Scary moments on the boat

Yesterday I had my most frightening experience ever on a boat since I started wakeboarding 5 years ago.

A friend attempted a raley, a trick that has been landed by this rider before. The rider did not get the board back down for the landing in time and got worked hard. It was a edge catch / nose digger. We all came out of our seats as the boat turned and waited for movement from the ride....NOTHING! The rider was face down, unresponsive and was not moving. We raced back as I started pulling clothes off to jump in. Just as we approached, the rider started kicking panting for air, and struggling to spin over to a chest up position which could not be achieved. I dove in, flipped the rider over, and began to swim the rider to the boat with one hand supporting the head out of the water.

This is where is got scary....

The rider still could not breath, was slurring a bunch of random words, and now had blood coming from the mouth. For a second I thinking seizure, broken ribs, internal bleeding, obvious concussion...this is bad. Colby's story was flashing through my head.

Turns out the rider had bit the tongue and this was the reason for the blood. The wind was knocked out of the rider and there was definitely a concussion. Everything turned out okay, but damn, it was scary. The rider started to recall the day by the time we got to the dock.

With all of the stories we had last year of guys like Colby getting a concussion and then ending up in a comma, I know I was taking the situation very seriously, maybe too serious. Concussions seem more serious than ever.

I hope everyone is being careful out there.

By the way...the Rider was wearing a CWB comp vest which did float the rider. I was happy about that.


(Message edited by jarrod on March 23, 2008)

and??? he's okay right??

(Message edited by wakereviews on March 23, 2008)

Holy Crap J-Rod.... is he okay now? Did you go to the Hospital? Damn man....thats crazy.... well thoughts going out to your buddy, and to ya'll for bein there for him. Keep us posted man!

So what happened next????????

Hope the rider is recovering well.....

Yeah thats a scary story. Glad everyone is ok, sounds like you were well prepared for the situation.

Back when i was a kid and we were all "hardcore kneeboarders" one of my parents (who ever was spotting) would always be wearing a lifevest just in case they had to jump in like you did. I never really understood it but hearing a story like yours and others ive heard about it makes allot of sense.

That was it EJ. We headed for the dock to get the rider off the water. Memory was gone for a while, but most of it came back. Just a sore neck this morning.

Jeez....glad to hear that they're just sore after something like that...man..

The rider in Jrods story was my wife Andrea/Parkgirl. It was definitely a scary situation, one I'm very glad to say turned out alright.

Andrea had the majority of her memory back by the time we got to the dock and was fine by the time we got home. She spent a few hours on the couch with an ice pack on her head/neck and then I woke her up every 2 hours through out the night. Today she feels fine, she just has a sore neck and a dull headache. Needless to say she won't be wakeboarding for a while.

Thanks Jrod for your quick reaction and baywatch style skills, I didn't know your real name was David Hasselhoff!

good job Jarrod
I'm sure you leaped out of the boat with cat-like quickness!

Scott, good to hear she is ok!

did yall go to the doc anyway?
might be a good idea to get scanned or x-rayed!

let us know how she progresses

(Message edited by ord27 on March 23, 2008)

Same exact thing happened to me about 6 years ago. I was doing a raley and I did the same thing as your friend. I was pulled in the boat by my friends and was completely out cold. I had a major concussion and I tore my right rotator cuff but was so out of it I didn't realize my shoulder was messed up for about 3 hours. I was disoriented and kept asking what day it was about 30 times I was told. After that I started having siezures after that and I'm still on siezure medication to this day.

Happy to hear Andrea looks to be no worse for wear. That is a crazy scary story....

J-Rod, for some reason when I first read, there was only the first 4 paragraphs(some of them being 1 line). GOOD WORK!

I'm glad to hear Andrea is doing well ! Nice work J-Rod.

...he may be doing well now ,thank god. But make sure this guy doesn't ride for a while. Have him see a doctor anyway. When you have had your bell rung like this...you can be highly susceptible to a second concussion or even worse the second time around. There was this football player who got a slight concussion....and several days thought he was fine to play ...well he is a partial basket case today. Do some research but he should take some time off, I am no doc.

That is scary! way to go guys..being on it.

Andrea hope you feel better soon. We all know you'll be out there riding tomorrow.

With all the advance tricks being thown nowadays everyone needs to pay attention and react quickly when necessary to prevent serious injury.

Goes to show, Haselhoff skills are just as important as The Fall Guy and Walker Texas Ranger skills. Hiyahhh!!!

Side note: I got to get out there with you guys. It's been too long. Have fun and be safe out there.

Derby

Was she wearing a helmet or mouthguard? I'm glad she's okay!

Nice work J-rod. Happened to one of my riders last year on a backroll to nose digger gone bad, same thing, face down and out cold. It's very scary. Andrea good to hear your ok.

Good to hear she is ok, must have been quite the scare for you Scott.

Glad to hear things worked out, get well Andrea.

glad every one is ok and you just sold me on not trying raleys this year no matter how hot the girls on the boat are. lol

Ever since my daughter was born i have been Extra cautious... but i am kind of a pansy anyway and was cautious before too. I have been especially on the lookout for safety gear and reports about safety recently.

I got a "shock doctor" mouth guard not long ago and put it with my gear. I have heard stories like this (biting tongue and losing teeth specifically) which is why i got it.

Anyone ride with mouth guards?

Also, as some of you might now, i am looking to do some research and testing on wakehelmets and cuncussions (do they increase or not?). I will be talking to my professor of the feasibility of this experiment this week and will keep all you my WW companions notified of any progress.

May your health be with you all (injured and not injured)

Last year, a friend of mine came out. He was ridin and is a beginner. He jumped and cased the wake and bounced off the top and landed board sideways in the trough. We saw him litterally fold over backwards from catching the front edge. We went to pick him up and he craweld up onn the platform and stood up saying his back hurt. at that point I saw blood goshing and he said "whoh, where is all this blood coming from" I flipped around and it was all coming down his face. Turns out that he got bent over backwards so much the edge of the board broke over his head and cut his head clear open. It was really brutal to look at. The edge of the board was splintered and he was all bloody but, other than that he never complained of head pain, no concussion, but left the hospital with 10 staples in his head.

Definately the most scared I have been.

Luckily, I've never had any of the guys I ride with seriously hurt themselves, but from firsthand experience of being the one in the water,it don't feel good.

My like, 12th backroll attempt yielded in something like that. The guys in the boat shifted the weight on me, and screwed with the size of the wake. I came up for the backroll, started it too early because the wake was bigger than my past attempts, and spun around 3/4s of the way. When I came back down, My chest slammed into the crest of the wake, and I made a dive under the water, somehow dragging my board under with me. The fall knocked the wind out of me, and I tried to inhale while I was underwater, but couldn't (thank God), scared the living daylights out of me though. The impact on my chest definitely saved me and the guys in the boat a lot of trouble, because otherwise I would have inhaled a ton of water.

I hope I never have something like what happened to Andrea to anyone riding with me, but if it does, I'd be in the water in a heartbeat, and if the person were to sink, I'd dive after them. I've got a 20-25 foot dive depth in one breath, so I'd pray that I could do something, but probably couldn't.

I just pray that nothing like that ever happens to anyone behind our boat.

Glad to hear you're OK Andrea. Take it easy for awhile! There's no good reason to rush back out on the water.

Good idea to wear a mouthguard. It probably wouldn't have helped Andrea, but my daughter knocked herself out wakeboarding with a knee to the chin. It definitely would have helped with that impact. She always wears one now.

We must have rode past you right before it happened. It looked like Andrea was suiting up. We rode past you in a black and grey 215 around 3:30. I'm glad she is ok. I know what that crash feels like. Not fun! Get well soon!!! - Ronnie

Nice work Jrod.

Andrea, hope you feel better soon. Concussions aren't something to take lightly. Glad to hear everything is ok.

Kinda makes you take a step back. Be careful out there guys.

One of our crew knocked all his front teeth out of place on his first ever hs frontflip attempt. He wears a mouthguard now. He's having trouble keeping it in his mouth when he's upside down though so we're thinking of attaching it to his vest sorta like the gridiron system.

Best wishes go out to your rider. Going back and doing that trick again and stomping it will be a big achievement and will feel incredible.

I have had nothing to serious behind my boat but I have heard of some horror stories. About 5 years ago Byerly had come through Charlotte for the day on his way to the Charleston area. He was down there with MC of Charlotte doing a demo and ride day with MC customers w/hyperlite. There was a guy on the boat landing some huge tantrums and tantrums to blind. Decided to try a whirly-bird and asked Byerly on some pointers. I am not sure exactly where they were riding but it was salt water and he was wearing a coast guard approved jacket. Any-way, he tried a couple times with no success. Tried a third time and came down pretty bad. Byerly turned the boat around to come back to him and he was no where to be found. He had been completely underwater! I think he had been underwater for around 10-15 seconds and finally surfaced. He was blue in the face and not breathing right away. Once they got him on the swim platform he started breathing and apparently had a concussion and had the wind knocked out of him. Byerly apparently said that he would never ride without a vest because of what happened.

Nice job JRod. I had a very similar experience last summer. In the end the rider was fine, but at the moment it was very scary!

One question, did the rider come out of her bindings when she hit the water?

When it happened to us last summer, the guy did not come out of his bindings.

Later, and nice save,
jjakober

Damn I hate when you have a floater to deal with, so freaking scarey!

Sound like you have cat like reflexs tho J-Rod! Every time I hit the water I hope that I have people in the boat like you!

Situations like that are why I'm happy that my sister who we usually ride with is a trained lifeguard-water safety instructor.

Jrod/Scotty - Nice job on the quick reaction and recovery.

Andrea - We are so very glad you are OK and hope for a full / speedy recovery and knowing you that won't be an issue.

Take care, in our thoughts and prayers.

Anyone would have done the same. I hope to never ride with someone that isn't prepared to dive in for me. We all have the same responsibility.

Peter, I recall seeing the Sanger. I also saw Dykmans launch a HUGE 3 off of our wake as he passed by.

Rich, your boy needs a shave! He's looking like Grizzly Adams in a dry suit.

Wow thats scary. I've been knocked cold from a HS360 and it's a scary thing to have happen. I'm glad Andrea's gonna be okay, make sure she takes a good amount of time off Scott. I know it's difficult but too many people rush back and another wreck too soon can be even worse. Take care.

J-rod I have been in the same spot as you one of my friends got knocked out on a BS roll. By the time I swam to him he was awake but dazed asking me what happened and what I was doing in the water. I am glad everything worked out ok for you guys and Andrea is ok.

Also saw you and Scott out on Sat.

(Message edited by twakess on March 24, 2008)

Several years ago, our water sports club coordinated a Safety Coordinator training through USA Waterski. It was a half day of "in class" instruction and a half day of "in water" instruction. We had almost 100% participation. When riding, it's reassuring to know that most of the guys IN the boat have the proper training to help if needed.

The USA Waterski training really empahasized the proper technique to immobilize the neck to prevent further inury when moving the injured rider. It becomes especially important if someone is unconscious and/or floating face down. The last thing anyone wants to do is paralyze a buddy by rolling them over with improper technique. I would encourage everyone to spend the day going through this training. IMO, it is time well spent that teaches techniques that could significantly impact someones life.

Glad to hear Andrea is on the mend.

(Message edited by mvbeggs on March 24, 2008)

Does anyone know if she was wearing a helmet? It would be a great service to the wakeworld community to let us know if she had one on.

Thanks for the well wishes everyone. I'm doing good just shook up and still have a headache. Don't worry I won't be riding for a few weeks, my health is definitely more valuable to me than getting in a ride.

Thanks Jarrod so much for helping me. I'm sorry I put you guys all throught that.

It totally sucked but it was my own fault really. I was tired and cranky and not really "into it" but I rode anyway. I had only just started landing Raleys again and didn't have it totally consistent yet. I should not have done it feeling the way I did, and I wasn't wearing my helmet which I usually do when working on Raleys and other newish tricks. Lesson learned for sure and I will be wearing it from now on.


Andrea

i knew i didn't want to open this thread but i did anyway. i immediately regret the decision. glad andrea is ok though.

Andrea,

Glad to hear you are OK! Could you tell me if you came out of your bindings or not. When my friend did the same thing, he did not come out, so I am just wondering.

Take it easy for a while, and you will be ripping it up again in no time,
jjakober

J- No I didn't. I would have preferred to, cause then I would have been able to kick and turn myself over.

Glad to hear you are doing fine Andrea...make sure you get checked out by the doc. Sometimes it can be more than a concussion. Couple of years ago, was hitting a 360 off a table top snowboarding and cased the other end. I ended up with a nasty concussion, but weeks later ended up with nerve damage causing one eye to track uneven with the other. Better to let the professionals check things out. Hope you have a swift recovery.

Jrod- you have inspired me to TIVO all the Baywatch series.

Glad you're ok Andrea! If you still have a headache after 2 days you might want to consider going and getting checked out, just to be safe.


If you or Scott need help with anything give me a call.

I am SO glad that there is a happy ending to this story. God is good. J-Rod I know that is so scary!

gangstar, really in my experience with riders is that helmets really only help you when you run into something. The downside of helmets is sometimes the water pressure on the helmet does more damage than good. Catching a frontside edge impacts the face and neck and back, and catching the back edge hits the back of the head (hello, brain?) neck and back.

Sean Obrien did a tutorial about what do do when you are in the boat on the Wakeworld home page. I looked for it but couldn't find it.

Maybe Dave can post it on this thread so we can all take a minute or two to refresh our face planting selves. Dave?

(Message edited by teamvaldez on March 24, 2008)

J-Rod, I'm a newb, only had a boat for 1yr. I'll definitely remember this story and learn what to do in an emergency like this. Thanks for sharing. Also, very relieved to hear that Andrea is okay and is recovering. I'm definitely buying a helmet.

About the helmet debate...Im not sure it would have made a difference or not, but for piece of mind Im still gonna wear mine.

My husband Scott did the same thing on a roll to blind last summer while wearing a helmet. He actually had worse memory loss than I did. We went to the ER got a cat scan...$1500 later doc said to rest and take it easy and he had a mild concussion and could ride the next day if he felt up to it.

Andrea.. I see your point on weather or not the helmet would have made a difference. I think in the case of the guy who cut/sliced his head open cause the board hit it. a helmet would have helped. But with husband Scott's roll to blind attempt I guess not.

As all other have said, good work J-Rod. Glad your ok Andrea & so happy for Scott too, can't imagine what I would do if Andy got seriously hurt behind the boat.

scary stuff boys and girls...glad everything turned out alright...

note to self - have jrod in the boat when attempting new maneuvers...

If you go behind my boat you have to wear a Coast Guard approved jacket, helmets are up to you. I've landed hard on my back and knocked the wind out of myself and without proper flotation I would of sunk.

It's been proved many times that a helmet helps protect you in about 90% of all accidents the other 10% it actually hurts you. It's kind of like the seat belt argument.

Wow Andrea!! Glad to hear your alright! Man, between Aaron and Jen's story and yours it's a rough go out in the wild wild south delta country!!!! Take care everyone!

I am glad that Andrea is doing well. We have had some bad falls but nothing like that. After reading about Shaun Murray's fall last year or the year before, I switched to a USCG vest from a comp vest.

Andrea - glad to hear a good outcome to a scary incident. Get some well deserved rest.

Thanks J-rod for being cool under pressure.

J-rod You are the David Hasselhoff of the DELTA. Scary situation its cool you guys had it handled. Its good to have a crew that has your back. Stay safe. Andrea don't go riding till your all good.

good work J, now you should change your screen name to J-Hoff

Glad to hear every things ok. Just reading your post got me on the edge of my seat.

Good to hear everyone is okay! Perfect example of why every boat should have at least one person with some emergency response training. Times like this are all to common in this sport. I know we had ours this last summer when I broke my jaw.

last year my wife a beginner hopped onmy sisters diva 139 when she only weighed 115 lbs. im not sure if she was to light for the board or what but all of a sudden she just fell like some kind of creature from below just reached up and grabbed her. i turn the boat around and when i got close i saw that she was bleeding realy bad but still talking. there was literaly a 3 foot circle of blood all around her. i had my buddy jump right in and he slapped his hand over the gash on her head to stop the bleeding. we pulled he on the boat and hauled ass to the hospital. the first thing i said was she was going to need stiches and she started crying. i told her it wasnt going to hurt that they were going to numb it and she said... lol im not worried about that but im not gonna be able to ride again tommarrow. when i told her not for a few weeks she cried even harder it was realy scary seeing her get hurt. my buddy and i are both emt's and we are both always on the boat when its on the water.

also its alot harder to get people aboard than people think. it took both of us to get her on the swiom deck.

soo... they glued it all shut and we were out a few weeks later.

Man that is scary!

My head is always on a swivel when I'm pulling a rider. Guess it's the Power Squadron training my wife made us go through.

Were you wearing the Tiffany's when it happened? I keep hearing of people getting messed up from lack of coming out of closed toe bindings.

Hey Cliff~

Yes I was wearing the Tiffany's but I don't think them being closed toe had anything to do with me not coming out of them. It was more the angle I hit the water...like a shovel, so I never really caught an edge which is usually what causes any binding to release, right?

How are you feeling, girl? Still up for tahoe this weekend?

Almost 2 years ago my friend and I were sitting in our boat at the end of the day right at sunset and got ran over by a fisherman that was looking down at his GPS while driving and he damn near cut our boat in half

Hey Hoff hehehe...WHUT!

Doing good, headache is about gone, just a little sore in the neck still.

We'll be there, leaving this afternoon.

Nice! No backside Rodeos in the park until your dome feels better!

See you Fri night / Saturday.