Collapse Boy

[Matthew]

I crashed my PG at launch today at the Pulpit. Long story short, I have a minor fracture in one of my disks. Doc says I'll be OK in three weeks. It was blowing about 10, somtimes less, with peak gusts at 14. Shawn Ray had launchd his HG and it looked a little turbulent-- but not too bad. I built a wall and wasn't being pulled. So I reverse inflated the wing. It came up straight and I looked at it for a few seconds to make sure it was ok. Everything seemed golden. I turned around to run and was imediately lifted off my feet to about ten feet above the new ramp. I was gong slightly backward and was trying to hook the speed bar with my foot. I never got to the speed bar. I instantly dropped out of the sky and swung over into the rocks on the left side. Witnesses reported that the left side of my wing collapsed. I impacted the rocks on my left thigh and my butt. I sure am glad I have a big fat padded harness with 8 inches of foam. Karen drove me to Chambersburg Hospital because my back was sore from the impact. After X-rays and a CAT scan they told me I had a minor compression fracture. My leg hurts a lot worse than my back. Big thanks to Ellis and Shawn for stopping by to see how I was doing at the hospital.

Matthew

[markc]

Whoa, I'm really sorry to hear about your crash Matthew, sounds like it was pretty scary.
Very glad you got away with what sounds like fairly minimal injuries... I sure hope that they
heal quickly and that you aren't out of the air for too long.

Keep an eye on the leg-pain aspect : vertebrae/disc injury can impact the spinal
nerves, which can then show up as ankle/knee/butt pain, radiating down the leg.
So if it gets worse, don't just tough it out, go see someone! 'Kay?

MarkC

[Spark]

Matthew,

That sounds scary.

We have had several PG injuries this year in Colorado due to turbulence-induced collapses.

I'm thankful that your injuries weren't worse.

I hope you heal quickly.