AFTER six weeks of recovery, Karen Magnussen still can't take a full breath. Her doctors can't say how much longer it will be before she can.
The Olympic silver medallist and long-time North Vancouver figure skating coach has been suffering from severe respiratory problems since she inhaled ammonia that had escaped during a mishap at the North Shore Winter Club Nov. 28.
At first, the club and the firefighters who responded to the incident said no one had been injured. A few days later, the organization acknowledged the skater had been hurt, but it wasn't until last week, when Magnussen contacted the North Shore News, that it became clear how badly.
In addition to causing breathing problems, Magnussen's contact with the chemical has severely compromised her ability to speak, impaired her vision and has left her chronically fatigued to the point that she can't do her job, she said.
As of Friday, Magnussen still hadn't been back on the ice. The skater is on three prescriptions and has been seeing a respirologist on a regular basis, but her prognosis remains unclear.
"When I was first exposed to the ammonia gas, it was explained to me that it is as if I have a steam burn on my skin, only it is my voice, bronchials and lungs," she said by email. "The hope is that enough of the inflammation will have subsided (soon) that the specialists can begin to ascertain how much damage I have sustained."
Magnussen was in her office overlooking the club's skating area just before 6 a.m. Nov. 28, when she saw maintenance workers waving at her from the rink, she said. She stepped out into the hallway leading to that part of the building and was hit by the cloud of ammonia.
Not fully incapacitated, Magnussen said she helped direct the parents and children who were in the lower changing room out of the club before following them out herself.
"In my skates, I coughed and choked my way down the flights of stairs and, as per the instructions of maintenance, out the front door of the NSWC," she said.
Paramedics rushed Magnussen to hospital, where she was put on a respirator. The leak, which had come from the ice rink's refrigeration plant, was stopped when firefighters activated the system's emergency cutoff. They ventilated the building, and the rink remained closed until the problem could be repaired.
While Magnussen said she was grateful to the maintenance staff who alerted her to the mishap, she expressed concern that she hadn't heard an alarm, that there was no clearly marked evacuation route, and that the gas had been allowed to escape into the interior of the building, rather than being pushed and kept outside.
A phone call to the winter club was not returned Tuesday, but in previous comments, a representative said safety protocol had been followed during the incident.
Magnussen said her focus now is on her recovery.
"The first step is to get answers about my health," she said. "It is entirely wait and see."
