Britt Jones
The parents of a five-year-old who died on ski slopes have made a major change in their lives to make sure people don’t make this one mistake.
Chauncy and Kelli Johnson had a nightmare Christmas Eve in 2010 when they took their children to their local mountain in Casper, Wyoming.
Elise, who was five, and Camilla, then three, were on the slopes with them that day.
Joined by Kelli’s parents who were looking after their four-month-old baby, Logan, in the location’s lodge, all four took off into the snow.
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At the time, Kelli went to a short blue run with Elise, while Chauncy took Milli to the bunny hill. Sadly, that was the last time Chauncy would see Elise as she left with her mom.
Whilst on the run, Kelli stopped off to the side to fix Elise’s ski when a snowboarder hit the pair from behind.
Going an estimated 50 to 60 miles an hour, the impact flung Elise into the air and 50 feet away, where she landed and broke her neck - tragically killing her.
The snowboarder, identified as 23-year-old Craig Shirley, also flew away from the crash 40 feet away and died from blunt force trauma.
As for Kelli, she suffered a traumatic brain injury that left doctors unsure if she’d ever wake up.
“She still doesn’t remember the moment of impact, which is actually a blessing,” Chauncy, 46, told PEOPLE, adding: “I also feel fortunate not to have witnessed it, because the aftermath was so traumatic.”
Thankfully, Kelli managed to make a recovery, but had to learn how to walk and swallow again, and also didn’t remember that Elise had died.
After three months, she returned home where Chauncy had been ‘drinking’ to ‘process all of this’.
But after some time, he revealed he wanted to make the slopes safe for other people.
He said: "I’d think about how I could make the mountain safer, even just for me to feel good about going back to skiing again.”
In 2016, he reached out to the National Ski Areas Association to create a new safety program, and in 2023 founded the nonprofit Snow Angel Foundation, which talks to youth groups, race clubs, skiers and ski patrollers about Elise and her story and how to make mountains safer.
Their slogan is: “She was five. You were doing 50.”
“We do our best to leave people inspired and not feeling sad,” Chauncy said, adding: “We're really the first people that have lost a family member on the slopes, come back in and said, 'We need to be more open about our conversations about safety on the mountain, and we need to provide people with better tools to understand how to mitigate risk better.' "
It was reported by CBS that Elise was the only person out of all three who was wearing a helmet.
At the time, National Ski Areas Association spokesman Troy Hawks told ABC News that wearing a helmet doesn’t guarantee safety, but being aware of other people on the slope can.
He said of Elise’s death: "This is certainly a tragedy. This really speaks to the idea that wearing a helmet is not the silver bullet defense, and skiing in control and being aware of others should be the first line of defense of safety on the slopes."
Now, Chauncy, Kelli, and their four children - which includes daughters Reese, 11, and Leilani, nine, who they welcomed after Elise's death - ski together.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact The Compassionate Friends on (877) 969-0010