A gas leak at a North Vancouver ice rink that was reported as a minor incident last fall may have put one of Canada's most prominent athletes out of commission for life.
Olympic silver medalist and longtime figure skating coach Karen Magnussen was rushed to hospital Nov. 28 after inhaling ammonia gas at the North Shore Winter Club. The early-morning accident, which resulted from a malfunction in the club's cooling plant, originally appeared to have done little beyond inconvenience the parents and young skaters who had been forced to evacuate. It emerged later that Magnussen had been taken to hospital to be treated for inhalation of the poisonous gas, but again there was little to suggest it was a serious event.
But now, more than five months later, the celebrated skater has still not returned to work. The accident has left her with the equivalent of a steam burn on her lungs and bronchioles, causing severe respiratory issues, vision problems and chronic fatigue.
Speaking to the North Shore News this week, Magnussen said her health has only been getting worse, and that she will likely never return to her job.
"I won't probably be able to go into a rink again," she said, her voice cracking with emotion. "I've spent my life in the rink, and in seven minutes my whole life has been turned around. I haven't slept in about six months because of violent coughing."
Recently, even the administrative duties she had been performing from home were handed off to someone else. The Workers' Compensation Board of B.C. will not allow Magnussen to work, even from home, according to the club.
Magnussen, 60, said she planned to coach into her 80s. The loss has left a void, she said.
"How do you live? I'm used to working eight hours a day," said Magnussen. "I've worked my life to build this up, and I just loved working with kids."
Now, she says, she has difficulty even with simple physical tasks.
"I have a hard time walking the dog up a half a block," said Magnussen.
Instead, much of her time is taken up simply dealing with the fallout from the accident. Magnussen said she takes nine different medications, sees two or three doctors and specialists each week, and has been struggling in her dealings with the WCB.
"It's a battle. (The WCB) is an insurance company. They certainly don't want to give you what you actually were making or what your future income could be," she said. "I feel so bad for other people, and maybe I can be a voice for those people."
In the wake of the leak, the North Shore Winter Club was cited by WorkSafeBC for several violations, including improperly enclosing the ammonia room, improperly fitting respirators worn by employees and stocking respirators with the wrong cartridge to remove gas. The ammonia room was also not equipped with back-draft dampers - large fans that only permit air to flow in one direction - and the club failed to conduct emergency drills at least once a year, according to the agency.
The facility has since been brought up to code. The official account of the Nov. 28 mishap has evolved over time. Shortly after it took place, North Shore Winter Club president Kevin Banks, as well as local firefighters, said that all club personnel had made it out safely.
Approximately three weeks after the leak, spokeswoman Liz Goldenberg acknowledged that Magnussen had been taken to hospital, but explained that club staff hadn't realized she had been exposed.
"Unfortunately, she went outside and went around the back of the building where the fumes were wafting around," said Goldenberg at the time. "She heard the alarm and she went out to see what was wrong."
Magnussen later contradicted that version of events, saying that she had been in her office preparing to coach morning skaters when maintenance workers had waved at her from the rink. When she stepped out into the hallway to investigate, she walked into a cloud of gas, she said. Magnussen claimed no alarm had been sounding at the time.
Two other workers were also injured in the incident, according to WorkSafe. They have not been identified.
Despite the difficult situation, Magnussen - who captured a silver medal at the 1972 Olympics and won a world championship - said she has resolved to make something positive out of it.
"I've never been one to curl into a ball and just lie there; I'm a fighter," she said. "I didn't win a world championship and get to the Olympics twice from nothing."
