Barry Mittan RIP

[luckiest1]

So sorry to hear this.

[kittyjake5]

My condolences to Barry's family. He was not only a great photographer but a wonderful person.

[La La Candy]

I'm shocked. Condolences to Barry's family and friends. His legacy will live on in his outstanding work.

[Sk8Leigh]

I haven't logged on or even read FSU for years, my skating fandom has slightly dwindled but I just wanted to add to all the wonderful things said about Barry. I first met him in the 90s when the skating internet was a small crowd and he was everything everyone has said; kind, generous, caring. I think what really stands out is that he loved the skating for the skaters, it wasn't about pleasing the higher ups or promoting himself. He took gorgeous photos for the skaters and their fans. He gave me so many lovely photos when I mantained a fan web site and was always generous with his time to help me be a better photographer. A very sad day, figure skating has lost a special person,

This all pretty much summarizes me. I think I met him at '96 SA in Springfield, MA, the first competition I went to. He'd always send me a ton of pictures of Todd Eldredge and Irina Slutskaya (and a few others) after every competition to put on my web pages for them. They're still there. I used to have a bunch of his pictures on my walls in college. And he was helpful with questions when I was new to skating photography. He was such a nice guy. I saw him often for a while, but I haven't seen him in ages, as I've mostly lost interest in skating. But this is such a shock, I'm so sad for him and his wife.

[OliviaPug]

How incredibly sad. My sympathies to all who knew and loved Barry. His photography was always inspiring and his photos among my very favorites!

O-

[miffy]

How awful Very sad and shocking news. A great photographer and person.

[grimey]

Wow He was an amazing and gifted photographer. Back in the early 2000's I remember being such a huge fan of his skating photos.

[Aussie Willy]

How devastating! This article has a photo of the crash -- it is not the kind of crash site that makes you cringe. http://www.tallahassee.com/article/2...yssey=obinsite What a terrible thing.

That is unbelievable that someone could die from being rear ended by another vehicle. You just never know, do you.

[cruisin]

The other article states that the police said they could not find anything in the car that he struck. I don't understand this. Can whiplash be so severe, that it could cause fatal brain trauma?

[skatesindreams]

Yes.
Your body/brain absorbs the collective force of all the cars that struck yours.

[skatingfan5]

That is unbelievable that someone could die from being rear ended by another vehicle. You just never know, do you.

The other article states that the police said they could not find anything in the car that he struck. I don't understand this. Can whiplash be so severe, that it could cause fatal brain trauma?

Not sure what caused his severe brain trauma, but his car was just not rear ended -- it was the third car of four involved in the crash, so his car was pushed into the car ahead, which may have compounded the force of the initial collision. Very sad.

[aftershocks]

That is unbelievable that someone could die from being rear ended by another vehicle. You just never know, do you.

The other article states that the police said they could not find anything in the car that he struck. I don't understand this. Can whiplash be so severe, that it could cause fatal brain trauma?

^^ I don't intend to be presumptuous during such a devastating time for those who knew and loved Barry Mittan. And obviously we're not doctors and we don't know the exact details of what happened. As you noted, cruisin, Mr. Mittan's wife Jayne is quoted in the Tallahassee Democrat article: "His only injury was to his head. But the police officers couldn’t find anything he struck (inside his vehicle)."

http://www.tallahassee.com/article/2...from-car-crash

There is literature suggesting that acute whiplash can cause severe damage to the brain in a car accident.

http://www.brainhealthandpuzzles.com...in_injury.html

http://medicalcenter.osu.edu/patient...ges/index.aspx
Scroll down to "What causes bruising and internal damage to the brain"


In any case, the details of Mr. Mittan's extraordinary accomplishments, caring acts, and great enthusiasm for life and for figure skating are what matter most. May he rest in peace, and may his wonderful spirit and the cherished memories of those closest to him provide a measure of comfort during this difficult time.

[Kasey]

Whiplash can cause a "couz contrez couz" (not sure of the spelling) injury of the brain. Basically, the brain is not firmly attached in our cranium, but has wiggle room; the impact pushes the head forward, where the brain itself will hit the inside front of the cranium, and then backwards, doing the same thing. So you have basically damaged two parts of your brain, and then swelling begins. A horrible, horrible thing, and as someone earlier said, not a thing he could have done to prevent it. Very sad and insensible loss, and my thoughts to his wife and family, as well as the friends he had worldwide. A loss of a very talented and generous man.

[Aussie Willy]

Aftershocks - I was wondering if it might be something like that. Thanks.

I do know that you can get concussion from something such as falling heavily on your backside. It can have a ricochet effect from your butt to your brain. So you don't have to hit your head directly to suffer head injury.

[cruisin]

Thank you Aftershocks and Kasey. I guess we just don't think of whiplash as being that devastating.

Just an aside, Barry's wife is a doctor. She is a plastic surgeon.

[Aussie Willy]

Just spoke with someone here at work who used to work for the Transport Accident Commission. He said they had so many brain injury cases resulting from rear ending vehicle collisions. Particularly when larger vehicles were involved because of the force of impact.

[houston]

I spoke to Barry many times over the years at competitions and am very sad to learn of his death. He will live on through his photographs and the memories of his many friends. Deep condolences to his family from the Kerr family.

[Christina]

I had the pleasure of meeting Barry while I was at FSU in the late 1990s and scanned some negatives for him at his home in exchange for use of his photos on a website. He was a very kind person, and explained all sorts of photography things to me while I was there. Whenever I take a skater's photo, I always get a secret thrill if it looks like one he would have done.

My condolences to his family

[sk8pics]

My condolences to his family, too. So sad.... I remember him well, though I hadn't seen him in quite a long time.... R.I.P...

[EBASKoroleva]

This is so sad. He took wonderful photographs. He will certainly be missed.