Liam Talley Walsh

Liam Talley Walsh, M.D. WASILLA, AK - Dr. Liam T. Walsh, 33, of Wasilla, Alaska, was lost in an avalanche while backcountry skiing in Hatcher Pass, Alaska on November 22, 2015. He remains missing and is presumed deceased. Liam was born May 7, 1982 in Saratoga Springs, NY, the son of Robert W. Walsh and Janet E. Talley. He attended Saratoga schools and graduated from Saratoga Springs High School in 2000, where he was a member, briefly, of the National Honor Society and lettered in soccer, wrestling and music. After graduation, Liam attended SUNY New Paltz, where he played varsity soccer until he transferred as a sophomore to SUNY Albany, where he assisted in research on human homologous recombination proteins under Dr. Ravindra Gupta. While studying at SUNY, Liam worked as a patient care associate at Albany Medical Center Hospital, helping para- and quadraplegic patients in the hospital’s orthopedics service. In 2004, Liam was awarded a B.S. in Biology, summa cum laude, from SUNY Albany. After taking a year off to live in NYC and ski Utah, among other adventures, Liam began his medical studies in Brooklyn at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine in 2005. While at Downstate, Liam played on several NYC soccer teams, including the Central Park Rangers FC of the Cosmopolitan Soccer League, and worked in the College gym during his free time. In his second year of medical school, Liam competed in the US Freeskiing Championship at Snowbird, Utah; he barely missed the finals competing against pros from all over the world. In 2009, just before graduation, Liam broke his leg hucking a cliff at Tuckerman Ravine on Mt. Washington, NH, and was on crutches when he received his M.D. diploma on the stage of Carnegie Hall. He was hooded during the ceremony by his honorary grandfather, Dr. David A. Wasser of Saratoga Springs. Still on crutches, Liam began a four-year Anesthesiology residency at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in July, 2009, where he left a lasting positive impression on his fellow residents and faculty. Upon completion of his residency, Liam was selected for a one-year fellowship in Pain Medicine at DHMC, which he completed in July, 2014. His training completed, Liam had many employment opportunities before him. Citing the opportunity for adventure, he chose to join the Algone Interventional Pain Clinic in Wasilla, Alaska. He begin his career as a pain medicine specialist in October, 2014 after driving 4,800 miles to Alaska with his father and all his worldly possessions. By all accounts he was an extremely competent and caring physician, and while working in Wasilla he helped develop a successful part-time clinic in Juneau, AK. In recognition of his hard work, Liam was offered a full partnership in the practice which was to commence December 1, 2015, but that, of course, was not to be. Liam is survived by his parents, Robert Walsh and Janet Talley of Wilton, NY, and his brother Eamonn and sister-in-law Elizabeth, of Manila, the Philippines. He also leaves a multitude of loving aunts, uncles, and cousins and legions of loyal friends. A celebration of Liam’s life will be held Sunday, December 20 at the National Museum of Dance, Saratoga Springs, NY from 12:00-4:00 PM. No flowers, please. Donations in Liam’s name may be made to the Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center, www.hatcherpassavalanchecenter.org in the hope that Alaska’s avalanche control capabilities can be brought into the 21st century. Alternately, donations on Liam’s behalf may be made to the American Diabetes Association, www.diabetes.org, an organization dear to Liam’s heart.