NORTHERN Tasmanian neurologist Stan Siejka has died after a skiing accident in New Zealand.
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Tributes flowed for the respected Launceston specialist after word spread within medical and sporting circles of his death early yesterday.
He had been on a school-holiday skiing trip with his teenage sons Dylan and Timothy.
Apart from his standing as a member of Northern Tasmania's senior medical fraternity, Dr Siejka and former international cyclist Tom Sawyer created and developed the successful Launceston Cycling Classic.
Dr Siejka, who celebrated his 51st birthday last week, was skiing on a fast slope at Porters Pass, about an hour from Christchurch, on Wednesday afternoon when he lost control and fell badly.
A spokeswoman for his Launceston family said yesterday that Dr Siejka had been seriously injured after sliding several hundred metres down the slope.
Christchurch newspaper The Press quoted Porters' general manager Uli Dinsenbacher as saying that Dr Siejka had been wearing a helmet and was protected when he fell but he had come out of his skis before sliding.
Dr Siejka's sons were with him from the time that he was airlifted to Christchurch Hospital and taken to theatre.
The Press reported that Dr Siejka had been conscious and speaking to paramedics when they arrived to retrieve him but died early yesterday morning.
Dr Siejka is the son of former Polish immigrant and community worker Jan Siejka and his wife Mary, of Launceston.
They rushed home from Queensland yesterday to be with the rest of the family, including Dr Siejka's brother John, sisters Irena Blissenden and Lucy Brewster, and their families.
Dr Siejka is a former St Patrick's College student and University of Tasmania graduate who worked in Canada for several years before returning to his home state because he missed the lifestyle.
He took to cycling with a passion after he started to ride with Mr Sawyer in his spare time and donated thousands of dollars to establishing the Launceston Classic.
He has been Northern Tasmania's only neurologist and in the mid-1990s he was the only neurologist in the state for three years, undertaking outreach service to the Royal Hobart Hospital.
Long-time colleague and Launceston General Hospital director of surgery Berni Einoder was at a Queensland conference when told of Dr Siejka's death but left immediately to fly home.
Australian Medical Association state president Chris Middleton said that the peak doctors body was shocked and saddened to hear of the death.
"He will be sadly missed and we extend our heartfelt condolences to his family," he said.
LGH director of medicine Alisdair Macdonald said that Dr Siejka was one of the North's senior physicians and his loss professionally to the area would be significant.
"We've all known him well professionally but also as a friend," Professor Macdonald said.
Dr Siejka and his wife, Kathryn, have lived apart for a number of years but she flew to New Zealand yesterday to be with their sons, Dylan, 17, and Timothy, 15.
Their daughter, Meg, 12, has also flown to New Zealand. Dr Siekja has a daughter Kirsten, a Hobart lawyer, from a previous marriage.
Nobody is sure yet about details of a funeral but it is expected to be in Tasmania next week.
