Heartbroken Dad of Late Figure Skating Sensation Shares True Feelings About Son’s Qualities Hours After the Fatal Tragedy

“I am so happy to have qualified for the national development camp earlier in November. It has been my goal almost ever since I became aware that it was a thing.” These are the lines that have gone viral since the nightmarish accident that has loomed over fans and skaters all over America. Where are these lines from, you ask? These were part of an Instagram post made by a budding American figure skater.

But instead of joy, the only thing these lines serve as now is a stark reminder of the uncertainty of life. Why, you might ask? Well, because the teenager these lines belonged to has tragically passed away. And that too was one of the worst sports-related accidents in recent memory. These lines belong to Spencer Lee, one of the fateful few who tragically lost their lives in the collision between Flight 5342 and a US Army helicopter.

The 16-year-old was returning riding the flight from Wichita with his mother, Christine Lane. Unfortunately, the ride posed their last in the mortal world. But fortunately, the memories are immortal. The figure skating sensation’s father is now left with the memory of his son and wife only. He, however, shared a bit of it. 

Grieving father engages in the daunting task of fighting emotions 

On January 30, a clip surfaced on X shared by Collin Rugg. It featured Doug Lane, who lost both his son and wife in the crash. It is already hard when you lose someone from your family. So we can only imagine the grief Doug is going through after losing not only his young son but also his wife of many years, Christina, in this freak crash. And the immense grief was evident on his face in this clip.

His world came crashing down when he learned of this news. He quotes, “He was like a phenomenon and just loved it. And there wasn’t anyone pushing him. “He was just somebody who loved it and had natural talent, but also just worked every day.” And this is not just a loss for Spencer’s family. The skating community as a whole lost someone who had every making of a champion. Young Spencer could very well be called the face of the Boston Skating Club. His father also reveals that Spencer was their adopted son. 

In the clip, Doug revealed that he and his wife adopted their two sons from South Korea. Spencer, however, was older compared to his brother. And stood on duty as a great older brother. Doug shared a few words about Spencer’s initial days of figure skating. “About three years ago, saw Nathan Chen in the Olympics and decided, ‘Hey, I could do that.’ And even though people train since they’re, you know, a small child and it takes them years and years to develop skills, he went, he started in like, you know, learn to skate basic, learn to skate,” remained his words. 

Surprisingly, in just three years, Spencer Lane made his way to the National Development Center, sharing the arena under the tutelage of former world champions. According to his father, the credit goes to Spencer’s determination to make it big in the figure skating sport. But now it is all about the vacancy. On Wednesday night, Doug Lane witnessed his family shattered. Like him, there were a few more families who lost someone linked with the figure skating sport because of the crash. Here are a few details. 

The figure skating sport lost gems and jewelers on a cold, windy night 

“ICT->DCA,” Spencer Lane wrote in his Instagram story a few hours before the crash on January 29. His story explained the codes of two airports, Wichita and Washington, D.C. A journey that remained unfinished for 60 passengers, traveling in American Eagle Flight 5342, under the flag of American Airlines.

However, the passengers’ list had 14 individuals who shared links with the figure skating sport. Spencer Lane was one from that list, coming from the Skating Club of Boston. Apart from him, there had been a few more on the list of human casualties who shared the same link. Such as? During the entire journey, Spencer Lane and his mom were joined by Jinna Han and her mother, Jin Han. Like Spencer, Jinna had also been someone sharing links with the Skating Club of Boston.

The duo had two massive names with them as the coaches, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova. The duo competed together at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. However, they missed the podium by a whisker. But in the same year, they won the world championship. The next year, they married each other. 

Among the other victims of this crash are Eddie Zhou, Everly Livingston, Alydia Livingston, Franco Aparicio, Inna Volyanska, Sean Kay, Angela Yang, Brielle Beyer, and Cory Haynos. This is a devastating loss to the sport and the sports community. We can only imagine what is going through the lives of the friends and families of the affected.

All we can hope is that the investigation can bring some light to the reason behind this grave incident. And in the meantime, keep the family and friends of the deceased in our thoughts and prayers.