Freak accident.

[kerlee]

Had a friend of my son's tear muscles in his arm after falling while crossing the wake. He was just learning and was not going very fast. He did not let go of the rope.
If you have beginners out there enjoying your boat, tell them to let go of the rope if they are falling and not try to power it out.

[da.bell]

That would suck. Did he catch his arm in the handle?

[kerlee]

nope,
nothing was broken or dislocated, there were no abrasions around his wrist. He had some bruising around his elbow which initially made us think he got caught by the rope, but that would have caused a really bad rope burn. he did not have any of that. Just alot alot of pain and bruising over the biceps and forearm. It was amazing how fast his arm was swelling. We were worried he had torn an artery or vein and was developing a compartment syndrome. We took him straight to the ER, and while in the boat packed his arm in about 10lbs of ice. We always keep a roll of trash bags in the boat and we used our ice from the cooler.
He has had numerous broken bones and dislocated shoulders and he says he would take any of those again over this injury. MRI done 3 days after the accident shows torn muscles in the biceps and forearms areas.
He did not let go of the rope when falling, had his elbow flexed and got some slack while falling and when the rope tightened, his elbow was jerked straight, thanks goodness he did not dislocate his elbow.
Since the injury, I have spoken with 2 other people that either have the same injury or saw it happen to someone else, all from catching an edge and not letting go, but fighting to stay up.

[dogbert]

Yep, that's the first piece of advice we give any new rider. If you hold onto the rope when you're falling, your faceplant will hurt more. Better to live and ride another day. It's probably even more important when you start learning advanced tricks.

[SPBFAN]

I know I let go as soon as I realize my body is not set up straight for a landing. I tell new riders the same thing expecially kids because it it cool to fight it and stay up right. Dont fight it. It is not worth it. That is probably why I can not make the W2W I get good air now and when I do I don't know what to do so I let go to lessen the pain.

[Memphis]

a friend tore his biceps muscle in half last year throwing a raley...I couldnt even look at his arm without getting the shivers, and I didn't see him til like a month later...it was all droopy hah

[chpthril]

Wow, that is freak Hope he recovers with no permanent side effects.