THE CANADIAN PRESS
QUEBEC — American ice dancer Melissa Gregory was responsive and alert in hospital after a scary accident during the HomeSense Skate Canada International figure skating meet.
During the warmup for their free dance, Gregory and skating partner Denis Petukov, who are married, were practising a rotational lift. He was holding her with one arm when they lost their connection. Both fell.
Gregory came down hard on her chest on the Colisee Pepsi ice. After several minutes being attended to, she was taken away on a stretcher as coach Priscilla Hill stood at the boards wiping away tears. Petukov stood beside the stretcher consoling his wife during a wait of several minutes at a rear exit of the arena for an ambulance to arrive.
She was taken to L’Enfant Jesus, a well-known trauma hospital.
Dr. Pierre Fremont, the event’s chief medical officer, reported that "her vital signs are stable."
"She is responsive and alert and undergoing further tests," Fremont stated in a news release.
Gregory, 26, who is from Highland Park, Ill., and Russian-born Petukhov, 29, teamed up in 2000 and they were married in February 2001. He received U.S. citizenship in February 2005.
They were 14th at the 2006 Olympics, and they were second at the U.S. nationals and 10th at the world championships last season. This was their first Grand Prix meet of the new season. They were in fourth place going into the free dance.