Wakeboard mishap

[jwhposon]

Well I have a SAN 04 and have just started to wakeboard. I finally cleared the wake with the ballast tanks full - and it looked good - ahoo.

So, I am Mr. Safety boy, helmet, gloves, stretching, yada yada. And, I finally clear the wake a couple times and decide to do something a little different if I clear it again. So I set my eyes on the wake, head straight into it, up in the air I go, land with attitude and all of a sudden -- SMACK!!!! I did a 360 and hit my hand. It hurt but I was excted and as the baot drew nearer I noticed my left glove was ripped, inside was a messy piece of meat hanging from my thumb. Notice the picture. I have a Hyperlite Beyerly wakeboard and I hit the sharp edges .

[richard]

RE: Wakeboard mishap

I heard broken arm,broken head,most that were caused by attemp or practice roll tricks,first time I see hurt like you,is your hand looped by the rope? hope you recover soon. I wanted to try roll tricks, appreciate if any precauction advise.

[OldFart]

RE: Wakeboard mishap

don't hit the edge of your wakeboard - sorry, just had to say it.

[bkhallpass]

The most impressive thing (or demented thing, depending upon
one's perspective) is that when you should have been driving
to the emergency room, you were taking photo's for your buddies
on planet nautique.com.

I hope you heal soon my man.

BKH

[Luke]

Ouch! I always thought that board had some nasty looking daggers on it, but I've never seen them do any damage as bad as that.

I'm guessing after you took the pictures, you taped it up and went back out for another session? ;-)

[jwhposon]

wake board picture

Well just for fun I thought I would provide a picture of the wakeboard, of course mine has different graphics or I wouldn't have bought this one . You can see on all four corners the little loop back with the point. The points that are facing each other on each end of the board. That is the culprit - smile. I took pictures to send them to Hyperlite just as an 'fyi'. I never thought that those little edges could cause such a trauma injury. If I didn't have my gloves I would be picking things up with four fingers not five. My driver said the samething while we were in the ER room - I can't believe you taking pictures and I was thinking of this site - just for laughs - yes a dimented sense of humor. Considering I always have questions on here and not pictures - smile.

I appreciate everyone's comments -- even the "I told ya so" comments .

[dabigkahuna]

Looks like a liability nightmare to me. Hyperlite has to be thinking about that accident.

[surroundsound64]

I'm sure with some clever wording you could get hyperlite to pay your bill. hehe.

Man... ouch.

Hope you get better soon!

[jwhposon]

Well so far Hyperlite has not been very responsive, in fact I was transfered several times and all I asked was if they would be open for paying the ER visit, less than 200.00. An attorney I talked to said a whole lot more but everybody sues now days so I am not keen on that idea, unless they continue to be stinkers about it. On the flip side I should have known those points were dangerous, not sure how that got by a safety inspection - smile. Thanks to all.

[raygunclan]

i was in the er with my hubby (he had a splinter, but it was about 2 inches long, straight into his calf) and this kid came in holding a bloody cloth on his head. he was at the orlando water sports center (is that what its called?) and he fell so hard that his helmet cut about a 4 inch gouge in the side of his head above his ear. it was pretty nasty. i let him go ahead of us. Yellow_Flash_Colorz:

[Alan-S]

Leave Hyperlite alone, the bylerly is an advanced board for advanced riders. If you are so safety concious stop wakeboarding, if you hit your hand on the board hard enough that will happen. BTW, wearing a helmet for everyday riding only increases your risk of snapping your neck. I have had knee reconstruction because I landed too hard in the flats on a LF Subject. Should I call Liquid force and warn them that the Subject pops too hard? I am sorry about your hand, and i hope you have a speedy recovery, but leave HYP alone, they are not the gigantic wakeboard pumping factory people thing they are.

[jroyal]

Last weekend, I was pulling a buddy of mine and I let him borrow my board which is a '03 Belmont 136. He went to pull a tail grab and cut a chunk out of the palm of his hand just below his thumb. The cut was about 3/4" long and probably needed stitches but he didn't go. (Sorry, no pics.)

[OldFart]

I predict WARNING LABELS all over the boards. Think I'll TM those babies, add a patent, & suck in the royalties . Sorry, kinda late for me & went loopy for a second

[jhiestand]

I think the point is the Byerly has a much different design than any other board on the market, and it was that unique feature of the design that bit a chunk out of his hand. Any board on the market can be taken out into the flats and can possibly cause knee trauma.

That being said, I agree wakeboarding is a risk sport and pursuant to all the warnings already on boards/bindings you are assuming risk when you ride. Kinda reminiscent of me sticking my arm through my Zero G graphite handle and mangling the **** outta it last season. : /

[Daytomann]

A friend of mine landed a simple wake to wake jump early this year, he was rusty and he went down kind of funky after he landed. He came out of the water with a deep cut near his temple on his head...turns out his body actually folded when he crashed and hit his head on the board. He was riding a Belmont...nothing special about the board design...not an "advanced" board..point is.... **** happens. I would advise HL about the injury for good measure so they can be aware of it but I woldnt go after them for any money.
This sport has the risk of all kinds of injury...realy freakish ones and some common ones...its all part of the game...luckily the good times outweighs the risk IMO.

Good Luck I hope you have healed up!

Oh, on the helmet issue...I'm a believer in helmets for activities that really require one. I wear a helmet when I snowboard, motorcycle and bicycle..for obvious reasons but I cant see wearing one for normal wakeboarding (unless youre on rails or someting) IMO...They can catch water when you wreck and cause more damage than anything else...does anyone else agree?