Mikayla Willis lives in Park City and grew up part of the Wasatch ski community. She was competing in the Freeride World Finals in Big Sky this week and had taken 1st place in the qualifiers when she crashed in the finals run Wednesday.
Eric Praetorius, Willis’s ski coach for many years and a friend of the family, says she was life-flighted twice and is in a hospital in Billings.
“She has very severe injuries. She has a fractured skull in many places. She has a broken nose. She has fractured hips, and a lot of lacerations on her face and her body.”
Molly McDowell, a neighbor and friend, says a Go Fund Me page has been set up and that any extra support will go a long way.
“There's some good support and we're just looking to get any other extra support that we can to help her with her costs. I know that she's out of network out of the state of Utah, so she needs any help with the bills, medical expenses, and then anything just of what happens after you know, and getting support.”
The GoFundMe page has a goal of $75,000 to help with Willis’s expenses. As of Thursday afternoon it had raised $45,976.