NWFlyer 2
Jumper will Recover... WAS [Low turn Injury - Lake Elsinore, CA - 3 October 2008]
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30% compression fracture of T12 back in spring of 2000. Got through it without surgery. I have made about 1700 jumps since then. It took me about 3-4 months to start jumping again. It took about a year and a half before I was not aware of the injury all the time. That improved over time. Now, I only notice it when I over do it or when the weather changes.
After seeing my x-rays the doctor was amazed that I walked into the care center.
After seeing my x-rays the doctor was amazed that I walked into the care center.
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Quote1 compound femur, 1 dislocated knee, 1 broken ankle, facial damage not 100% sure but I heard broken jaw, nose, cheek bone and severe concussion. Jumper will recover.....
Et all... I am not a doctor, but all of that sounds like some pretty serious injuries and while I hope the person that hurt themselves does recover to the maximum extent possible... what do we really mean when we post things like, "Jumper will recover", in such incidents?
Personally, I broke my right ankle badly during a skydive as a result of a low turn back in 1998. After a couple of surgeries (1 to put in 8 screws and a plate, an another to take the hardware out), I "recovered." I still skydive, I can walk, I can still exercise, although running isn't much fun because of some lasting loss of range of motion in my right ankle... but I never did much like running so its a convenient excuse...... but believe me, here 10 years later, besides the scars, that injury still lets me know it happened. Hardly a day passes where I don't feel pain in my right ankle when walking down steps, sometimes sharp enough that I have to grab the railing, but nothing so bad I can't walk off in a few seconds. Basically, I think its "arthritis"?... can't be bothered to go see a doctor and see what's up yet and I ain't in to taking pain meds.
Anyway, what's my point. I don't think we should kid ourselves that when we say someone will "recover", this doesn't necessarily mean they'll be 100% "like new", if ever.
In a twisted way... by now, lots of folks have piled in on bad landings and ended up like the unfortunate described in the OP / Incident. Maybe as a community, it would benefit us to hear from some of these survivors with respect to their "recover"... what they went through shortly after their injury (surgery ?) and lasting effects (if any) as the years went by.
Thoughts?
... but believe me, here 10 years later, besides the scars, that injury still lets me know it happened. Hardly a day passes where I don't feel pain in my right ankle when walking down steps, sometimes sharp enough that I have to grab the railing, but nothing so bad I can't walk off in a few seconds. Basically, I think its "arthritis"?... can't be bothered to go see a doctor and see what's up yet and I ain't in to taking pain meds. My ankle injury was in 1993, double compound to the right tib/fib. Actually I did not break the ankle, I shattered it when the tib/fib went thru the ankle and came out. The exit points were just below the ankle on the left side and out the bottom left side of the foot. The impact was so hard it drove the two leg bones thru and out. Also broke my right wrist in two places. In most cases my accident would have been a fatality, so I am thankful to suffer daily with the pain. Hardware removed 12 years ago, had 3 surgeries and a cortisone shot in 98. The body is still trying to repair it based on the calcium build up I have, (according to the experts). The surgeries consisted of grinding away the excess calcium, which only grows back within three months to the point it creates a "buldge" 2" in diameter about 1/2" tall protruding off the front of the ankle which is visible. The last cat scan showed that the gap that allows movement is almost closed which now it gets "locked" at times so I have to force it passed the unnecessary calcium buildup. Extremely painful when this happens (almost daily). It takes 10 or 15 steps every morning to break the ankle loose before I can walk "normal". It used to drop me to a knee mid stride at times. If you have ever seen me early in the morning during SkyFest you have seen me moving very slow caused from being on my feet all day the day before. There are other parts that become affected from the way I walk since the accident, mainly to the bottom of the foot, the knee and hip will only get worse in time. I could fuse it but then I will have a definite noticeable limp, but the pain would be gone. Ankle replacement is what I would like to do but the technology is not there yet, I only want to do that once not every 10 years. The only other possible treatment I have heard is to do another outpatient surgery to remove the calcium again. But I would have to stay on my back for 6 months with leg elevated and only allowed to be upright for no more than 30 minutes up to three times a day. Not going to happen unless someone will cover my bills for six months and I want to risk blood clots building up in my legs. So when someone says oh he just broke an ankle that is really only true when the break is above it and not "in" it, which is usually the norm, but even those have repercussions. The wrist really only affected my darts, but I did learn to throw left handed. LOL I'm like you, no running which I don't mind.
No wind landings can be challenging, 22 packed in an otter, and getting ready at the 2 minute are painful. I only float or dive out from at least 3 deep in the plane cause I cant squat properly to get out. Sorry so long but that is my definition of "recovered"
. The one benefit to it all is that I did 642 consecutive jumps without having to go to a knee (doing CRW under a 126 Lightening heavily loaded, at least put it in the peas) since then another 526 and still counting.
Spiral fracture of the fib in Dec '06. Plate and 6 screws and 4 months of pt recovery later, I have almost full range of motion, but no pain. It does enter my mind when landing that if it looks even slightly sketchy, I will PLF instead of the chance of rehurting the ankle. I have worked on improving my landing skill and don't plan on downsizing all that much beyond my current canopy. I am starting to have some tightness in the ankle. The ortho said it could happen. Need to have them take a look and see if the hardware should be removed. He told me that it isn't whether I will get arthritis in the ankle, but when.
50 donations so far. Give it a try.
You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity
You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity
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Well....I fractured two vertebrae and crushed one, in June of 96......I "recovered" and made 1400+ more jumps which 400 of were tandems.
As of November of last year , 07 I am out of the sport due to neurological problems causing me problems with my arms.
Unlike ZigZag....I live on pain meds just to get thru the day.
Did I really recover ? For a time maybe.
But if you hadn't done 1400 more jumps, would it have happenned? Or if you hadn't had the injury, would 1400 jumps have lead to some of this? People get arthritis and back issues even willing a dull life.
I'm a bit past two years from the 65mph motorcycle crash, which is on par with a swooper tripping at full speed, I suppose. Most of the serious damage was to the shoulder, which now has a plate and 10 long pins. I'm not 100%, but pretty close. I swam a 2000m leg in the ocean for a tri last month. Not the same quality of swimming yet, but still ~50 minutes, and I wasn't that fast before.
But certainly I'm aware of what happened, still a bit stiff at times. Someday it might be necessary to scope the rough edges, though no indication yet.
bozo 0
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Well....I fractured two vertebrae and crushed one, in June of 96......I "recovered" and made 1400+ more jumps which 400 of were tandems.
As of November of last year , 07 I am out of the sport due to neurological problems causing me problems with my arms.
Unlike ZigZag....I live on pain meds just to get thru the day.
Did I really recover ? For a time maybe.
But if you hadn't done 1400 more jumps, would it have happenned? Or if you hadn't had the injury, would 1400 jumps have lead to some of this? People get arthritis and back issues even willing a dull life.
Who knows. I certainly wouldnt have traded the last twelve years for anything.
Dont misunderstand me ...I'm not bitching. It is what it is. I coulda got hit by a bus or a drunk driver at an intersection.
bozo
Pain is fleeting. Glory lasts forever. Chicks dig scars.
In a way, the possibility of not dying in this sport scares me more than the possibility of dying.
It's why I am glad to be back in a job with a big company with great benefits where I can buy up to 60% long term disability insurance so if I fuck myself royally in this sport, I am not also totally fucked financially.
It's why I am never without health insurance, even for a day. If I fuck myself up (or get fucked up by someone else), I don't ever want to wonder if I can pay for every bit of care I need to get as "better" as I can get.
The only traumatic injury I've been through (unrelated to skydiving) took about 11 months to fully recover from, and I was able to get back to 100% functionality. Though I bear some physical scars from the incident that will be long-term reminders, they don't affect my quality of life.
All the preparations listed above can't begin to prepare me for an injury that might affect my long-term quality of life. And that's the big, scary unknown. But all I can do is take away some of the scary parts by preparing myself as best I can financially so I have the resources to deal with whatever comes my way.
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