seavey Racing Kennel dogs were hit head on by a snow machine driven by someone who appeared heavily intoxicated. One dog died instantly, another succumbed to injuries an hour or so later. Three remain in critical condition. Seavey reported that four of the dogs as well as the musher, handler Josiah, had minor injuries.

"Josiah’s team was hit by a snowmachine traveling ~65mph in the opposite direction," Seavey wrote. "Of the nine dogs in the team one was killed instantly, one had several broken legs and died within an hour, three had compound fractures or limbs nearly amputated by the impact, and the remaining four had minor injuries (by comparison)."

Seavey detailed the injuries of the three dogs in critical condition. Two have already had surgery, one to amputate a leg, the other dog to hopefully save a leg. The third dog is so critical due to fluid on the lungs that they cannot operate on this time, but the dog needs to have its leg amputated as well. Seavey believes all three dogs will never run in harness again - even if the one's leg can be saved. 

Dallas Seavey closed his statement with a plea ahead of a holiday many over imbibe during - "Please do not drink and drive this weekend," he wrote. "And remember, there are other users on the trails."

This could have had an even more tragic story as not just dogs but humans were hit by a snow machine going 65-70 miles per hour. Josiah was thrown from the dogsled but still managed to tend to dogs as they bled. Had it not been for the fact that he was traveling with two other experienced dog mushers (Dallas ahead of him by at least half an hour, Isaac behind him) we may have had a very different outcome for most of the dog team. 

This evening Dallas Seavey was interviewed by Anchorage Television station and NBC affiliate, KTUU's Mike Ross. While the broadcasts shared snippets from that interview, Ross shared the interview in its entirety on his Facebook page after the broadcasts. WARNING: Dallas goes into great detail of the incident as he knows it, as well as the sometimes graphic detail of the carnage he found when he came to Josiah's aid. He mentions the help of fellow musher Paige Drobny (Squid Acres) to get him to the crash site. It's about 20 minutes long and it is a HEAVY listen. 

Games overshadowed by death

As the games set to open tonight news broke that luger Nodar Kumaritashvili of Georgia passed away due to injuries sustained from a crash this morning. This is not shocking to Olympic insiders who have noticed the overwhelming dangers of the Olympic luge course. It's reported that the sleds are zooming down the track at a regular speed of 90mph, giving Vancouver boasting rights - which they have proudly taken - as having the fastest course in the world. Over a dozen athletes have crashed, some with injuries, over the week's training runs.

Kumaritashvili was ranked 44th in the world coming into Vancouver. The crash was reportedly near the bottom of the track just seconds away from the "finish line" on corner 13, designated as "Corner 50-50."

Controversy is never far at the Winter Games, and, for once, it's not in Figure Skating. It's being reported that the course was designed to be as fast and trecherous as it was to "give the audience a show." However, many conspiracy theorists are already working overtime to proove that Canada had something else in mind. Canada's 'sliders' have been practicing on the track for weeks, whereas everyone else has gotten to try it out a handful of times in the last week.

The Republic of Georgia is rumored to be withdrawing from the games.


My take on the whole thing? I think it irresponsible to have a track run THAT FAST and THAT HARD and not have better ways to cushion a fall to give a slider a chance to survive a crash like the one Kumaritashvili suffered. To top it off, Canadians and other top level sliders alike have voiced their concerns about the course.

Forget the conspiracy, I do feel it incredibly unfair that team Canada got the track time that they have, but if it's within the rules, then so be it. Haven't heard of any skaters getting that same kind of preferential treatment, but I guess the ISU/Skating Federations aren't the only ones with shady dealings.

Above it all a 21 year old man died on Olympic Ice today. For what other reason than chasing his Olympic Dream. One can only pray his death was quick, and painless, and that his friends and family will be brought some level of comfort and peace through all of this. They should be proud to have known and loved (and been loved in return) by such an amazing athlete. Rest In Peace, Nodar.

And here's hoping Georgian athletes get to compete in Vancouver, and rise to the challenge in honor of their fallen teammate.

Photo (c) Reuters Pictures c/o Daylife.com.