Nevada collegiate skier paralyzed
by Zack Hall, Outpost Staff
Joakim Marksten had attempted jumps like it before but, as it turned out, it would be his last.
Marksten, a three time All-American skier at Nevada, tried a double back flip in a ski jumping competition at Snow Bird, Utah, and everything went wrong .
Failing to complete the jump, Marksten, 25, landed wrong, breaking his back and severing his spinal cord, leaving him paralyzed from the rib cage down.
The senior Alpine racer from Oslo, Norway, had already finished his runs at the annual Association of Norwegian Students Abroad (ANSA) race but he was compelled to enter the jump competition.
"It was a great day for skiing," Joakim Nessem, who is Marksten's best friend and teammate, said. "It was sunny and the snow was nice."
But "Mark", as his friends call him, would end the day, April 17, at Latter Day Saints Hospital in Salt Lake City after arriving by the helicopter that picked him up at the spot where he had fallen.
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Now, Marksten is being hospitalized at Sundaas hospital in Norway where he will reside for the next three months. It is a famous rehabilitation center for paralyzed patients. There he will learn how to function in everyday society while sitting in a wheelchair. That's the reality for Marksten, who will never walk again.
Not the easiest of things to do for an athlete of his caliber.
"I talked to him today," Nessem said. "He's in good shape. He knows what has happened to him. He is strong mentally. He knows though, he will be up and down mentally."
Marksten came to the United States in August of 1995, after racking up medals in the Norwegian Junior Championships.
In those championships, Marksten won three gold medals and three bronzes, achieving notoriety in his home country.
"He was one of the most talented athletes on and off the snow," ski coach Tom Arstein said. "He was one of the best skiers on US soil for the past four years."
Marksten has been the best skier for Nevada during his four year stint here.
The senior has been to four NCAA nationals, a very difficult feat for any collegiate skier, and has garnered the All-American award three times. He earned the honor in 1995-96 and 1997-98 for slalom and in 1997-98 in giant slalom.
"Overall, he is the best skier in the team's history," Nessem said. "He achieved more than anyone else both academically and athletically."
He was a very coachable athlete according to his former coach. Marksten is described as a person that was a leader to his team and a great asset to the program.
"He's the kind of guy that would do anything I asked," Arnstein said. "He always lead by example and not verbally. He is able to adjust to any situation. If anybody can do this it is him. He is adaptable enough to overcome this whole life changing circumstance."
Marksten is very well liked, according to Nessem, by all that know him.
He has always been daring, and the fact that he injured himself by attempting a jump that seems inconceivable to most people.
"He is a great guy," Nessem said. "There was just something about him.
"It is just something that happens. If it didn't happen this time it would've probably happened someday. He has always been crazy. It just happened this time."
Thanks to the socialist medical system in Norway, Marksten is receiving very good care at no cost to him. He has been assigned 12 people to take care of him. A lawyer to take care of his financial situation, plus a team of doctors, nurses, psychologists and a physical therapist.
In addition, Marksten is getting support from his family and even the president of the Norwegian Athletic Association, Arne Myezold, dropped flowers off to the Wolf Pack skier.
Nessem said that Marksten's family, friends and even the Norwegian government are supporting him in his time of need. Included is Marksten's brother Diderick, who was one of the best skiers in the world, even winning a World Cup race.
"He is really lucky to have the support he has," Nessem said. "He will pull out of it and I don't worry about him because he is strong mentally.
"This is a tragedy, but it could have been worse. He could have broken his neck and not be able to use his arms. I'm not glorifying this but it could've been worse. What can you do? You can't go back and change the past."
What Marksten is planning to do now is change the future. Amazingly, the mechanical engineering major plans to finish his degree in August or January, whenever he is able to return to the United States.
"He sees a positive in that in a wheelchair he can see a new standpoint," Nessem said. "As an engineer he has the opportunity to see what is missing in the market out there. If he wasn't in a wheelchair he would not have that opportunity. This is how he is motivating himself."
He is still having trouble eating due to a problem with his digestive system, so his return could be hindered.
Nessem said that Marksten is also thinking about skiing in the Paralympics, an event that features Olympic events for people that are confined to wheelchairs, when he is released from the hospital.
Posted May 4, 1999
Copyright 1999 Nevada Outpost
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