Ashley Battersby said she’s always called Sarah Burke her idol.

So when she first mustered up the courage to introduce herself to Burke eight years ago during a freestyle ski competition at Mammoth Mountain in California, Burke caught the Park City resident by surprise.

“I went up to her, put my hand out, and she finished my sentence,” Battersby explained. “She said, ‘You’re Ashley, I know who you are.'”

That, Battersby says, is what makes the 29-year-old Canadian freestyle ski star so special. A pioneer in the sport of freestyle skiing, Burke helped pave the way for all women in the sport, Battersby said.

But the inventive daredevil Burke is currently in critical condition at University Hospital in Salt Lake City fighting her toughest battle. She was knocked unconscious in a fall at Park City Mountain Resort’s Eagle Superpipe Tuesday afternoon during a training session at a personal-sponsor event. Burke was stabilized on the scene by the PCMR mountain patrol before being transported to the base, according to Andy Miller, communications manager with PCMR.

Miller said Burke was taken by helicopter to University Hospital.

In a statement released by Burke’s publicist Thursday afternoon, she remains in critical condition following a successful operation to repair a “tear to her vertebral artery which resulted in an intracranial hemorrhage at the time of her fall.”

William T. Couldwell, M.D. Ph.D., professor and chair of neurosurgery at the University of Utah, performed the operation to repair the artery, the statement said.

“With injuries of this type, we need to observe the course of her brain function before making definitive pronouncements about Sarah’s prognosis for recovery,” said Couldwell in the statement. “Our Neuro Critical Care team will be monitoring her condition and response continuously over the coming hours and days.”

According to a statement released Wednesday, Burke’s husband, Rory Bushfield, along with her family, was by her side at University Hospital.

“Sarah is a very strong young woman and she will most certainly fight to recover,” Bushfield said in the statement.

A native of Squamish, B.C., Burke is a four-time Winter X Games gold medalist in the superpipe competition. She was named the Female Action Sports Athlete of the Year in 2007 at the annual ESPY Awards, which are presented by the ESPN network.

“Sarah is the top female halfpipe athlete in the world, she was instrumental in launching the sport and has continued to be a leader moving towards the sport’s Olympic debut in 2014,” said Canadian Freestyle CEO Peter Judge in the same statement. “She is an incredibly resilient and strong young woman and we are hoping she will draw on that strength at this time. Our thoughts are with her and her family at this time.”

Having lobbied heavily for the inclusion of freestyle skiing in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia — where the sport will make its Olympic debut — Burke is widely considered the face of the sport.

Battersby said since that handshake eight years ago, she and Burke have become close.

“Instead of her being my idol and hero, she was suddenly one of my really good friends,” she said.

Battersby said that, to the best of her knowledge, Burke fell “doing a trick she knows how to do.”

“Luckily she was wearing a helmet, but you don’t really think about all the bad injuries until it happens to somebody,” she said. “You try and keep that fear and doubt out of your mind, because you don’t want to think about it.”

A member of the U.S. freestyle ski program, Battersby said she spent the last week in Breckenridge, Colo., training for the upcoming Winter Dew Tour stop in Killington, Vt., on Jan. 19-22. She said during her training in Breckenridge she spent time with fellow female freestyle skiers from the U.S., Canada and France, and the mood was a somber one.

Battersby said her friend will be honored in Killington next week by keeping her Dew Tour spot vacant.

“Everybody is taking it in still,” she said. “A lot of people have stopped practicing. Everyone is just bumming, but everybody is sticking together.”

The 23-year-old Battersby said, like everyone, she’s simply crossing her fingers and hoping for the best.

“I know miracles can happen,” she said. “I know Sarah can come back. I know she will make it back.”