HANOVER, N.H. (AP) – A Dartmouth College student has died, a year after suffering severe head injuries in a ski accident during a physical education class.

Christina Porter, 21, of Brooklyn, N.Y., died Sunday night at a New Jersey hospital.

The sophomore was injured Feb. 3 at the Dartmouth Skiway during her third skiing class. According to her father, Brent Porter, she was skiing down the trail when she veered off the course and hit a tree.

The crash broke Porter’s skull into 12 pieces and left her in a coma for six months. She was not wearing a helmet.

Porter had been making some progress through the summer and fall, recognizing friends and communicating with her left index finger. But she suffered a setback recently when an infection forced the removal of the synthetic skull that had replaced the injured area.

Dartmouth President Jim Wright said the college is deeply saddened by Porter’s death.

“She was a caring, generous young woman who made many contributions to our community by her intelligence, her warmth, and her talents as an artist and musician. We extend our deepest sympathies to her family and friends,” he said.

Porter was a gifted voice an art student who planned to major in art history and French. She often sketched portraits of her friends on napkins or scraps of paper and was known for her quirky and colorful e-mail messages.

After her injury, art and music became an important part of her therapy. According to a Web site set up by her family, she was able to play on a keyboard and paint with finger paints.

Dartmouth lowered its flag to half staff earlier this week in Porter’s memory. A service honoring her life will be held Friday in Brooklyn Heights, and a benefit for fund her parents created to support head trauma research is scheduled for Feb. 8.