Helicopter pickup at Sherman Island

[jen]

[font=Arial]Matt is my cousin, I went and spent the day with Matt yesterday. He is in the Neuro ICU and doing better than I expected. He is not moving the left side of his body (arm and leg). He still has a lot of swelling and his left eye is swollen shut. He is moving his right arm and leg. He is still on a ventilator and still pretty sedated. He went in for is third surgery on his left leg yesterday. He shattered his left femur and now has a rod in his leg. They were concerned about infection from the Delta waters but there is no infection.

He has a pelvic fracture and multiple facial fractures; Nose broken, septum deviated. Septum; Hairline fractures on pubic bone, S-1 (vertebrae/tailbone) acetabulum (top of hip). He has multiple contusions (bruises) in brain, frontal lobe, parietal lobe (over ears). “Screen” put into vein in left leg today stop any clot pieces from going to lung, or anywhere else.

We are praying everyday that he has a full recovery; and hopefully when the swelling in his brain reduces he will start moving his left side of his body.

I will post updates as he improves.[/font]

[jen]

Thank you all for your well wishes and i will make sure that i bring my laptop in to the hospital as soon as he wakes up to read all of the blogs.

[Hana]

Please let Matt know we are all praying for him. I know how much painful it is to see someone in ICU and not knowing what you can do to help. My wishes for him as well as the family who supports him closely.

[zgur]

Please tell Matt that there are numerous people who are praying for his recovery. The human body has an amazing ability to heal, and support from others is key in making that happen......

About 3 years ago I was laying on a snow covered road after being smashed between two large SUV's: I was trying to get out of the way on a snowy road in Tahoe. My body was the middle of a two SUV sanwich....one was standing still on the road, the other moving at 28mph....

My family's love, physical thearapy and yoga have all helped me to once again to be able to appreciate the gift of the human body......

Today I'm lucky enough to hold my kids, walk and to be able to enjoy the great sport of kiting......my appreciation for the gift of life is much more powerful and ever present after the above experience.....in a strange way, it has made my life better.......and has made me more grateful......

Please pass to Matt my good wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery....

Warm wishes, Zeev.

[KirkTalon]

Matt, we are all sending some serious good energy your way and hoping for your recovery and return to the tribe. Please let us know if there is anything that we as a community can do for Matt or the family.

INCIDENTALLY i would urge kitters at Sherman to please throw their tricks outside of the buoys. I was kitting yesterday afternoon and there were 3 guys (all good kiters I grant you that) just throwing down 20, 10 feet from the shore.

After what happened last week we really want to avoid accidents. The guy on the purple slingshot who dropped the kite several times right in front of the windsurf beach...please brother, with all respect take it down a hundred feet and avoid possible problems or injury to yourself or others.

Was going to wait to talk to you but had to be at the fire house and couldn't wait...

Peace to all

Kirk

[downwind]

It's pretty hard to break the panic grip reaction. You actually have to think to do it and in many situations the only way to avoid it is not to panic which is only possible if you are used to the situation through practice.

I've been launched side-ways before at Crissy on a bad catch and I'm a pretty good kiter. Four thoughts about how to prevent landing injuries:

1) I'm a pretty good kiter, but if I come in really lit I make sure that someone on the beach sees me smacking my helmet before I exit the water. Once I'm out of the water I shout 'I'm really lit, I need a hold-down'. A hold-down can give you that extra time you need to let go, and you tend to get a better catch when someone sees you getting a hold-down.

2) I try to hold on to the bar and control the kite with a light grip when I'm landing. That way if something goes wrong the bar gets pull out of my hands. If you start with a tight grip there's no way you are going to let go before you are in the air.

3) Once the kite is on the ground pop the chiken off. My wife thought up that one and as someone else said it's the best way to practice. If someone misses a catch on you, you'll be thinking one step ahead.

4) When I'm on the beach and safe I think the most important thing is to make sure that the other kiters are safe too. That means that I stop what I'm doing right away to catch another kiter and when I make the catch I don't get lazy and make them bring the kite to me, I RUN to the kite. If that kite bounces and they get hurt that was MY fault, and
I DON'T want to be that guy.

One more thing while 'yall are paying attention: be very careful of 4 line bow kites and landing by yourself. Take it from the guy with 9.75 fingers, the center bridal line may have a de-power ball, but that kite is NOT de-powered until it has sand on it. If you need to get to the kite by moving up that de-power line wind it on the bar or your hook or something. Don't go hand-over-hand like you would on a 5th line, the kite can power up and then all that slack with all the little loops in it runs past your fingers.

[jono]

Jen:

Thanks for the complete and detailed report. Initially, most of us (even the eyewitnesses) kind of thought it was a badly broken leg and a broken nose (that's a quote), and now we are starting to understand how serious this actually was. And, obviously there is safety talk, some ADD to other topics, etc., but that could have been any one of us and (I think) we usually understand the risks (and try not to focus on them).

It's really upsetting to me to hear that Matt is suffering so much from the thing that brings me so much joy -- it forcibly reminds us we are truly flirting with power, the windmills near Sherman prove that, as well as the destruction the winds brings during a hurricane or tornado.

From what I've heard Matt was very determined and motivated, I'm sure that will serve him well during this time.

Here's a quote that helped me during some tough shit -- I keep it kind of secret to make sure it doesn't lose it's MOJO, but when severe stuff goes down, I pass it along:

The most spiritual human beings, assuming they are the most
courageous, also experience by far the most painful tragedies: but it
is precisely for this reason that they honor life, because it brings
against them its most formidable weapons. --Nietzsche

[Greg]

The most spiritual human beings, assuming they are the most
courageous, also experience by far the most painful tragedies: but it
is precisely for this reason that they honor life, because it brings
against them its most formidable weapons. --Nietzsche

"Life is not measured by the number of breathes we take, but by the moments that take our breath away"

I'm hope Matt returns to normal and has a long full life filled with many breathless moments..
L.M.G.

[robotvox]

best wishes to matt, and his friends and family.
hang in there

[super_monkey]

Nitzsche is such a bullshitter but it all sounds so good :)