When Vratislav Durech moved from Jasper to Squamish, B.C., the 46-year-old construction worker took full advantage of the community’s outdoor lifestyle. “He just loves adventure of all kinds. He’s an amazing skier, amazing climber,” said Durech’s friend Iva Kubickova. In March 2025, Durech and his wife set out in their camper van for a year-long road trip to North and Central America. They were just weeks away from returning home when Durech fell 40 meters while ice climbing with friends in Colorado on Jan. 24. “That’s not a fall that you would expect most people to survive. So it’s just a miracle that he did,” said Kubickova. Durech was airlifted to hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado, with broken bones in his face, pelvis, arms and legs. Close friend Pierre Carret immediately travelled from Jasper to Colorado to be at Durech’s side. “They were telling me he was in really rough shape, and I would have to really prepare to see him,” said Carret. “His face was all swelled up and his jaw was really damaged.” On Friday, he underwent extensive facial reconstruction surgery. As the medical bills were adding up, Durech’s wife learned the travel insurance they bought for their trip did not cover extreme sports like ice climbing. “Because of how the activity is classified, the insurance coverage was denied, which just means that all of the medical costs have to be covered privately,” said Kubickova. “And that just adds so much weight to a situation that’s already so overwhelming.” So Durech’s best friend started a GoFundMe to help cover the mounting costs. “First thing first was to raise enough money to pay for the Medevac,” said Durech’s friend Marianne Dallaire, who is also Carret’s wife. “These are private companies, and you need to be paid up front before they bring an airplane, an ambulance airplane to Colorado to fly him over to Vancouver.” “A big, positive step is that he’s been accepted for transfer to Vancouver General Hospital (VGH). We’re waiting for a bed to become available in the ICU so that we can bring him home,” said Kubickova, adding, “It’s hard to think about it, just adding all of the different costs that have occurred already. It’s going to be a massive, massive medical bill. But that’s why it’s so important to bring him back home, so that he can continue his care here at home.” Once Durech is stable enough to be transferred, and a bed is available at VGH, he will be flown home. “He will need support for a long time, but we’ll be there for him,” said Carret. He and his wife say it’s a chance for them to give back. When they lost their home in the Jasper, Alta., wildfires, Durech invited them to live with him in Squamish. “It’s our turn, and we’re paying it forward,” said Dallaire. While the road to recovery will be a long one, Kubickova says everyone who loves Durech is ready to take that journey with him, adding, “the most important thing is we still have him with us.”
