‘They’ve Not Been Very Cooperative’: Woman’s Son Died At Colorado Ski Resort. Now She’s Appealing To Any Skiers, Snowboarders Who Saw What Happened

The mother of a man who died after a ski accident is looking for answers—and needs the internet’s help.

On Dec. 11, 2024, 32-year-old Donovan Romero fell off of a ski lift at Colorado’s Keystone ski area. While reports have indicated that the lift was functioning properly at the time of his fall, Donovan’s mother, Tonette Romero, says that she still has questions that the ski area is refusing to answer.

Now, Tonette is turning to TikTok to see if anyone can help her find any photos or videos from the day of her son’s accident.

What Happened To This Woman’s Son?

As reported by the Colorado Sun, Donovan passed away due to injuries sustained after falling from a chairlift at the Keystone ski area.

Reports indicate that Romero was riding the Ruby Express chairlift on Dec. 11, 2024, when he fell off. One witness alleged that he was adjusting his snowboard bindings at the time of the fall. Others have disputed this claim. The riders did not lower the safety bar. Estimates put the fall at around 47 feet.

Although Romero was wearing a helmet, a GoFundMe set up by his family notes that he sustained “a head injury along with multiple physical injuries.” These injuries eventually led to Romero’s passing on May 2, 2025.

An investigation into the incident found that the chairlift was functioning properly at the time of the accident.

“Based on the initial investigation and witness statement, the incident does not appear to have been caused by any lift malfunction and further investigation is not warranted at this time,” the tramway safety board said following the accident, per the Colorado Sun.

What Is His Mother Looking For?

In a video with over 131,000 views, Tonette (@tmr_5280realestate) says that she recently saw a video of someone being medevaced out of a ski hill being shared on social media. This made her return to the topic of her son—and the lack of clarity she has around the day of the accident.

To start, she says she has not been to the accident site and that the resort has not cooperated with her requests.

“I don’t know that Keystone would even let me up there. They’ve not been very cooperative with providing me information. They’ve refused to give me accident reports; they refuse to take phone calls from me, so I don’t really have a picture of what happened that day,” she explains.

Seeing this video of the medevac, however, made her realize that others may have images of her son, the event, its aftermath, or any additional details.

“If there is anybody that has any video footage from that day, it would have been between 11:00 and 12:00, probably closer to 11:45, I want to say, on Wednesday, Dec. 11,” she says.

What To Look For

Tonette adds that the helicopter was present on the mountain for a significant amount of time. While she says she appreciates people not sharing footage of this around the time of the accident, she says she would now like to see it.

“I have so many questions about that day,” she starts. “There are so many missing pieces of the puzzle to that day, and I saw him at his worst once he had arrived at the hospital and had undergone brain surgery—so there’s not much that’s going to freak me out. … It’s nothing that I didn’t experience in the weeks and months following his accident.”

If one does not have footage of the helicopter, she still says she would like to see footage people have of that day on the hill, as it’s possible that he is visible in other shots prior to the accident. On that day, he was wearing grey snowpants, a two-toned brown and blue jacket, and black Oakley goggles.

“I think that it may bring me some peace and healing during this time, and so I appreciate anybody going back through and looking at the footage that they may have from that time frame,” Tonette shares.

What Happened Next?

Since posting her video, the discussion has spread to Reddit, which has largely proved fruitless.

Still, Tonette’s efforts have many discussing the importance of the “bar” on ski lifts. While chairlifts have a track record of safety—a 2024 report found that there have only been 35 chairlift fatalities at U.S. ski areas since 1956, per the Colorado Sun—there’s still a significant potential for danger.

While many ski resorts post signs encouraging riders to lower the bar, resorts in the United States rarely mandate it. As a result, the bar often goes unused. One study found that, in the Rocky Mountain region, which includes Colorado, Montana, Idaho, Utah, and New Mexico, the bar is pulled down only 40% of the time. This is despite the fact that many resorts have signs instructing riders to lower the bar.

“We must ask: why is this optional? Why aren’t ski resorts required to ensure that riders use the safety bar, especially when it’s installed for a reason? A safety measure is only effective if it’s used,” the Romero family wrote in a statement. “It’s time to call for consistent, enforceable rules requiring safety bar use across all ski areas—so that no one else has to suffer the unimaginable consequences of inaction or regulation.”

Commenters Have Advice

In the comments section, some users offered photos and footage. Others simply shared their thoughts on how Tonette can improve her chances of getting information.

“From an attorney – send the resort an evidence preservation letter. Have ChatGPT write it for you, it does not need to come from a lawyer,” suggested a user. “You’ll probably need to get a lawyer to demand the evidence for you but while you’re figuring that out you don’t want their document retention policy to allow for destruction of video, witness statements, investigation notes, etc. Send it ASAP and make sure to send it to their statutory agent (you can find that info on the secretary of state’s website probably) AND their corporate office (best address you can find on Google).”

“I worked at keystone last year when this happened. i would reach out to keystone ski patrol members and try to get their perspective about what happened and what they saw,” added another. “Im so sorry for your loss. i had a friend on ski patrol that responded to the accident that day and the details he shared with me were brutal so definitely try to get in touch with one of their members.”

“I would contact one of the many ski attorneys in Colorado for any advice they can provide or if they are able to take your case,” wrote a third. “So sorry this happened and that it has been so difficult to get information.”

BroBible reached out to Vail Resorts via email and Tonette via TikTok direct message and comment and Instagram direct message.