The wife of former Vancouver Olympic organizing committee president John Furlong has been killed in a car crash in Ireland.

Deborah Sharp Furlong died when the car she was driving in by herself collided head-on with a 4x4 vehicle on Thursday. She was airlifted to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead shortly after.

She was vacationing in the southeast of the country.

In a statement issued to CTV News, John Furlong said “It is with a broken heart that I must tell you of the death of my beloved wife.”

“While our extended families are beyond words over this loss, we would like to thank our friends and well-wishers for their heartfelt concern and condolences as our families face this sudden and painful tragedy,” he said.

She was 48 years old.

Furlong is currently embroiled in a legal fight over a Georgia Straight newspaper story that claimed he was physically and verbally abusive while he was a volunteer teacher in B.C. in the 1960s and 1970s.

The former VANOC CEO is suing reporter Laura Robinson for defamation.