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La Ventana Fatal Accident

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RickI
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La Ventana Fatal Accident

Postby RickI » Fri Dec 12, 2008 9:33 pm

I wish her family and friends what comfort they can find at this tragic time. She will be missed.

Christina Bockius was in a tragic kiting accident on Tuesday, December 9th in La Ventana, Mexico. She will be transported later this evening to OHSU in Portland, but will not arrive until approximately 2:00am. Her condition is very serious.

There will be a candlelight vigil tonight at 7:00pm at Waterfront Park Beach in Hood River. Please bring candles and your positive thoughts and prayers.

We know that you all want to help. We would like to be sure that Kelly, Sascha and Nina have easy, kid-friendly meals beginning Friday, December 12th.
holly wrote:Dear friends, by now most of you have heard that Christina was in an awful accident. I have attached information about her condition. We are going to have a gathering to send love to her and to help each other out, tonight at the New Waterfront Park at 7pm. Please bring a candle to light for her. Pass this on to all you'd like to as my email list is short. . Much love, Marge



Friends,

I am very sad to write this email; most of you have heard about Christina Bockius by now. She was in La Ventana kiting yesterday when she was had an accident on the beach. No one saw her fall, but it seems like she was lofted in the air and came down on her face. She suffered three cervical spine fractures. C2-5. She was unable to breathe due to having paralyzed breathing muscles. She received CPR and rescue breathing and was transported to La Paz. In La Paz, they found that she has brain swelling; either from the initial trauma or from lack of oxygen due to her paralysis. I have spoken with the Mexican doctor and with Dr Trunkey at OHSU. We have arranged for a med-evac flight out of La Paz to OHSU today.

Her situation sounds critical. The whole situation is unspeakably tragic: sad beyond words. If the information I received from the doctor in Mexico is true, she will be a quadriplegic; this is the best case scenario. The worst case: which is very possible, is that she has permanent brain damage, or that she will die. The critical question is how badly her brain is injured; the report makes it seem pretty severe. Kelly is going to tell his girls this afternoon.

I may not answer my phone, as I have been on the phone with multiple doctors and Kelly's family last night and today. I will send emails updating everyone on the situation; feel free to forward this to whomever.

Brent
MBF wrote:To those who knew and loved Christina: she has died. She was
diagnosed with irreversible brain death this morning at OHSU. Her
body is being kept alive on the ventillator because she has always
wanted to donate her organs. Her final gift to the world will be
giving life to many other people. Her spirit will live on.
markmoe wrote:Please go to this link to share memories, pictures, and your thoughts of Christina at Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38933401247

These were posted at: http://www.nwkite.com/forums/t-11584-0-asc-0.html

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Re: La Ventana Accident

Postby RickI » Fri Dec 12, 2008 9:34 pm

Little is known about the lofting at this time. She was reportedly a very experienced kiter and in strong Gorge conditions, her home waters. The winds at the time of the accident in Mexico were reported to be strong, perhaps gusting to 35 kts.. A local kiter prior to this tragic event, said it was the kind of day someone gets hurt due to the gusty conditions. The accident happened outside of La Ventana and the more populated kiting spots. If more details become available they will be posted here. I understand she leaves two daughters behind. If there is a fund raiser, it would be good to help out if you can. If a fund is created information will be posted here.
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Re: La Ventana Accident

Postby Toby » Fri Dec 12, 2008 11:26 pm

my condolences to the family and friends.

This is a tragic loss again. So sad she had to suffer that long, I can only imagine parts of it how she must have felt.

RIP Christina.

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Re: La Ventana Accident

Postby RickI » Mon Dec 15, 2008 5:05 am

Yes, rest in peace Christina.

Image

To help Christina's children please use the following web site:
http://www.carepages.lotsahelpinghands.com/c/609443/

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Re: La Ventana Fatal Accident

Postby RickI » Wed Dec 17, 2008 10:26 am

The following appeared in the news about Cristina. She sounds like a truly unique individual and and born in Switzerland, who will be missed by so many.

Christina Bockius

Christina Bockius died Dec. 12, 2008, at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital in Portland from injuries sustained in a kiteboarding accident near La Ventana, Mexico. She was 43 years old.

A celebration of life will be held Thursday, Dec. 18, at 3:30 p.m. at the Columbia Gorge Hotel.

Christina was born in Sarnen, Switzerland, March 6, 1965, to Eduardo Gentilini and Heidi Knappitsch. When she was 1 year old, the family moved to Gruenau, Austria, an idyllic Alps village where she grew up.

She started kindergarten when she was 3 years old, and began skiing at the same age at the town ski hill, the Kasberg.

In the winter in Austria, kids ski in lieu of doing other sports, and ski racing is part of growing up. Christina was athletic from toddlerhood, and was a perpetual winner of ski races throughout her youth. As she grew up, she applied her athletic abilities to biking, swimming and volleyball.

At age 14, Christina entered Hauswirschafts Schule, a college of domestic science and home economics. After graduating, she entered school to become a dental assistant.

When she was 18, she moved to Wangen, Germany, where a good friend owned and operated a restaurant. She worked there for several months while she waited to enter a flight attendant training program for Lufthansa Airlines.

In 1983 she was hired as a flight attendant by Lufthansa. She lived and was based out of Munich. After a few months with the airline, she got a better offer from Delta Airlines, where she worked for the next 14 years.

In the fall of 1989, Christina took a trip to New Zealand to visit a friend. While motorcycling around the North Island, she met an American, Kelly Bockius from Hood River, at a backpacker’s lodge on the Coromandel Peninsula. The two fell in love at first sight. Kelly proposed to Christina two days later and they were married May 11, 1990, in Las Vegas.

The couple bought a house on Belmont Avenue on Hood River’s Westside, where they’ve lived ever since.

Within weeks of moving to Hood River, Kelly taught Christina to windsurf. She was a natural on the water and was soon sailing circles around everyone. Throughout the 1990s, Christina was a fixture wherever the wind was blowing — The Hatchery (and later Cheap Beach), Doug’s, The Wall, Rufus.

During winters, Christina rarely missed a powder day at Mt. Hood Meadows – rarely missed any ski day, for that matter. She would often brag – in her disarming German accent, flashing her big, warm grin – of getting first chair.

When Christina started kiteboarding, she all but gave up windsurfing and devoted her time to the sport she loved the most. She was a fixture at the Spit, always ready to help anyone launch or land their kite. Often on big days, there would be several guys and Christina launching big air near the White Salmon bridge.

Christina, a self-proclaimed “fun hog,” was fond of saying things like, “We’re not here for a long time, we’re here for a good time,” and “Life’s too short to be in a bad mood.”

During the spring and summer when she wasn’t on the river, Christina created and maintained extensive gardens at her house. She had multiple vegetable gardens, a huge strawberry bed and a wide array of flowers. She loved being a steward of the earth, and loved sharing her bounty – as well as her extensive gardening knowledge – with family and friends.

The only thing that gave Christina more passion than her sports was her two daughters. Sascha was born in 1998, and Nina in 2001. She quit her flight attendant job when Sascha was born in order to be a full-time mom, a job she relished.

She was a devoted mother in every way. She instilled in her girls her love for the earth and the outdoors, for friends and family, for travel. She took the girls to Austria to visit her family each year from the time they were infants. For Christina, no trip was too arduous, even with small children; they traveled to Europe, the Caribbean, Maui, Mexico, up and down the West Coast, to New England and on ski trips to Montana, Wyoming and elsewhere.

Christina spoke German, English, French, Italian and some Spanish. She seemed to make friends wherever she went – many of whom would end up coming to visit Christina and the family in Hood River.

Christina was deeply involved in the girls’ schools, from the time they started preschool at Bright Beginnings and later at Westside Elementary. She volunteered in the classroom, helped spearhead fund-raisers and was an advocate for arts in the schools.

Christina began making jewelry a few years ago and devoted part of her considerable and seemingly boundless energy to this new-found passion. She gave some of it away, but was recently making pieces to sell. She also recently began teaching jewelry-making classes in town.

Christina was dearly loved by so many in the Hood River community, as well as by so many people from around the world. Her door was always open to friends and strangers alike, from near and far. She took in stray cats, people — anyone in need of a meal, a laugh, a hug, a place to stay, a shot of Schnapps. Her infectious enthusiasm and unending stoke for life was not reserved for a few; it was a gift she gave to everyone she came in contact with.

Christina will be sorely missed, and remembered always, by the kingdom of people fortunate enough to have known her.

She is survived by her husband, Kelly Bockius, and daughters Sascha and Nina Bockius, of Hood River; mother Heidi Knappitsch of Gruenau, Austria; grandmother Julia Knappitsch of Gruenau, Austria; brothers Andreas and Martin of Gruenau, Austria; brother-in-law Sam Bockius and wife Tammy of Haiku, Hawaii; brother-in-law Eric Hixson and wife Terri of Hood River; brother-in-law Peter Hixson and wife Janet of Hood River; sister-in-law Heidi Hixson of Bend; six nieces and one nephew.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Columbia Center for the Arts, for the Christina Bockius Fund for children’s art education, P.O. Box 1543, Hood River, OR 97031. Contributions also can be made to Columbia River Bank to a fund established for a bench to be dedicated to Christina at Hood River Waterfront Park."

http://www.hoodrivernews.com/Lifestyle% ... _obits.htm

another article about the accident appears at:
http://www.hoodrivernews.com/News%20sto ... istina.htm

pkh wrote:There have been two memorial funds created in Christina's name

First, you can donate to a fund using PayPal that will be used to create a memorial park bench at Waterfront Park in Hood River. Francois Pelletier set up this fund, you can donate directly using PayPal by sending money to pelletier@gorge.net on PayPal

The Christina Bockius Memorial Bench
http://www.paypal.com
(select "Send Money", enter "pelletier@gorge.net" for "To" email)

Second you can donate to the Kinder Kunstler Christina Bockius Fund which will support future art education opportunities for children in Hood River. All donations are tax deductible. More information is available here:

http://www.nwkite.com/downloads/KinderKunstler.pdf

For more information on the Christina Bockius tragedy please check here:
http://www.nwkite.com/forums/t-11607.html
From: http://www.nwkite.com/forums/t-11626.html


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