Post your worst crashes, bashes and smashes!

Two weeks ago (sept 28) I was flying a Montana II 7m... It was fun, but I stumbled and pulled on the bar and next thing I knew I was a few feet in the air, going completely horizontal for a few seconds and then crashing into the ground. I hit and everything was fine except for my wrist, it was hurting a bit. 13 days later, I had finally found out, after more xrays that I did in fact have a fractured wrist (radius). It was already two weeks in, and it was so minor to start with, that I didn't need a cast put on. If I had gotten results quicker, I would need a cast (thank god for the crappy systems we have!) So basically, I need another check up xray in 3 weeks and then I will see how my hand is, and I should be kiting soon!

Yesterday, apparently my sister went to the emergency room at the hospital... Shes away at university and has my pansh ace 5m. She took it out in 20mph winds (gusting to 30mph) and she cant really remember anything. She just remembers getting picked up into the air. Not the landing - just that she was flung out and couldn't even see the ground!

The story goes that she did pack it up and everything, and then went home, and then over to a friends house, who she had spoken with earlier on msn. Which she remembers, but she couldn't remember how she got home or anything. So she told him that and he's like I was just talking to you 40mins ago and you said you were going to fly your kite etc...

Basically she got a concussion. She was wearing arm and skin (leg) armour plus a full face giro helmet, so I guess it could have been worse!


Anyone else have any stories?

Haven't had a nasty crash in a long time... always get nice scrapes and things on my knees of course but nothing serious!

Worst thing ever happened to me was about 4 1/2 years ago, was flying the old rhombus firebee 6.5m on handles, before i'd discovered depowerables and was pretty new to the sport... anyway, it was well over 20mph and i was on a small field, i really shouldn't have flown the kite but i was desperate! So i take off, get dragged the mile length of the field, the kite was completely overpowering me and i was barely on the floor, i kept holding on cos i really didn't wanna let me kite go! So... very quickly i was traveling far too fast i crash into the alloy wheel of an audi parked on the grass, smack bang into it with my ankle. I then finally let go of my kite, im a bit disorientated, and watch my kite float off into a nearby river... i get up immediately and chase it about a mile to the other side of the river... as i walk back i notice some serious pain in my ankle... i drive home (i had a manual transmission and was noticing a lot of pain pushing the clutch) got home and then decided, ouch my ankle really quite hurts. So i goto the doctor who then sends me to accident and emergency to get my ankle plastered as it was broken in several places...

Thats definitely my worst! My friend fred has some amazing kite surfing horror stories though, including one where he was swallowed whole by a wave, and his flysurfer speed was also swallowed and he lost it in a massive wave in california, it sank and he just about managed to get himself back to the beach and passed out!

I guess thats what its all about though! Glad you're ok now anyway! Glad i've not whacked my head too badly yet it might knock some sense into me!!

Been lucky so far, lots of bumps and bruises, but the only lasting one would be my knee, flying in a lot that's half gravel and half paved, landed a jump with one ATB wheel right on a 3" rock, board stopped dead, I relaunched and landed hard on the pavement, 4 months later and my knee's still somewhat numb to the touch.

Yea, I had that numbness in my knees as well. I fell on some jagged and rough ice covered snow. My left knee has a bit of a numb feeling still, since around janurary or feb this year! but its almost 100% gone now..

I broke my leg in 2001 doing a double front flip kitesurfing.
Then only a few minor bruises and bumps.
April 2007 bashed my knee riding on my ATB. Forgot my kneepads. I'm still sore.

Someone in South Florida ended up in a tree and spent a week comotose a few years ago.

Here's a good one. My friend crashed and had the lines go across his fingers years ago.

Scott

wow, hahha nice picture!

Tore my ACL and meniscus in my right knee almost a year an a half ago from a silly fall while landboarding. I heard a loud pop when it happened but I still did some static flying later that day. (I was at the coast with some friends so I really didn't want to be have to go back home so soon). By the time I got home my knee was swollen up huge and I had a pretty good limp, but that was nothing compared to when I got up the next day- swollen, bruised and throbbing I hobbled to work then one of my co-workers demanded that I have it looked at. Next stop was the urgent care clinic, where the doc examined my leg and said, "I think it's just a bad sprain YOU DEFINITELY DIDN'T TEAR ANY LIGAMENTS". So much for that! It did get somewhat better but was still swollen and I could no longer squat down after a month so I went to the OS who did some tests and informed me that my ACL was blown and I had torn cartilage- the only fix, surgery. I had to wait another month for the swelling to go away before surgery and that was frustrating.

ACL surgery is amazing but sucks because the recovery is so long (you are lucky Baluk- it could be worse). They basically drill a hole through your tibia and femer along the line where your ACL normally is and then thread a new ACL into place- in my case this was a tendon from a cadaver :frog:. Then is was about 7 months of intense rehab until I was free to kite, snowboard, and do pretty much what ever I want. I missed kiting alot during that time, but I think that it has made it even sweeter to be back out doing it again now.

Oh and since you like injury pics- here is my knee after the op: http://www.flickr.com/photos/archkiter/167128977/

Ouch! I like the no/yes on the knees

yeah, pansh ace really like to loft you from time to time, and than drop you like a meteorite.

I did it! I made it thru people! I did NOT fly a kite once in all of October...

I got my XRAY this morning and I"m FREEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

I flew my phantom today... wow. So fun. haha. I can finally fly again!

Good for you Baluk.

I ran over my own hand with the buggy once, that hurt!

Good job making it through.

Here's my shoulder after surgery. No this was not due to kitesurfing...though I'm sure kitesurfing helped me along the road to needing surgery.

My other shoulder is starting to feel not so good the last couple of months :puzzled:

Scott

One of the guys at work just fell and tore his ACL about a month ago. He is due to have surgery sometime this month.

How's this for a picture. It's 12 days after I had heart surgery.

Ah... I swear, this oetober was probably the windiest month from all of 2007 over here. Really.

but now, no wind! I flew the phantom once, and I was planning on trying out a Psycho II today, but we have 2mph winds! argghhh this is more torture than having wind with my wrist fractured, cause then I at least knew "it'll be waiting for me when i'm ready ! "

I'm sitting it out for a few weeks after having a couple of hernias repaired. I think you are right. Knowing that there is no way you can kite takes the edge off when the wind blows.
Too often I get home from work and we have a good East wind. I car share and don't have time for the hour + drive each way for an East many week days.
Sitting there looking at the flags blow and no vehicle is WAY more frustrating :evil:

Everyone LOVES the camera man ! I hope to get out and contribute that way !

I was sent into a multiple ( 5 ) kiteloop / body slam event when 1st starting out on my own. If I had not been wearing a helmet and impact vest I'ld be dead or worse sure. It was also fortunate that I ended the trip in shallow enough water to deal with the wind being totally knocked out of me without having to float / swim in . All I had was a dislocated rib.

Hope you have a speedy recovery Ken!

Wow, everyone's having or had surgery recently ?! Baluk - hope your wrist is better, and hope your sister is ok. Ken - hope you're doing ok.

Since having some lymph nodes out from under my arm I still haven't managed to get out buggying despite getting the ok to resume 'normal activities' about a month ago. There just hasn't been any good wind, or if there has, we've been busy doing other things. Hopefully will get out sometime in the next couple of weeks

Yes Baluk,
I hope your sister is coming around! How is she doing ?
Thanks Stacey,
I'm feeling so good I have to watch out that I don't forget I can't lift things. I'll be ripe and ready to go for snow season here!

My wrist is fine, but my sister still hasnt been able to touch teh kites, has huge headaches all teh time and sees a doctor weeky.

First day at the beach with my new land board got a nice twist of the knee, kite pulled me one way board went the other pretty much inexperience on my part. Was about a month ago now, and the knee still isn't 100% although much better didn't sound nearly as bad as archkiter's either (thank goodness) no serious swelling or bruising just a nasty limp. I'm hoping to be back out in a couple with a hinged knee brace for now on..... probably pick up another one for the other knee just in case... been torture that I have my band new toy (the land board) that I can't play with though. For the 30 - 45 min i was out there it was a blast!


edit... well guess i was wrong.. not getting any better by itself had a mri and it looks like the acl is toast.... looks like i may have a simlar looking knee as archkiter.

Nothing too bad for me yet, which is surprising for the resident daredevil. The worst was my 3 meter in 30mph wind. My hand slipped off one end of the bar which sent it into a uberfast deathspiral and I grabbed the bar just in time to launch it straight up through the power zone and off the edge of a hill I had inadvertandly ended up at, got dropped from about 6 feet on a cactus.

And my aunt knows someone who got lifted and carried into a tree, one of the branches entered at the base of his thigh and exited at the top. OUCH!!!!

was out with pansh ace 4 yesterday, very gusty and very windy, my buddy got 20 seconds hang time on 3 m legend. It was around 70km/h. Super gusty from 1 mph to 40 mph. We were stupid for doing that, anyway I was doing pendulum jumps for two hours, and everything went well, then ones, doing a jump and gust hits, i was already 10 ft up, and it just pulls me up even higher.
Witnesses say around 5 times my height, so I guess around 8-10 meters. It pulled me so unexpectatly that I let go of one handle just because it kept pulling me up, and then bum, i am 8-10 meters above the ground holding to one handle. Landed pretty bad, lost consciousness fore few seconds, hurt my back, but am fine. Got lucky then nothing worse happened.

Not long into getting started, I decided that the winds coming up from Hurricane Edwardo would be fun. Started off ok, kite pulling fine, skuds and such. Then I decide to try a jump, which at this point I was very new to. I went up, and as a new jumper would, panicked a bit. I steered the kite down, avoiding any upward gain. I lost focus, and placed it directly center of the window. The kite pulled me forward, into a superman like dive. I again panicked and let go of the handle, which shot off like a rocket. I dropped and landed in superman fashion on the ground. My back still acts up from that one.

Another fun fall happened when the power line on my Blaze snapped. I was about 5 feet up at that point, and the line just snapped. I dropped, as the kite looped about with the tension in the remaining power line. Not to much of an injury, just scary to see the line snap.

30mph gust picked me up about 10 feet with my 4.5 bullet. Wasn't expecting it, landed hard and spang my ankle. That was back in June, I still can't run very well. Physical therapy every 3 weeks, trying to build strength back into it.

It could have been much worse, I was wearing no gear.