Caleb Moore, Freestyle Snowmobile Rider, Dies After X Games Crash

Caleb Moore, a freestyle snowmobile rider, who suffered a spectacular crash during last week's Winter X Games in Aspen, died today because of his injuries, his family said.

Moore was 25.

Here's how ESPN, which hosts the X Games, describes the incident:

"The 25-year-old was performing a flip Thursday when he clipped the top of a jump and went over the handlebars. The snowmobile rolled over him, but he walked off the course with help and went to a hospital with a concussion.

"While there, he developed bleeding around his heart and was flown to Grand Junction for surgery Friday. His family said Sunday that Moore then had a secondary complication involving his brain. They didn't provide details. He had been in critical condition.

"Moore's younger brother, Colten, also crashed in the competition and sustained a separated pelvis."

Video of the crash can be seen in this YouTube clip.

The New York Times reports that Moore, from Krum, Tex., was already an accomplished "trick artist" on four-wheel all-terrain vehicles when he took up the 450-pound snowmobile. He learned how to do a back-flip on the vehicle just weeks before the 2010 X Games.

"Despite only weeks of practice on the snow," the Times reports, he "won a bronze medal that year."

In a statement, ESPN said they were "deeply saddened."

"He will be remembered for his natural passion for life and his deep love for his family and friends, and he will always be an inspiration to everyone he touched in the action sports community," the network said.

The Chicago Tribune reports that this is the first death in the 17-year history of the Winter X Games, "but his death raises some serious questions about the safety of the Games, which challenge athletes to push themselves to extremes."

Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.