SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2022 - SATURDAY STORY

 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2022 - SATURDAY STORY

This is a work of fiction.

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Max Benke was in top form going into the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan.  In the 1990 Olympics, he fell in the Giant Slalom and placed 25th.  He missed a gate in the downhill race in 1994 and didn’t place.  In 1993 he won the Giant Slalom at the North American Games in Calgary and was second in the downhill. In 1995, he took second in the Giant Slalom in Oslo Norway, and first in the Super G and the downhill.  In 1997, he again took first in the North American games in both the downhill and the Giant Slalom.  He had been tops on the world stage, only never to win an Olympic medal.

He was stoked, he was charged up, he was psyched.  This was to be HIS Olympic games.  In the betting parlors around the world, he was the odds-on favorite.  His training was superb.  His coach Ralph Timmons and the rest of the Olympic ski coaching team were excited.  

Sure there were the other competitors, but Max was on the slopes almost every day now.  He was taking the year off from the University of Colorado.  He skied on man-made snow, on powder, on compacted wet snow.  He wore out several pairs of boots and skis.  The team had started him with new boots and skis six weeks before the games started so they would be like old friends when he got to the Olympic games

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From the age of 6, when his parents had taken him skiing at Winter Park Colorado, Max loved skiing.  He had excelled.  At age 11, he was getting some recognition from coaches who were thinking by 15 or 16 he could be Olympic material.  

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Max, whose real first name was Mark, was a fearsome competitor.  He pushed himself to the limits.  The nickname Max came from being a maximum threat on the slopes.  A little cocky, a little arrogant, and definitely an outstanding skier, Max was the complete package.

Max believed he could do it.  He subscribed to the Henry Ford statement: “If you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right” - and he thought he could.  No, it was more than that - he KNEW he could win the Giant Slalom, the Super-G, and place in the downhill event at the 1998 Winter Olympics at Nagano Japan.

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In his practice rounds, Max definitely looked like the one to beat.  His times were two to four seconds ahead of the competitors.  In a sport where fractions of second might make the difference between being on the podium as one of the top three and being left out, Max was setting the bar pretty high.

On February 17, 1998, Max Benke set out to win the Giant Slalom and was visualizing winning the Super G race on February 18th.

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Max had shaved two seconds off his closet competitor when he reached the halfway point on the Giant Slalom course - when something went terribly wrong.  He cut too close on a gate and lost control, jumped out of the well-marked track for the Giant Slalom, and slammed about 85 miles per hour into a light post.  He was unconscious almost immediately.  Paramedic skiers were on the scene in less than a minute, but the snow was the deep red of blood.  

A close-up from a spectator’s camera showed Max’s face looking more like raw hamburger.  His nose seemed to be gone, The eye sockets were torn apart - although the eyes seemed to have survived.

He was rushed to the Nagano hospital.  He was unconscious for three days with an IV giving him medications and fluids.  Not only was his head severely injured but his right arm was broken in about three places, and his right leg was also broken with the bone protruding out of the skin.

His parents from Boulder Colorado were there keeping vigil on him.  About 6 a.m. on Friday, February 20th, his dad noticed movements and a slight groan coming from his son.  He stepped into the hall to call a nurse.  Fortunately, most of the nurses at the Nagano Regional Hospital knew some English.  Accidents do happen at the Olympics and most teams do have medical staff and two of the American medical team were on duty that morning in the hospital.

Max had fallen back asleep a few minutes later, but checking his vital signs, Dr. Regina Deininger quietly told Sebastian Benke that Max seemed to be coming out of his unconscious state.  She gave him the call button if he came more fully awake.   

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Dr. Deininger and another American doctor plus an orthopedic specialist from Nagano Regional Hospital laid out their plans to Sebastian and Marta Benke.  Max’s leg was badly broken.  The right femur (the large bone from the hip to the knee) had broken in two places, and the right tibia (the major bone from the knee to the ankle had broken in at least three places and had broken through the skin.  The left leg has massive bruises, but no breaks.  Likewise, Max’s right arm had breaks in the radius (lower arm bone) and ulna (the other lower arm bone).

Their analysis was that the leg bones were too broken and should be replaced by artificial limbs.  The arm bones could be rejoined through surgery.  Surgery could be done in Nagano or he could be flown back to Denver for the surgeries.  Recovery time and physical therapy would take months.  Dr. Deininger added quietly “we don’t think he will ever ski again but will have a good life.  His helmet prevented him from any major blows to the brain.”

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The Benkes opted to fly Max home.  Deininger had colleagues in the UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora Colorado and knew it was nationally ranked for its skills.  They opted to fly Max home.  They had checked with the United States Olympic Committee who had medical insurance for all athletics and that was an acceptable plan.  

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So Max Benke was flown back to Colorado on a specialized jet with his parents and a few other people.  

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The surgeries went well. Max had an artificial leg, his arm bones had set. Max went home to Boulder for a regiment of physical therapy.  

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But, as Max slowly recovered and slowly assessed his state, depression set in.  He was to be an Olympic Champion.  He was to walk in the Closing Ceremony with at least two medals hanging around his neck (and maybe even three).  Upon coming home, there would be a grand parade in either Denver or Boulder with fans cheering the champion.  His professors at the University of Colorado would ask on the first day of class, “Are you Max Benke the Olympic ski champion” and he would smile and say “Yes”.  The girls on the campus would ooh and aah around him.  

He wasn’t coming home in a body bag like Uncle Felix did coming home from Vietnam.  He was alive, but he was a broken man.

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For the first month, he lived at the North Star rehabilitation facility.  There was physical therapy and occupational therapy.  Then he went to his parent's home but still had physical therapy.  He relearned walking and driving.

One afternoon while with a driving instructor, he wanted so much to just veer off the road and over a cliff and end this agony.  Later as he could drive on his own, that same thought occurred to him as he drove the winding Boulder Canyon Road.  He was Max Benke - a nothing.  Not even a college degree - broken and artificial leg, broken (but healed) arm, and broken spirit.  

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Alcohol became part of his recovery - he could drink and dull the pain.  His parents had various kinds of alcohol in their house, but soon he was buying his own bottle of cheap vodka.  

Without meaning to, Max Benke - star skier, member of the 1998 Olympic team, became Mark Benke, alcoholic, loser, scum.

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On June 17th, 1998, Mark Benke tried to kill himself.  He took a large knife from the kitchen drawer and plunged it into his heart area.  Fortunately or unfortunately, the skin was strong and the knife was dull, but the knife attempt did cause blood loss.  His dad, Sebastian, was a professor but somehow his dad’s schedule had changed.  He was going to go golfing with some buddies, but a quick rain shower and threatening skies changed his plans.  He came home about five minutes after Max’s knife thrust and immediately called 911 and his wife.  

Max went back into therapy - but this time for depression and alcoholism.  Slowly the black cloud over his head eased. He was alive.  He had things he could do other than skiing. The therapy facility urged Max to go through the Alcoholics Anonymous Twelve Step program. Reaching the bottom in his life, he agreed to make some changes.  He recognized that of his own he was a failure; he recognized that divine power could help him.

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Since 1999 Max Benke has been sober.  He did ski again - but that drive, passion wasn’t there.  It was for fun - gently gliding down the slopes.  

He finished his degree and got a master's degree and a doctorate in sports medicine.  And, Dr. Max Benke (not to be confused with Dr. Sebastian Benke - his dad), now works on those who are broken in bones - and broken in spirit.

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Karen White

February 19, 2022