"Guest " injured,we quit

Took my nephew to the Delta this morning. He rarely rides, and we let him go first. The weather was hot the water perfect, so it looked like we were in for a great day. Well five minutes into his ride he face plants, and slices the hell out of the side of his face. Tons of stitches. Of course technically it is not my fault, but I am sick to my stomach. This is the Second "guest" to get hurt. But I decided I have had it. Circling back to my nephew to see his face covered in blood was not fun. Man I wish they could come up with some kind of safer board, maybe like Surftech surfboards. Oh well, had to vent, it was fun while it lasted. Be careful.

What kind of setup do you have? Sounds like poorly fitting bindings. Hope he is okay.

Joe don't get discouraged, there is always a risk of someone getting hurt....it's just the nature of this sport.

Safer board for beginners....you may be on to something there. Maybe a board with some kind of softer, more rounded edge? Or maybe a full face helmet to protect the chin/side of the face?

I don't think I've ever heard of anyone cutting their face on the board. Hands, arms, backs of heads, sure, but a face? Wow. I'm not nearly flexible enough to get any part of the board even close to my face.

Best wishes to your nephew, hope he recovers soon and isn't afraid to wakeboard again. What board was he riding?

sorry to hear your luck..no one has been hurt on my boat in 10 years other than myself.

beginners are tricky....if you are an experienced rider or boat handler you need to advise people on what they should or should not do....if you see their board starting to slide and you know they are not ready then maybe slow down and stop the boat before they get hurt then start up again and correct their errors.


i know its not easy especially when everyone is a beginner including the drivers....thats when stuff happens. I ts sometimes best to invest in some lessons and learn by reading these forums or sites like learnwake.

please keep going hopefully you have gained some valuable experience which can help avoid future incedents.

it sounds like a freak accident....although mostly they are.

....also we all wear helmets....could of helped deflect the board. last weak I also had a beginner ride on my boat(second time) we made him wear a helmet. he facplanted also and the board hit him in the back of the head.....he walked away and the day continued......but could have turned into a trip to thehospital.

We had a first timer in May. Second time out she took a routine fall out the front. She got back up and rode. She is done, back in the boat and 10 minutes later she can't remember anything. Concussion! Keep your chin up. She was back on the water in three weeks and was competing in tournement's all this summer. It's part of the sport. I have had people hurt water skiing too. Freak? Yes. What's a guy to do. That's why they call them accidents. No one goes out to get hurt. Keep the faith and keep riding.

In the good ole days we learned with no ballast, 19 mph, 55 feet of rope, and we never saw a drop of blood, a blown knee, nothing. The newbies have it rough these days. Sorry to hear this.

It happens...worst Ive seen was this summer...my friend who has ridden just a handful of times went out and was riding around fine...he went outside the wake on his heels, then tried to cross back inside the wake on his toes...he leaned back as he hit the wake and got a few inches of air and landed on his butt/lower back. We come back around to him in extreme pain...turns out he broke his leg and now has a plate and 5 screws in his lower leg. He was on crutches until the last week in July...(I think about 8 weeks total)

J-Rod is spot on... see a lot of newbs stack their boat and ride too fast. It's like going to a ski mountain and starting on the 40 gaps straight off.

Sorry to hear about your nephew. J-rod struck a good point, how fast were you going? I normally teach people around 15-16mph, if they're younger and lighter, even slower. The slower you're going the less the falls hurt and less likely someone is to get injured. Once they figure out the proper body position and how to steer the thing a little and navigate rollers, I start to speed them up...

Probably one less powerturner everyone has to worry about. Altho, sucks that it happened, but S*happens.

Hey Jonny, You know I found the replies to my post both intelligent and encouraging, all except one. Guess which one. Here is the deal, you are right, I did make a power turn, because all we saw was two hands over his face and blood everywhere. So yes I was a powerturner,that time. To the rest of you who have replied thanks. I think because I used the word nephew people assumed he is a little kid, actually he is 25, and a real good snowboarder. That might be part of the problem, snowboarders have some skills that translate to the water, but the technique, well that is another story. For what it is worth we aren't newbies, just basic intermediates at best,usually it is just me, my wife and daughter. In five years no big crashes, no injuries,[ not even a powerturn]. J-rod our boat has minimal ballast, but you are right about the speed, maybe a little slower, who knows? Michael z, you have a good point. Although my nephew was clearing the wake and doing 180's in the flats, because of a previous shoulder injury he was riding with one hand, arm outstretched. When I saw him making [trying] all these moves, I should have stopped and told him to cool it. I didn't start this post to whine, I hope some good comes of it. Both injuries to guests in our boat happened the same way, both were trying 180's or 36o's [surface] within minutes of getting up. You might want to tell your new riders to take it easy the first few runs. I wish I would have. After the first incident I bought a helmet for kids. My nephew came within an inch of possibly losing his eye,[ 27 stitches]. He didn't have a helmet. I don't know if one would have helped in this case, but maybe. When I got home I searched for a helmet with a bar or cage, found nothing. Really don't know if it would be a good idea. I still think a Surftech type eva rubber railed board would be a good idea for beginners, who knows. Well, be careful.

Sorry, one more thing. When we got my nephew back in the boat and were heading back to Orwood I realized something pretty lame. I had no idea where the local emergency room was. I felt pretty stupid pretty fast. Got some sketchy directions. For those who don,t know, find out first, just in case.

It was a freak accident, no more. ALL of us try something that could hurt us a any time. This was that time..

Shred Ready makes a full face helmet, don't know if it would have prevented what happened to you nephew, but though I would post a link, so you could check it out.

Sorry to hear about the accident.

http://www.shredready.com/products/standardff.html

Thanks Jeff, That would have worked.I don't know about that bar grabbing some water. Looks like it would be "fun" trying to get some people to wear it. Definitely a step in the right direction.

"In the good ole days we learned with no ballast, 19 mph, 55 feet of rope, and we never saw a drop of blood, a blown knee, nothing. The newbies have it rough these days. Sorry to hear this"

That's what I've thought reading of all the injuries here. In a lot of cases, people are learning the sport on wakes that are too big. As you learn, you also learn to fall properly and I think that's what can get ya.

Same thing happened to me, while the board was on. I fell over my toes on just a warm up toeside jump, and smashed my face over the nose. 6 stitches later I was out riding as soon as the stitches came out. Just a bit of a freak accident, sometimes things just happen.

Sounds like your nephew will be getting his gangstar look on...at least that is what I jokingly said to make light of a bad situation when I got stitched up on the face this year, but sounds like his was pretty bad. I hope he mends well.

Our crew has had their share of injuries, two blown ACLs, a couple of concussions and a set of stitches and yes sometimes it makes me wonder, but it doesn't take long before the call of the water with a tight line behind the boat takes over.

When I started this thread I didn't see the one by Robert Mitchell a few days earlier. Seems that one of his guests got injured in the face too. I have since found a helmet with a cage, made by Cascade. It was probably made for white water rafting, but should work. I don't know, but between the injuries to both our guests, it might be time.

There is a reason why not everyone does it (wakeboard), it is an action sport, and there are risks. Most boards have a caution/warning printed on them. Even with a full face helmet, you would be kidding yourself to think that this will be the last injury to anyone you ride with. As long as the rider is aware of the risks, and you don't do anything really dumb (ride without vest...)

This has happened to almost everyone out there (myself included, 4 friends with new ACLs). Of course I feel bad, but we all know the risks, and love riding enough to accept it.

(Message edited by Socalwakepunk on September 05, 2009)

Did he come out all the way and the board hunted him down? Man I can't see bending that far to get the board in the face but I'm not 25 anymore either. Scorpioned and the board tagging the back of the head yeah, I know that happens pretty frequently but man the front? Hope he and you recover quickly. It's traumatic for the boat owner, as well as the injured party.