So some of you already know this story, but here it is for everyone else who didn't hear...

Last Wednesday I was out flying the PL Vapor 3.8m, winds were probably averaging 15-20 mph with gusts to 30 that day. Yes I know, probably too much for that sized Vapor, or at least towards the top end for that size. Flying static, on grass at a local park.

Kite was just sitting at Zenith and not even moving. Suddenly a freak gust or something came along and I found myself ~15 ft. up in the air like a second later. It happened so fast I couldn't believe it. While going up I remember thinking "Hmm, I thought these were supposed to be 'low lift'.. WTH!" So I was kind of in disbelief that it was happening. I of course let go of the handles, but by that time it was too late. It pretty much lifted me straight up, so there was no "superman-ing" involved thankfully. So, I either landed wrong or it was just too high to avoid any kind of damage.

Went to Drs. a couple hrs later, they did an X-ray, wrapped it up, told me to elevate/ice it and I made an appt. for the next day to see the Podiatrist.

Went back the next day to see Podiatrist/specialist and was told my left heel bone had been crushed. At the time Doc said surgery will most likely be required, but we want to do a CT scan ASAP to get a more detailed look at it. Had the first splint put on. Couple days later I went back in for the CT scan. Then another couple days later went back in to discuss the results of the CT. Not sure why you can't do this all on the same day. :puzzled:

clickable


Doc said I got lucky. He said the CT scan revealed that surgery should not be required. Miraculously I did not damage the area where the heel joint is, so it should heal naturally in 5-6 weeks. He told us if that joint area gets damaged it's like an eggshell and virtually impossible to put back together. He said arthritis may be a possibility in the future in which case they would want to do surgery to fuse bones together, etc. but for now healing naturally is the best option. Removed first splint to check swelling, it was still semi-swollen (nearly a week later) so another splint was put on.

zombie-foot!


I have another appt. on May 7th to check the swelling again and probably have a hard cast put on. 3 weeks with a hard cast and then possibly a walking boot, depends on swelling and what x-rays/CTs reveal. Still have to keep all weight off of it and elevate/ice whenever possible.

Just wanted to get the word out, be careful with those FB high aspect kites! Don't be a dumbass like me. :frog:

Oh yeah, you guys like my new kite buggy?



thanks,
Mike

WOW looks painful...Heal up and get back out there

bummer, BTW, What are you going to do with those wheels when you are done with that buggy?

Not really a buggy bro, I was being silly. :bouncy:

It's called a "steerable knee walker," but I prefer "completely unstable kite buggy." Heh.

it's used in place of crutches. Believe me, it's way better than using crutches.. especially if you plan on moving more than 100 ft.

dammmmmmmmmm get well dude. Ive learned my lessons already when it comes to flying static with certain kites already to.

Get well soon!! I also learnt my lesson flying a low lift kite a NASA for crying out loud, lofted me 8ft up for about 20ft, there is no such thing as a non-lift kite when your flying near the top end of it's range.

Flashback attack. Sorry to hear about your lofting. Glad you only broke your heel, heal fast and .git rid of the little race kite.

Sexy!! Did the little voice even have a chance to give warning?

Ouch!!! Good to hear you will heal naturally! Surgery sucks brother. Be careful with those Vapors man. They are amazing in nice smooth winds but with gusts, not so much. Heal fast bro...want to ride with ya sometime

Sucks! Sorry that it happend. I know that some of the dutch and ricardo sometimes use the vapors for jumping. But timing a jump and getting lofted are two totally different things. It's good to hear that you don't need surgery. To be honest each time I get out to the field on a stronger wind day I always pray to be kept safe and that is not an exaggeration. Great story though! I know that some guys are scared to post videos and pictures of when they get hurt, but I think that it is good for us to see. A sobering warning that no matter how much experience that you have, gusts can still happen.

Heal quick!

That sucks. Happened to me in grade school and I spent my 1st 6 weeks of summer in a cast.

That is 2 people in a month lifted by their Vapor. I don't get where they get the low lift rep.? I was lifted the 1st time I flew one.

The biggest lofting I ever received was on an 10.8 Reactor. Also not a lifty kite.

It happens. Try and not stand around with your kite at zenith.

Get well soon !

sorry to hear you got hurt. Lucky you got off without major issues. You got a painful lesson for sure. The main key here is what did you learn from it? I have a list started but I want to hear what you have learned from this experience

That was a HOOJ kite for the winds your were in. Especially with a kite that grabs the wind so efficiently. Heal that heel fast bro!

Thanks everyone for all the well wishes, this truly is a wonderful kiting community. I have learned so much from you guys, yet still have so much more to learn. I suppose it was only a matter of time before I got hurt doing this.

@beachrights: It happened so fast I really had no warning. Actually, I'm lucky I let go when I did as it felt to me like it was still going up.

@bigkid: So what happened to you Jeff? I'd be curious to read your story if it's up on the forum somewhere.

@Bladerunner: I thought the very same thing. The PL website says low lift right in their characteristics, but like many have already mentioned -- anything can generate lift in the right conditions. I think with the Vapors it's their very high speed combined with aspect ratio. That's why I was thinking :puzzled: when it happened because the kite was essentially sitting still.


Here's what I learned:

#1: Don't be a dumbass
#2: It is better to fly a smaller kite underpowered than a larger kite overpowered, especially in potentially gusty, inland winds.
#3: Never fly alone. After this happened I had to actually crawl part way back to my car as I couldn't put any weight on that leg. A good samaritan stopped and helped me hobble back to the car where I called my GF so we could get to the hospital.
#4: Safety equipment = good, always. (although I'm not sure what you can wear for feet/heels)
#5: See #1.
#6: listen to Dino.
#7: if you really want to jump, depower might be a better (safer) choice than FB (not that I want to jump or was trying to)
#8: any questions, refer to #1.
#9: even proclaimed "low lift" kites can lift you in the right conditions


Believe me, I learned my lesson. Originally I wasn't going to post up this story due to pride/embarrassment, but if it can help even one other flyer out there avoid getting hurt it's completely worth it. Now that I've heard some of the other stories I see this has happened quite a bit more than I thought.

thanks,
Mike

sexy indeed...

#1 and #6 were the hardest to learn for me


Right Dino...?

Really glad you're ok Mike! This could have been much worse.

Hope you heal up soon and this doesn't dampen your enthusiasm for the sport. Thanks for posting.

Don't be hard on yourself. You are now wiser and more experienced after the event. I've done something very similar with a Blade 4.9 many years back and drove myself to hospital with an ankle that needed stitches after busting it wide open and recently became king of the dumbasses when kitesailing in an offshore. You must bow down to me for I am your King.

Thanks for posting. Not only is it a brave thing to do but it also helps others from making the same mistake.

Quote: Originally posted by beachrights

Sexy!! Did the little voice even have a chance to give warning?

Lol...I know this situation is not funny but this comment made me think of the audible from many modern airplanes.....a nice soft feminine voice saying.....

Altitude...Altitude...Altitude...

Glad you will have an opportunity to heal. Get better soon!

Thank you again for posting this Smeagol. As hard as it may be to broadcast the experience, in my opinion, we need these post here as well. We all love to post about the epic days, but must be reminded that kites are both beautiful, colorful works of art, but are very dangerous. Even the smaller sizes.

Again, I am still a new guy in here and really have no say, or valid opinions, but your story is good info.

In my most humble noob opinion.

Get well soon!

I know one popular kite forum that shy's away from broadcasting about accidents for fear of attracting attention from the media that in turn might cause problems in access to sites. This is of course just unenlightened self interest.

If we are to help people stay safe then we need to know. Another popular kitesurfing forum takes a completely different approach. They have a section called the 'Safe House' where people can post up their bad experiences, near misses and injuries. Maybe there should be a section like this here too.

Thx guys. Yeah that's not a bad idea RedSky, I agree. I wasn't sure where to really put this story so just picked general chit chat. Maybe we could call them "Epic Sessions" and "Epic Fail Sessions."

Yes, I'm all for sharing the bad stories along with the good, it makes us all aware of the power of these kites and the respect they deserve.

First real serious kite related injury for me though... not a bad run for ~25 years of kite flying with 10 or so of that being power kites.

-Mike

hope you heal up quick . . . that was a lot of wind for 3.8 . . . was out last night in similar wind . . . had to lean away from my Vibe 1.9 and 6 foot shoe scuds under my hornet 2.0 . . . didn't go any bigger

" picked up by a gust" does seem to be a common theme ....... you're not alone there.

Hope you heal quickly

Sucks ! I had the same situation i was lifed with a 5 m ozone flow and crash pretty bad , but ok .
Inland wind =surprises

15 gusting 30? yeah how do choose a kite for that! its 20 gusting 40 here today so the kites are staying in the bags

Still i doubt the vapour is really designed to work static, you would probably be fine if you were buggying and it was sat at the front of the window instead of the top.

Good to hear you are not too broken anyway!

Man I was looking at the pics again and I gotta say I hate when you can see the deep tissue bruising present on the outer surfaces. (Shudder) At least your heel looks like a heel. My friend Mike's (aka Scarecrow) heel looked like an x ray of a bean bag. Just a bunch of little bits. (again I shudder)


15 gusting to 30? Venom, Syn, Phantom 2, Charger 2, take your pic.:D

Yep that kind of surprised me too... I was joking around telling everyone my foot is going to be featured on a new episode of Walking Dead.

Ah yes I was definitely lucky, I've seen some pretty bad x-rays of crushed heel bones. I imagine in his case they had to do surgery?

Another appointment coming up in about a week to remove this splint and check swelling again, I'm curious to see how it looks then.

zombie-foot! different angle, heh.

You are right. Looks perfect for the walking dead. I hope it is starting to feel better.

You mentioned you aren't sure what would protect your foot. I truly am not sure either but I have been kiting in boots for the last couple of years. I started after a paraglider instructor explained that they recommend good boots because it easier to heal your tibia/fibula bones than your foot. I didn't buy their expensive boots and just use my old army boots but I wonder if it wouldn't be more protective for you in the future to get some good boots. Seems to help my ankles too. Just a thought. I bet it will be a while before you can get that foot into a boot anyway.