A father-of-three and well-respected stock agent has died after falling and hitting his head while curling at an ice rink.
Victor Schikker, 67, died in hospital yesterday after the fall at Staveley Ice & Curling Rink in Mid Canterbury on Friday.
His family said it was a tragic accident during an event that Schikker, who worked with PGG Wrightson for 49 years, had organised.
Schikker was airlifted in critical condition after falling backwards and hitting his head on the ice, it is understood.
PGW’s CEO Stephen Guerin said Schikker had been with for almost 50 years.
“We are deeply saddened to confirm that a valued member of our team and Livestock rep, Victor Schikker, suffered a tragic accident whilst at a social curling event, a sport which Victor loved, on the Staveley Ice Rink,” Guerin said.
“Victor spent his entire career with the company in and around the Mid Canterbury area and loved what he did in his role in the business.”
PGW is offering support to those affected, including Schikker’s family and work colleagues.
“Victor will be remembered by all who knew him as a man with a big heart, his sharp-witted sense of humour and will be sorely missed by all who knew him ... Our thoughts are with Victor’s family and loved ones during this difficult time.”
Alongside WorkSafe, PGW will be investigating to understand the circumstances surrounding the accident.
A Hato Hone St John spokesperson said they sent an ambulance and a helicopter to the ice skating rink shortly before 4pm.
Police said the death would be referred to the coroner.
A spokesman for the Staveley Hall Society, which manages the ice rink, declined to comment out of respect for the person’s family. He said the tragedy happened during a private curling function.
It is the second death at an ice skating rink in Canterbury in two weeks.
Kymani Hiley-Hetaraka, 13, died after a catastrophic fall while ice skating on a school trip.
Kymani was transported to Christchurch Hospital in a critical condition on the morning of July 30 after falling at the city’s Alpine Ice Sports Centre.
Her family said she had suffered an unsurvivable head injury.
Two days later, a family member announced Kymani had died in hospital.
Kymani’s parents, Curtis Gwatkin and Maraea Hetaraka, said their “baby” should not have had to die for something to change and that she should have been wearing a helmet.
In July, former Olympic speed skater Andrew Nicholson said he was lucky to be alive after falling through a frozen dam in Central Otago.
Nicholson, who earned a fourth place in a skating event at the 1992 Winter Olympics, was skating at Lower Manorburn Dam when he moved 3m from the thick ice markers and fell through the ice.
“I went in instantly, over my head in water and cries unheard,” Nicholson said in a post on social media.
Nicholson told the Herald he realised he’d made a “big mistake”.
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