Caleb Moore clinging to life after X Games crash

After mustering enough strength to walk away from a cringe-inducing accident in which his own snowmobile rolled over him Thursday evening in Aspen, Caleb Moore is now clinging to life in a Grand Junction hospital.

The 26-year-old wrecked his Polaris snowmobile at the ESPN Winter X Games, when he apparently under rotated and caught the sled's skis in to the lip of his planned landing spot. The 450-pound machine collided with Moore as he tumbled down the mountain. Somehow he was able to walk off the course, with assistance, and then taken to Aspen Valley Hospital to treat concussion-like symptoms. Doctors there discovered bleeding around his heart and he was then flown to St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction where he is in critical condition.

His family issued a statement Sunday to report that Moore was recovering from emergency heart surgery but, critically, “his cardiac injury has led to a secondary complication involving his brain.”

Jason Blevins of The Denver Post reports that Moore's situation is "desperate" and that "life is slipping away" from the talented Texan whose hospital bed is surrounded by concerned and distraught family.

"Caleb is not doing good at all," Caleb's grandfather Charles Moore told Blevins on Monday afternoon. "The prognosis is not good at all. It's almost certain he's not going to make it."

While the Winter X Games has had its share of serious injuries and brutal crashes over its 17-year history, no one has ever died from injuries that resulted from their participation in it.

Moore’s mother, Michele, took to Facebook on Monday night to provide an update. “Just let me say that Caleb is still critical but he is definitely fighting; it’s time for you prayer warriors to fight too,” she wrote.

Moore's brother, Colton, was also hurt at the Winter X Games snowmobile freestyle event, although his injury occurred Friday — one day after Caleb's horrific crash.

Both brothers are veterans of Winter X Games. Colton won the gold in last year's snowmobile freestyle and Caleb grabbed gold. They made their X Games debut together in 2010.

Phil Mushnick, a columnist for The New York Post, and others have been critical of what they allege has been ESPN's insensitivity and downplaying of the Moore incident in its television coverage of the event.

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