Casualty in Sicily

[Kitetwin-1]

I come to the forum to read about all aspects of kiting. There is some gold here and there on the forum but to much negativity. Let’s all talk like we’re in the same room.

[knotwindy]

Am I missing something?

Sense of humour, ability to stfu.

As long as you’re asking, also missing the point

[Voeah]

It is quite worrying that a witness to this tragedy offered to share his account with us on this forum and that everybody is to busy jabbering away with their own very important stuff to even notice? So stop sending and do some receiving for once... Please @Palmolive share your story

[knotwindy]

At least two people asked him to share his story but no response was given so
It went sideways after that.

[Palmolife]

Sorry guys that you did not hear from me, I simply missed anyone answered to my post. I apologize for the delay.

So as far as I can tell a lot can be learned from this accident and be advised I don't post this tragedy to get attention, I do so to create some awareness of possible dangerous situations. As I said before, it's not an easy task to recall this happening..

Some friends and me were kiting in the lagoon when all of a sudden a thunderstorm started building up on the horizon. Since it was obvious it was approaching us and the wind was picking up quite a lot while changing direction to straight on shore, with many strong gusts, the supervisor of the kiteboarding school blew the whistle, signaling everyone to come back and stop his session. Everyone did so except some people which did not see the dark clouds coming or simply ignored it.
I remember while rolling up my bar, I saw a kite surfer with an RPM kite approach the shore. He was kiting way to close to the shore considering the weather conditions! I assume he wanted to get off his board and eventually land his kite. When he was about three meters away from land, his kite suddenly started looping out of nowhere. (I can't tell why.) Since he could not control the situation he was thrown off his board and dragged towards the shore. We yelled at him too release but instead of releasing his chicken loop, he held onto the bar und pulled in and the inevitable happened.. The kite picked up power, pulled him several meters into the air before he hit a small hill. I think he lost consciousness right after the impact since it was a very hard one. The kite kept looping and dragged him over the ground away from the lagoon. A friend of mine and me started running as fast as we could, trying to approach him but he was so fast that we even lost vision contact. Unfortunately there was nothing the kiter could have done in this situation because he was unconscious.
So we kept running as fast as we could, the terrain was very rocky. After about 400 meters we could see the kiter lying under a pole in the vineyard. His kite was gone, I think the power lines must have ripped, I cannot tell for sure though.
You sure can imagine the injuries this person has suffered from. So since he stopped breathing after a couple of seconds, we performed a cardiac massage and tried to help him. People from all the kite stations around came and wanted to help. Finding someone who actually knew the emergency number was very hard! (So please always make sure you know the emergency number!) Even locals had issues figuring out what number to dial! Finally someone knew what number to call but no-one picked up.. This guy was dying and we could not reach an ambulance, this still drives me mad! Then my friend got through and told them in English we needed assistance, however the other person on the phone did not speak any English and therefore could not send any help.. So it took us about 15 minutes to actually get a hold of the emergency department.
Eventually an ambulance arrived after about 30 minutes. The doctor took over my job and quit after a short period of time for obvious reasons.
I don't want to name the injuries this person suffered from since I want to be respectful but I can go as far as saying that a helmet would NOT have saved his life.

So thank you for taking your time and reading my post, I hope this helps understanding potential dangerous situations and how to properly handle them once you are in them.
My thoughts are with this person's family and friends he was spending this vacation with.

[Toby]

thank your for the details palm.

So sad to read this, since it was completely avoidable.

Important for us to learn is always keep an eye on the weather conditions (also forecasts).
When many people go quickly off the water there will be a reason. Specially when you are guest at a spot do like the locals do...they know more!

If winds pick up, you never approach the shore with a high kite...you fly your kite low and drag towards the beach and have someone catch the kite on the (low) fly. If no one is around, activate the QR.

Sounds like a line snapped if his kite suddenly start to loop uncontrolled.

And unbelievable it took so long to get medical help...someone should write a complaint to authorities that this won't happen again...

RIP

[slowboat]

Lots of possibilities for looping besides line breaking.

The witness said Kiter did not release safety while being dragged. Do we know that for sure? Maybe he was trying and couldn’t get to it or it malfunctioned?

[downunder]

Just yesterday was watching someone approaching the shore quite fast, kite high, and kiter rolled on the sand. Because of that, pulled a bar on one side only and lopped it.
Fortunately, we are protected by the high bush, that stopped the kite. All good.

It is easy to trip over something when landing, loop the kite, the end.

Yes, I always mention the Hospital issues when in foreign land. The language barrier is not to take lightly, phones either.

In AU, we have 000 number which must work even with no funds on the phone.

Universal World Emergency number is something to work on.

On the positive note the Electric foils might change a lot. Imagine a drone pulling you as well.

It will definitely become more safe.

[alunj]

In Europe we do have a common number

112 is the European emergency number, available free of charge, 24/7, anywhere in the European Union. Citizens can dial 112 to reach the emergency services, including the police, emergency medical services and the fire brigade.

EENA believes that having a common emergency number everywhere in Europe is directly benefiting citizens and visitors but, unfortunately, this potentially life-saving number is largely unknown.

[Peter_Frank]

In Europe we do have a common number

112 is the European emergency number, available free of charge, 24/7, anywhere in the European Union. Citizens can dial 112 to reach the emergency services, including the police, emergency medical services and the fire brigade.

EENA believes that having a common emergency number everywhere in Europe is directly benefiting citizens and visitors but, unfortunately, this potentially life-saving number is largely unknown.

True, 112 works in all 28 european countries, in Scandinavia, in USA and Canada, and New Zealand Thus also in Sicily.

And in most countries it works on any phone even without the pin code or sim card.

Would be good if the rest out the world countries could follow.

But language differences can always be a problem unfortunately.

Peter