Hi All,
I would just like to remind everyone that the reason our sport is such an adrenaline rush is partly because it is dangerous.
I recently had a stack whilst trying to top my PB, it wasn't that unusual an event really I was just trying to push a couple of extra knots out of my gear and lost control.
At first i thought I had broken my arm, I managed to struggle back to shore ok, but after a few days the pain seemed to be coming from my neck and shoulder and I had some numbness down my right arm. I continued working but eventually had some x-rays.
I had just walked through the door returning from the radiologist when the he phoned telling me to get to a hospital asap as I had a broken neck!
The impact of the catapult at nearly 60kph had thrown my head forwards violently causing a dislocation between C5 and C6 and breaking part of the bone off in the process.
The Doctor said I could have very easily have become paraplegic (although I probably would have drowned at the time of the accident if I had severed my spinal cord)
I'm not sure what will happen now, I have my neck in one of those stupid braces and will find out this week if I need surgery.
I'm sure this story won't put anyone off sailing, It's certainly not going to stop me from sailing again as soon as I can (in fact i am devastated that i missed crazies last weekend..
)
It's jut a reminder that when you start to hit higher speeds everything happens quicker and impacts are much harder and to be honest if you're over 40 you're not bulletproof any more....
Take care everyone
Jeez, sorry to hear that, you didn't look good that day, hope you have a speedy recovery!!!!!
I hear ya, hope everythings better real quick.
This middle age thing, as my daughter calls me, is not as fun as when you are 25
Hey Simo,
Glad to hear you are ok, best wishes to you and Nat, here's for a speedy recovery to you.
Regards Geoff
Bloody hell, now there’s a big reality check for some, or all of us.
Hope you don’t have any long term damage/issues and you can get back out there ASAP. Don’t rush it, regardless. Its not good watching from the side lines, and even worse if you rush back, and take a nasty tumble with results not conducive to every day living.
Right now I cant even think of some thing clever to add to cheer you up.
Don’t suffer in silence, if you need any help, yell out. There are enough of us here in Perth that can assist if need be.
Stay on Seabreeze forums so we can follow your progress and when you are allowed back out to play
All the best
Mineral
Hey sinker, I fractured c5,c6,c7,and t1 3 years ago and had to wear a halo brace for 2 months. I also broke my ankle and now have 2 40mm screws holding it together, so I was on crutches as well. It was bloody hard going for a while but luckily I made a good recovery and am now sailing. Hang in there and be a patient patient, something I found hard to do. I had a big stack out sailing the other day and thought I had done my neck in again, luckily I was ok but yes, I am not as indestructable as I thought. Remember as Basil Fawlty once said when told theres always someone worse off than you.... I,d like to meet the poor b#stard as I could do with a laugh...
Hope you get better soon SimonHope to see ya back in the WAVES
This spped stuff a bit too hardcore
Wow , thats full on . Hopefully everything will be hunky dory .
I had to ask , Did you break your PB ????
Hi All,
Thanks very much for the best wishes, I'll be fine I was very lucky really.
I should be seeing the orthopedic surgeon soon and will post the outcome....
Fitz, I'm sorry to hear you smashed yourself up so badly but have to say your post has definitely cheered me up! Great effort to get back on the water after that lot; it makes my injuries look like a stubbed toe. Thanks mate.
S
PS Mr Love, yes I did break my PB as well!!!
Hey Simon,keep ya chin up.Having fractured my t5 in 4 places snowboarding and 10 weeks in a brace anything more than sleeping is a bonus.Try and keep fit durning the recovery period as its makes it easier when the pins,braces etc come off and 40 is only a state of mind.
Whippet Simon,
If you get a halo thingy like Mr Fitz66, can the Divas use you to hang their towels?
Diva Mickey
Sinker, best of luck and hope you are back on the water soon 
I have been thinking lately that my bones are getting a bit more brittle, so sometimes caution is wise. I guess its a balance of 'go for it'. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Hi Sinker think I was there that day, sounds like you're on the road back to recovery.
But this raise the helmet question again, don't remember what you had on.
I'm fairlly sure that helmets are a great thing when you hit something hard, like boom head, mast or board. BUT, it's not a good thing when you hit the water head first!
The extra surface area increases strain on the neck.
So just what did you have on your noggin???
"........if you're over 40 you're not bulletproof any more...."
Yeah, tell me about it.... (Claude excepted, how the hell he hung onto his 6.1 in those 40kn gusts at Pt Walter I'll never know.)
I don't know about the helmet issue but an impact vest would certainly help when you go over the front hooked in and land on your back.How come water can be so hard?
I think something similar happened to Steve Meszaros (WindForce - Nedlands, WA) a couple of years back. Broke stuff in his kneck I think. He's been back on the water for some time now, sailing fast... well, faster than me anyway. But you're right, it's a reality check for all of us. Now, when I slap on my GPS in the pursuit of a PB, I put on my brain bucket. No, it may not stop me from breaking vertabrae, but it may prevent me from being knocked out cold and drowning. Just increasing the odds of surviving 'cuz I'm still going out there. M
7 years ago i was stopped on the highway to do a right hand turn when a B-double rear ended my triton ute at 110kmh,the impact spun my ute into the oncoming traffic and another two cars hit me.
i blacked out for a few seconds and woke to see all the carnage, the semi hit me so hard that my right hand back tyre was squashed against the back of the cab of the ute.
I walked away with whiplash and to this day i still get a sore neck if i try and lift anything too heavy.
If you ever watch the Moto Gp you see the riders wearing what looks like a lump on their backs this is to stop their heads from being forced backwards and to prevent a broken neck.
If a go for a cropper i'll try and get my hands and arms over my head to help break the water...easier said than done.
The HANS safety device as worn by F1 drivers perhaps!! Goes over your shoulders and straps to the helmet. I thought the lumps on the motogp riders was more for aerodynamics, smoothing the airflow from the helmet.
Some league players have something similar attached. I think its Brett Tate from Brisbane uses one. Looks like a plastic plate to stop the head being violently shoved backwards.
Looks very similar to the F1 stuff.
quote:
Originally posted by hardie
Does anyone know if there are whiplash prevention devices?
There is a foam collar that race drivers wear to stop the head flying about in a rollover. They're pretty comfortable and if you are wearing that and a helmet everybody watching would know you're hardcore
I did a little bit a research on the idea of using a neck support, for my speed kit. Turns out that if it is the wrong shape/size, it can be far more dangerous than not wearing anything. Basically it acts like a fulcrum giving the g-forces something to push against, rather than your neck acting like a shock absorber....
That said, I would probably still get one.
quote:
Originally posted by hardie
Does anyone know if there are whiplash prevention devices?
Most of the devices you are describing work are desinged to work with care race or motorcycle helmets. The only thing that i know of that might prevent the injury that sinker went through is called a stiff neck. this is a device we use to immobilise the neck when injured and it designed to prevent neck movement. Soft collars offer little support and will still allow violent movements that may cause injury.
The brace that brent tate uses is desinged to stop hyper-extension and somewhat extension of his neck. However, you can still suffer significant injury with hyperflexion - even better at the speeds guys are going you could theoretically suffer a brachial plexus injuy merely by landing in the water shuolder first and doing the rag doll - common injury seen in water skiing - consequence at its worst a permanently paralysed arm. A mild form of this is called a burner or stinger - and leaves your arm feeling stinging for a few days or weeks and really weak - if you know any rugby league or union players they may be familiar.
I cannot think of any device known that would protect the neck yet still enable you to swim in the event of a crash. If you are truly concerned thebn wear a PFD 3 with head support so that in the event of a head or neck injury with loss of consciousness you will at least float with your head out of water.
My regards to sinker and trust you have an uneventful and speedy recovery.
Darryl
Hi All,
Just a quick update, I saw an Orthopedic surgeon on Friday, he explained my injuries and showed me my CT scan.
C5 is dislocated, slightly twisted but jammed in place (which is good), there is a split in the vertebra and some fragments of bone around.
They treat this by either operating (ie fuse the vertebrae together by removing the disc, putting in some bone grafts from your hip and steel plating the front
)
The other treatment is to stay in a metal neck brace for about 3 months until the joint fuses naturally.
They advised that as my neck was stable there would be no advantage to surgery so I get to spend some time in my brace....
I will be having x-rays regularly to make sure it's all mending properly, then, after 3 months I can take off my neck brace and try some forward loops
I just did a quick calculation...injury on 21ST july + 12 weeks = 13TH October ...... the day we arrive at GNARALOO STATION!!!!
Good to hear from you and hope all heals well.... though my legs went to jelly when you said you were looking forward to doing a forward loop upon your return
