The loss at age 10 forever changed the now 23-year-old U.S. aerial skier, whose competing in the Olympics is just another feat on a long list of athletic and personal achievements.
BEIJING — When she was 10 years old, Winter Vinecki pulled her mattress down the stairs of her house so she could be with her father as he was dying.
Prostate cancer would keep Michael Vinecki from his 41st birthday. His wife, Dawn, knew she could not save herself from widowhood, and she decided she would not shield her children from death. Dawn is an obstetrician and gynecologist.