Accident in China

[642 0]

A sad day, indeed. I have met many exceptional people within he BASE world, but Slim stood out among all of them. I will always remember his words of support and encouragement in my early days when even my mentors were questioning my abilities. If ever there was a BASE jumper I aspired to be, it was Slim.

Though your journey here may be finished, your spirit will live on...

[Dd0g 0]

Slim. . . what can really be said of Slim that everyone else doesn't already feel in their own heart?

He made me laugh so hard, so many times. He jumped every object in Portland long before I ever held a BASE rig in my hand. He was the only person of whom I ever saw Dwain in abject awe when it came to playing the BASE game "hard." He freefell the St. John's under a Mojo, a bunch of times, before he figured out it was 20 feet lower than he thought which, as Dwain would say, "explained a bit the extremely short canopy rides and crashing landings."

Video of Slim arcing off Crown, Slim's triple gainers from it, Slim's slider-up there (which even Dwain thought genuinely psycho), Slim's slider-up PCA from the bridge in WA. Slim's shadow over every dodgy object in Portland. . . I knew I was getting somewhere when I started opening objects that even Slim tought were too dodgy to jump. Slim, Dwain's comrade in arms long before I ever met either of them. Slim, a legend in my mind from all the stories told, who when I met him turned out to be the kindest and most genuine of sorts.

I watched Slim crawl back from a life-ending accident, helped him over the railing (ok, let's be honest, I lifted him over. . . he weighed less than a bloody pigeon at that point in his recovery) at TF his first trip back. He coached me on arcing backflips that weekend, which I muffed once or twice (scariest aerial mistakes I've ever experienced), before he couldn't resist and there he was tearin' off backs with his fragile body. If I recall correctly, he spun off four that first day before opening low under a roundie. . . all grins, as usual.

Slim, trying to order food at Taco Bell in his Australian English. . . laughing so hard I thought I'd split wide open. "Two kwesadilllllllas. . . "

I'd ask Dwain how Slim was doing, after that, and he'd reply in that conspiratorial voice "oh, he's genuinely fucked, but you know Slim. . . he won't admit it and he's just going on as if he can recover even though he knows he can't." Who was going to tell him otherwise?

Slim asking for advice on the business climate in Oregon. Slim, not the least bit surprised to find that I had an even fancier MBA than he did. . . just positive and energetic and happy to be around folks who were doing good stuff. Slim, telling stories of the politics at the office, the challenges that were always balanced with the sense of accomplishment, the folks there he didn't like so much. . . but always more about the folks he did like, and how he enjoyed to work, all in all.

Slim's bachelor party, Slim's wedding with Douggs in full regalia. Slim dancing, Slim always there when everyone else needed him. Slim warning me to lay off the bandit jumps in Malaysia. . . and Slim laughing right along with me at how amazingly silly that very concept was coming from his mouth. Slim asking "how'd they go, last night" when Tom and I rolled into the morning jumps a few hours late, tired but full of smiles.

Dwain helping to edit Slim's book of BASE history on his laptop while he and I drove all night to some dodgy object. . . reading the chapters out loud, expanding on the stories Slim was telling, pointing out the minor errors but always proud that Slim was willing and able to tell it like it was, as it really happened. Where did Slim's book go? Probably gone now, I mean who really wants to drudge up those old times nowadays. . . better to gloss over the sharp edges, remember "the past" as a Rockwell-esque patina of happy smiley folks who never had a care. Slim didn't buy into that crap, his book was brutally honest about all of us, himself included. Slim was one of the few folks who could tell Dwain when he was simply being a petulant ass and Dwain would listen and shape up. Slim was a leader without ever trying to be, an inspiration too busy with life to notice, and a legend long before he left us behind for good.

Slim, there was nobody else like him. I haven't spoken a word to Slim since Dwain killed himself, but I knew that when the time was right he and I would sit down and sort it all out. He was Slim, see, and he had a way like that. Slim could've told me why everything was ok, why the world was still bright and beautiful, why it all made sense. I was counting on it, counting on Slim, as always.

Nik, Lukas, Dwain, Slim. . . beautiful human beings, gone forever. Dwain said life is for the living. . . that's a much easier thing to say when you are dead, isn't it?

Slim was a giant of a man and the world without his light is a much, much darker place. How much darker can it really get?

Peace,

Z-d0g

+~+~+~+~
But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

[NickDG 23]

>>laughing so hard I thought I'd split wide open. "Two kwesadilllllllas. . . "<<

That's a nugget . . .

Nick BASE 194

[cesslon 0]

HIS NOT OFFICIALLY BRAIN DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11033067%255E401,00.html
=====================================

Base jumper 'not brain dead'
By Christopher Bodeen in Shanghai
October 11, 2004

AN Australian BASE jumper badly injured in a jump from China's tallest skyscraper may not be brain dead and his condition is improving, a hospital official and media report said today.

Roland Simpson, 35, suffered serious injuries last Tuesday when his parachute lines became twisted and he landed on a building rather than the patch of lawn designated for the jump.

Hospital officials, the Australian Embassy and the Shanghai government - which organised the jump as a publicity event for the city - have given no details of his condition. A Chinese newspaper last week reported he was brain dead, citing unidentified hospital sources.

However, a receptionist at Shanghai East Hospital's intensive care unit said hospital president Liu Zhongmin yesterday announced an improvement in Mr Simpson's condition.

"He has taken a turn for the better. He's not brain dead or anything as the reports were saying," said the man, who asked that his name not be used.






Shanghai's state-controlled media did not report Mr Liu's remarks. However, the Beijing Evening News quoted Liu denying Mr Simpson was brain dead, and said he was still receiving care.

"His blood pressure is stable. Now we are trying to revive his brain and support his breathing. We are not now making the appraisal that he's brain dead," Mr Liu was quoted as saying.

"The biggest problem is his brain injury. Recovery from a brain injury takes a long time," Mr Liu said.

Last week, Mr Simpson's brother Craig posted a message on the Australian BASE Association's website saying Mr Simpson was effectively dead when he landed.

"It took 20 minutes to bring him back but after 20 minutes of no oxygen to his brain there is nothing left and he won't be coming back," Craig Simpson's message said.

Shanghai's Chengdu Business Daily last week reported Mr Simpson was listed as brain dead by neurological experts at the hospital.

"The concerned departments of Shanghai have placed much importance on this and have brought in a lot of neurological experts for diagnoses," a hospital head nurse told the paper.

"Most of the experts said Mr Simpson's condition conformed to brain death."

Mr Simpson, known to his friends as Slim, was among 38 highly-experienced base jumpers from 16 nations invited by the Shanghai Sports Bureau to take part in the jump off the 421-metre Jinmao Tower.

Mr Simpson was injured in a practice jump the morning of the event, which went ahead as planned that afternoon.

Base jumping - an acronym for building, antenna, span and earth - refers to jumping with a parachute from a permanent surface rather than skydiving from an airplane.

==========================


I hope the above is correct, as it would be good if a fellow human recoverd

[robibird 2]

Dear Slim,
One day we gonna fly together again! One day you gonna make me laugh hard again! One day we will go hard again as we went this summer.
It is hard to accept that you went to another universe to play w Dwain.
Slim, I am so proud that I had opportunity to spend nice time w you in China. Having dinner and super great time in the piano bar night before you left.
Fly long, fly fast like never before my dear friend
My condolences to Andrea and all Slim's family.
Robert

Robert Pecnik
[email protected]
www.phoenix-fly.com

[Jasmin 0]

Never trust an article citing a source that wished to remain anonymous or didn't want to be named, its right up there with "a source close to ***".

xj

"I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

[cesslon 0]

true
I thought it would be unlikely that its true
which is why i wrote "I hope the above is correct,"