Fatality in NE Brazil

[Toby]

I just received a phone call from a friend of mine, who reported a fatality in NE Brazil.

A German women hit wooden stakes (no helmet) at the launch of her kite at Ilha do Guajiru.

My condolences to her family and friends. RIP

[HackyBrazil]

I ve heared about that fatality as well and we are all very sorry .... some friends of mine have been there and witnessed the incident:

about the info:

a german beginner (2nd day) started the kite in front of the lagoa beach/7 beaufort - obviously the boyfriend gave her a lift. the kite looped and unfortunately she hit the wooden poles that are downind from that spot ,securing the lawn area, directly with the head forward. as it happened at low tide -means that these poles are aprox 1,2 m out of the water. wind was aprox 24 to 26 knots.

unfortunately due to not existing telephone connection in the area the ambulance arrived after 20 min. they also had no neck protection and brought her to the hospital. tragically 2 hours later they where informed that she didn´t survive.

in this tragic moment there is not much to say just:

- which beginner starts the kite at the 2nd day of lesson?
- which kiter starts the kite upwind of obstacles?
- which beginner doesn´t have assistance when starting a kite?

the information of my friends give the conclusion that this fatality could have been avoided easily as it was a steering mistake in the wrong area...

My condolences to her family and friends.

[Toby]

thx for the update Hacky. Really tragic.

Really avoidable, since it is also very easy to launch there from the water, to have a little buffer if something goes wrong.

And if really no phone connection available yet, then shame on the investment developer who rather spends money on spamming Cumbuco with promotion rather than a phone line in the area.

[Clarencephil]

Pretty sad.
With big beaches nearby (look at the pictures http://www.brazilandfun.com/ilhadoguaji ... /home.html ), no reason for this to happen.

This is really a sport where one has to be careful !!!

[FredBGG]

Very sad.
My condolences to the family.But...

Second lesson in 25 kts for a woman (i assume a relatively light rider).... too much even with a small kite... small kite too fast for a beginner.
No Helmet....
Launching upwind of obstacles especially for a beginner...

[Windyaddiction]

PEOPLE, please read this carefully as mis-information is already spreading about this terrible accident. Toby, please moderate this better, I am disappointed in how fast this mis-information spreads.


I was there, I saw it, and I know the truth...this is not a second hand account...I was with her until the ambulance arrived.

The accident.
A female kiter (name with held for respect of family) was fatally injured yesterday.
1) she was NOT a beginner, she was NOT being taught. She was preparing for a down wind trip with several other competent kiters.
2) she was also a competent rider who could ride both directions and come upwind, she was on a 7M core kite.
3) It WAS an accident - there was no wrong doing other than preference for riders as how to launch.
I also agree that the kite should be water side when launching.

She was launched with the kite on the shore side, not lagoon side.
Somehow she lost control as the kite was climbing to 12, there was no kiteloop that I saw...I was there.
The kite started pulling her, she resisted and yelled to her to let go, push out push out! same as others did but were not close enough to grab on. She tripped and was pulled head first towards a wooden fence retaining wall. When we attended her, she was unconscious and at first not breathing, she starting breathing on her own and we did the best we could to help her open her airway. But she did not regain consciousness. We did not know her lungs were filling with fluid, it was not blood. But here breathing was worse and worse.
An ambulance WAS called immediately. The time to get there was a little over 10min, she was rushed to the local hospital where she was immolized for transport to a larger hospital in Fortaleza.
Sadly she did not make the trip to the second hospital.


There was nothing anyone could have done after the incident to have saved her, it was severe head trauma and possible broken neck as per a bruise I saw on the back of her neck.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not turn this post into a circus or witchhunt...we all lost a sister yesterday and we should all Mourn, pray and practice safe kiting together.

Accidents happen, they are tragic...if people use this incident to further their own agendas it only hurts us all and adds more insult to injury. I will watching further posts and hope people are sensitive in what they post.

Remember, this is a FIRST hand account, now you know the truth.
Be safe.
David

[robert13]

Thanks for the info Dave. It is important to have the facts. Kiting fatalities are horrible and sometimes I think its important to get the info out in the open so that we all might kite a little bit safer.

[HackyBrazil]

well I actually repeated the words one by one of 4 of my friends that witnessed the accident and where involved in the first aid (as 1 of them even has very specific medical education) as well.

maybe everybody involved had a different perception and what realy happened is in the middle......

[Toby]

yes, thanks for the info David. We are trying to get all info together...and as always, sometimes wrong info gets communicated and posted. Therefore it is a forum so you can add your info to find out 100% what happened.

I also agree that the kite should be water side when launching.

Theory. I don't think so, since then people launch in front of obstacles, instead of an open beach with space, or best standing in the water.

Since it was low tide, I wonder why she could hit the stakes if she was at the water line. The wind was more onshore? Or exactly sideshore? Could you do a picture of the location at the same tide state? I still cannot imagine where she was standing and how she could hit it.

David, can you comment on the telephone situation? Does a phone work on Ilha do Guajiru, directly at the location? Fix or mobile?

[Ozone Kites AUS]

PEOPLE, please read this carefully as mis-information is already spreading about this terrible accident. Toby, please moderate this better, I am disappointed in how fast this mis-information spreads.


I was there, I saw it, and I know the truth...this is not a second hand account...I was with her until the ambulance arrived.

The accident.
A female kiter (name with held for respect of family) was fatally injured yesterday.
1) she was NOT a beginner, she was NOT being taught. She was preparing for a down wind trip with several other competent kiters.
2) she was also a competent rider who could ride both directions and come upwind, she was on a 7M core kite.
3) It WAS an accident - there was no wrong doing other than preference for riders as how to launch.
I also agree that the kite should be water side when launching.

She was launched with the kite on the shore side, not lagoon side.
Somehow she lost control as the kite was climbing to 12, there was no kiteloop that I saw...I was there.
The kite started pulling her, she resisted and yelled to her to let go, push out push out! same as others did but were not close enough to grab on. She tripped and was pulled head first towards a wooden fence retaining wall. When we attended her, she was unconscious and at first not breathing, she starting breathing on her own and we did the best we could to help her open her airway. But she did not regain consciousness. We did not know her lungs were filling with fluid, it was not blood. But here breathing was worse and worse.
An ambulance WAS called immediately. The time to get there was a little over 10min, she was rushed to the local hospital where she was immolized for transport to a larger hospital in Fortaleza.
Sadly she did not make the trip to the second hospital.


There was nothing anyone could have done after the incident to have saved her, it was severe head trauma and possible broken neck as per a bruise I saw on the back of her neck.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not turn this post into a circus or witchhunt...we all lost a sister yesterday and we should all Mourn, pray and practice safe kiting together.

Accidents happen, they are tragic...if people use this incident to further their own agendas it only hurts us all and adds more insult to injury. I will watching further posts and hope people are sensitive in what they post.

Remember, this is a FIRST hand account, now you know the truth.
Be safe.
David

Very, very sad news David and a traumatic experience for you to witness. Totally understand your angst about incorrect information, however I don't see that anyone is trying to create mischief or do harm? Perhaps there is some misinformation, but you can correct that (and have). I don't agree that we can blameToby for anything negative though.

Accidents have causes, if we can rationally discuss the circumstances surrounding this tragic loss of life then we might be able to help someone else to prevent a similar incident.

There was something that happened to this woman that definitely could have been prevented. Do you think it was a gear failure?
The Core kites depower almost completely if the bar is let go, and you said there was no kite looping.
Surely an experienced rider would have let go of the bar?
Was it gusty where the kite itself was launched? Was it a poor launch (kite too far upwind or downwind of rider)