Kinsley Wong accident.

[FredBGG]

Yesterday Kinsley Wong of extremebigair had a bad accident and is in critical condition in intensive care.

Kinsley is a fixture of the kiting community of the central coast. The kiter with the biggest smile I know!

He is also the organizer of the biggest kiting event in Cali.. Kite Expo in Pismo Beach.

Let's all keep him in our thoughts and hope he pulls through.

Initial reports say he hit his unprotected head on a rock on the beach. He was unresponsive and had to be airlifted to hospital.

Local extreme sportsman Kinsley Wong is recovering in the hospital after a paraglider accident in San Simeon.

The 34-year-old was found unconscious and unresponsive on the beach just after 4 p.m. Thursday.

The State Parks Department reported that he suffered a head injury.

A helicopter transported Wong to Sierra Vista Medical Center, where he is currently in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

Here is some more info from ikitesurf forum...

A local kite dealer here on the central coast of Cali. went down yesterday and hit his unprotected head on a rock at the water's edge. He prides himself on his aerials, and his business name even reflects that, but he doesn't wear a helmet. He was knocked unconcious and was reportedly still unreponsive by the time the emergency crew showed up to take over the rescue. He had to be airlifted out to the nearest hospital, where he still is in intensive care.

[FredBGG]

Here is some more detailed information.

Extreme sportsman Kinsley Thomas Wong of Pismo Beach was in critical condition Friday morning in the intensive care unit of Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center, hospital spokesman Ron Yukelson said. Wong was injured in a kiteboarding crash in San Simeon late Thursday afternoon.

He is the entrepreneur behind XtremeBigAir in Pismo Beach. According to his Facebook page and some who have seen him in action, he is an expert kiteboarder and kiting instructor, as well as being active in other extreme sports, in the water and out. Wong is 43.

In kiteboarding, a person is strapped onto a board and is harnessed to a huge kite. The kiteboarder uses wind to propel himself across the sea.

A 2006 feature article in The Tribune said, “(Wong) is known as the father of kiteboarding on the Central Coast by area kiteboarders.” He said he and a friend were the first to kiteboard on the Central Coast in October 1998.

Wong was along the shore south of Pico Creek in San Simeon Acres when the accident happened at about 4 p.m. Thursday.

Retired Cambria dentist Dean Hilger was kiting that day, too.

“The winds were kind of gusty,” he said. Wong apparently was “powering up,” and doing a maneuver in the air. “A kite has a lot of power to it, tremendous lift, and it can get a little crazy,” Hilger said. “You can get yanked out of the water.”

When a gust of wind caught Wong’s kite, he apparently was pulled out of the water and dropped on the rocks, Hilger said. Wind gusts of up to 25 mph were recorded Thursday at an automated weather station at Piedras Blancas, about 8 miles north of San Simeon Acres.

Emergency responders who examined Wong on the beach near Pico Creek reported that he was unconscious and unresponsive but breathing, according to Eryn Sudama, spokeswoman for Cal Fire.

A Cal Fire helicopter took Wong to Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton, where he was treated before being transferred Thursday evening to Sierra Vista.

Read more: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/07/16 ... z0tvW6KNjm

This is sending a shiver down my spine....

I have kited at Pico. it is an amazing wave spot on a good day, but it is a tricky spot.
The launch is wind shadowed and plagued with terbulance.
There are rocks all along the the beach.
There are giant kelp beds that make the spot pretty tight, but the kelp beds smooth out the waves for some of the cleanest waves on the whole coast.

Gusts can come around the point there like they came from hell.
I have been totally overpowered by gusts there even riding a 6m kite and I weigh 225 lbs.


Hang in there Kinsley!!!

[STORMBIRD]

Kinsley was a big inspiration for me back in 2002 when I learned and once again in 2007 when I saw him last....just a really positive super-cool dude. I hope he is ok.

[DrLightWind]

Lets hope he pulls through, another sad day.
Kingsley of Xtremebigair did a lot of good for our sport with his Kitesurfing School Org:
http://kitesurfingschool.org/

It's ashame and people told me it's gay when I use helmet in 10 knots winds,
but here in south FL squalls & gusts are like a sneeze any time out of the blue.
I'm sorry to say but myself I learned from somebody else's mistake I knew for 22 years,
that distance is your friend and using any means of protections for the unknown.
It was Alex from Cabrinha who would be still with us if he was wearing a helmet,
when condition and judgment went to a wrong directions and ending his life too early.

DrLW

[Geronimo79]

I heared yesterday, it really sucks, that guy is so good and then something like that happens.
I hope he will fully recover from this and he can go back kiting. But i guess thats going to take a while.

Are thougts are with you kinsley.

[Toby]

sorry to hear this.
I wish Kinsley all the best and a speedy recovery..., he is a great person to have in the sport.

Was this now a paraglide or kitesurfing accident?

[posty]

first it says paragliding but it looks like a kiteboarding accident.
don't think you can paraglide with gusts of 25 miles per hour anyway.
for kiteboarding not even that strong.
hope he gets well soon!

[TommyDuotone]

Man, I can't hardly believe this. Kinsley is one of the coolest guys I've met since I started kitesurfing. No matter what your skill level is, he is always there to greet you with a big smile. I remember I first met him when I was learning during a trip to Pismo. He was the first guy to offer me help and advice when he saw I was a newbie. And the next time I returned, he remembered my name and greeted me with that same big smile. To me, he is the ambassador to kiteboarding for the central Cal area. Please pull out of this Kinsley because there are so many of us you have befriended.

[robertovillate]

Terrible news about Kinsley. Praying here for him to recover.

(And as I recall he was soon to be going on a cool trip to Vanuatu or somewhere? - I hope he bounces back and can still go)

Hang in there Kinsley and heal fast.

[FredBGG]

Man, I can't hardly believe this. Kinsley is one of the coolest guys I've met since I started kitesurfing. No matter what your skill level is, he is always there to greet you with a big smile. I remember I first met him when I was learning during a trip to Pismo. He was the first guy to offer me help and advice when he saw I was a newbie. And the next time I returned, he remembered my name and greeted me with that same big smile. To me, he is the ambassador to kiteboarding for the central Cal area. Please pull out of this Kinsley because there are so many of us you have befriended.

You could not have described him better...

I remember the first time I saw him in Ventura.
Each carve he did close by would be prectacular and completed with him flashing a big smile!