when speed riding goes wrong

[gary stenhouse]

i remember when this happend and i expected to see a realy aggrissive smash into the hill yet it looks nothing like that.

yes he did survive but only by the help of the air ambulance and now that person is trying to raise money for them.

this is not a gory video as ther is little to see, similar to my hg one yet with very differnt outcomes, i beleive 6 months in hospital lost 1 eye pelvis shatered both femer compound,

i think it just serves as a reminder that just one small turn that is too steep can leave you shatered

cheers gary



http://youtube.com/watch?v=CHPE24ftKq0

[Fingers]

Poor fella, making sounds like some wild beast, I know all too well what thats like...... getting a flash back ...... Burrrrrr.

He tells the tail in the info.

If it wasn't for the paramedic's and Wales Air Ambulance i'd be dead,i spent 5 months in hospital and my injuries in total were.
Brain haemorrhage
Permanent blindness left eye
Broken jaw
Two teeth knocked out
Crushed chest
Broken pelvis/ three places
Broken femar left leg/compound
Broken femar right leg
Broken tib and fib right leg
Smashed right ankle/ foot pointing the wrong way
But apart from that i got away with it

Probably wrong, but might he have got a collapse to have turned and decked him so violently??

[Chris L]

If I remember correctly this guy had no paragliding or speedflying experience, he'd come from skydiving/base jumping background only, and hopped on a small speed wing and flown it in gusty conditions without any knowledge of active flying.
He did get a collapse which turned him into the hill, and did'nt correct this.
Could just as easily have been a normal paraglider in strong winds without any experience of active flying in these conditions then this is what can happen

[gordie]

Not a nice one to watch this. Adrian is one of Dan's best mates (LCC speed flyer) and had this accident a couple of years ago. Chris's assesment of the incident is correct, it was a collapse with out correction which lead to the crash. Adrian decided to post the video after he had recovered (well got as well as possable after such a crash) as a warning to other inexperienced pilots as to what can happen if you flying in conditions which you do not fully understand with out the skill base to deal with them.

Since then Adrian has made an o.k. recovery but will still carry some injuries with him forever. He is as I suspect a lot of us would be keen to get back into the air, but by the sport he has some experience in, sky diving and base jumping. Adrian and myself have been in contact for a year or so as he has asked if I could assist him, the intention is maybe next year for me to drop him off a tandem wing over Buttermere with his skydiving rig, allowing him to land in the water as his legs are not that strong. Obviously I have some reservations about this and I would need to assess the situation at the time, if not then I will take him Tandem flying and try and give him his fix that way.

Take care out there Guys!

[Fingers]

As this has been posted by the guy himself for the purpouse of education/warning of others, I feel ok to inject here.

I can see the sense that he should not have been in the air with those conditions and this was the error. As for "not correcting it" not having flown one and I am talking from theory based on paragliding and witnessing how much these things loose height in a normal turn. I think that no one could have corrected the collapse in time, you are already only flying half a paragliding wing when its fully inflated. Collapsed this would turn into nothing, you fall like a stone. Has anyone done any extensive tests with these things, I meen in the way paragliders have had? How long does it take to recover from a 50% collapse, how much height is lost, and what happens? Or has this poor fella been the first to document a collapse.? I do get the impression this "sport" is a little like base jumping where it is only monitored by the people prepared to do it, there is no "school/learning curve" other than your friend who has had the balls to have a go first. You pays ya money and takes your chance. But I do think this is nearer to sky diving than paragliding in many ways.

[gary stenhouse]

after doing some turns on one i recken a little over reaction in strong gusty conditions could put you in the same position. i think oftern the problem lies inland flying in strong winds is very rarely smooth and even the coast is not. yet the force that he hit the ground did not look that great shows how a hg can be a better impact zone.

the video does make you think and if nothing else that is a good thing if you are considering moving into a new sport.

[DaveB]

As an ex-skydiver, (along with Chris and Jan), I've said before on this forum, the injuries suffered by this guy are or WERE unfortunately very common in skydiving circles. A move onto smaller more "radical" canopies led to this - I've even heard of canopies being cut from dead bodies and burned there and then on the drop-zone. (Not that that's really gonna help anyone).
Anyway - I think this guys own words pretty much explain the situation - he came from BASE jumping where traditionally more "docile" canopies are used - incase of an off-heading opening where quick responses and not quick canopies will save your life. You don't wanna fly into the cliff or building that you just jumped off - right?? These canopies also require quite alot of brake travel/input in order to make a turn. (Full arm stretch is not uncommon).
He also mentions the habit of flying in deep brakes - again from BASE jumping, the landing area is often very small/tight and a very slow, deep brake approach is all you've got.

I guess his mistake was to move to a speed-wing and revert to old habits!!!!

I'm pleased to hear from Gordie that this guy is making a reasonable recovery and I hope he can get himself back into the air hopefully whichever way he wants.............

D.

[bdoub]

I've always prayed for all our safety when out and about. Guess what? I'll pray more!

I think I'll look into getting first aid certified too.

[Fingers]

I think I'll look into getting first aid certified too.

A little while back I looked into a group course for the club which worked out quite cheep. It ran into the sand however which was a little bit of a shame. One point I remember was that apparently if you help someone there could be a no win no fee bast*&d on your tail for money!! Which dampened enthusiasm a little.

[colin keightley]

as long as you dont try and do anything outside of your training the good samaritan act covers you and stops you from being fleeced

[colin keightley]

Have to say the first guy on the scene does an excellent job trying to get a response and trying to get the casualty alert and keeping talking to him and assesing his injuries. A lot of people forget the talking bit even if you just talk shit it doesnt matter as long as your given the casualty something other than his injuries to focus on.

For those of you who want to know basic first aid i will find some links that conform to current legislation, i am a trained first aider but im not willing to show you stuff other than wound dressings, slings and splints. I have a first aid manual that is current legislation that i can pass around if anyone wants to borrow it.

[colin keightley]

http://www.sja.org.uk/sja/first-aid-advice.aspx i will put this link up in a permanant place later