Jonathan slammed-in at Crestline

[jcflies]

Apparently he hit some massive sink en route to the l/z. DOn't know the exact cause, but he was taken to Loma Linda Hospital, where he stayed for a couple of days.
He mentioned on the CSS site that he has:
"...fractures in C5 & C6, bulging discs in C6 & C7, edema around my spinal cord and pinched nerve to my right index finger and surrounding fingers. I have analyzed my tracks and I hit the LZ at 22mph while descending about 700fpm. Around a 2.7:1 glide angle. My No Limit helmet took a lot of abuse and saved my face and part of my scalp."

Glad you are going to recover, Jonathan!
Spines are so precious!

[Mike Blankenhorn]

Damn Jonathan, may you heal swiftly.

[JD]

In the immortal words of The Great BudRob: "DQ was flying like a hero until he ate shit."

My new drag chute works so well that it allows me to safely perform maneuvers on my T2C that aren't even remotely possible it. Unfortunately I got a little too wound up and decided to be a wise-guy and squeeze in between the shade structure and a friend who was walking her glider back to the breakdown area. I wanted to leave a wider margin for her and wound my base-leg turn and extra 20 degrees and then did a 20-degree S-reversal. I had not realized the ground was coming up so fast and only completed a partial round out from a 32mph 3:1 angle to 22mph 3:1 angle with my right hand up and left hand down.

I hit the control bar first which instantly exploded all three parts due to the shock force of my weight against the hang strap. Next, my chest impacted against my reserve cute and I slid a short distance before my Charly No-Limit chin guard hit the grass causing it to flex enough to receive a Mike Tyson love tap to the jaw.

No long after this my face hit the inside of the visor digging my eyeglass bridge into the bridge of my nose. A nano-second or two later my forehead impacted the crush-able foam liner of the helmet giving me a concussion. But wait--there's more!

The nose of my glider hit my helmet gouging the heck out of it and dragging the visor across the grass long enough to completely scratch every square inch. But wait--there's even more!

My body still had enough momentum to apply a considerable crushing load into my cervical spine. I could feel my vertebrae fracturing as it happened along with the gaps between bone being slammed together. Remember that right arm being up? Well, I would up on my right side with what I thought was a broken arm.

I knew I had a spinal injury and raised my visor and yelled for 911 and stated I had spinal damage. Luckily, two of the pilots who ran out have had EMT or first aid training. One pilot was able remove my helmet without any pressure on my neck and then wedged my head firmly between his knees while another pilot held me down so I could not further injure my C-spine. We worked as a team to get the harness off with no trauma and then my outer layers of insulation.

Shortly thereafter, the EMTs arrived. Tish was the SBFD EMT who accompanied me during the ride to Lome Linda and did a bang-up job. <pun>. Robert was the RN on afternoon shift and was fantastic throughout my time in the ER.

I was given X-Rays and a CT-scan and they were going to discharge me since it only showed a non-displaced C5 fracture. I looked at the surgeon and clearly stated, "No fucking way!", "I have partial paralysis to my right hand and forearm and I could feel four vertebrae slamming together during the impact.

Another neurosurgeon came out and did an exam on my right hand and extremities. He corroborated what I described and ordered me an MRI for the next day.

Meanwhile it got to be 9PM and I had not had a pee since noon. Due to the trauma my body was flushing itself and I was now in more pain from my bladder and prostate than from my neck injuries. Unless I and standing or sitting girlie style on the commode I ain't going. I finally talked Robert into catheterizing me which he did admirably. The resulting flow was in excess of one quart. That's a hellofalotof pee backup.

By 10PM I was pretty darned light-headed and crabby. Can you imagine me ever being crabby? You know it must be pretty bad if mellow ole me is ever crabby. Naturally that was my middle-aged need for carbs kicking in since I had not eaten since 8AM. Robert came back from the cafeteria with two slices of pizza, a Gatorade and some fruit in a cup. While laying flat on my back I opened the Styrofoam containers and poured the pizza into my rotating shredder teeth of of now-tree shredding power.

I think I inhaled those delicious slices in less time than my auger-in lasted. By Friday I got the MRI results which told me what I already knew as recited in the OP. Hopefully, in six weeks I'll be able to go without the cervical collar and can get on with physical rehab then repair my glider. Hopefully, by May I can get back on my Falcon then the Sport 2 and by Fall be back on the T2C.

Cheers,
DQ

[OP]

Fuck bro, get well soon.

Let me share some stories about your video prevalence. When work sent me to Chicago, Puerto Rico and my own travels to Texas to fly. Everyone knows about "Neon Jon" (aka your then known name).


No joke I had people walk across the tarmac and announce "this guy knows -neon jon-" and shake my hand.

In W*******n I got the feeling the tow park was hesitant on lending me a glider and gear despite my H3 and Tow rating. Apparently in the Midwest H3 is the same as a H1 out here. After chatting about "neon jon" they quickly understood me as a pro. Just so you know I rocked that club on a falcon.

Get well soon, we all miss the videos. Let me know if I can help.
-op

[vannoppen]

Im starting to think that after almost 25 yrs of flying that it is dangerous. Heal well and go slow. Once your fractures heal you might look into a Lamonectomy, trimming of the bulging discs. It helped me tremendously. Looking forward to the video of this one in slow mo.

[JD]

Thanks OP.
David, are you sure I wouldn't be better of with a lobotomy rather than a laminectomy.

[dhmartens]

Praying for you to heal.

Looking at your telemetry you came in about 10% faster than Hurdling world record holder Aries Merritt run of 19.2086 mph. When I broke my toe I went on a diet of fried chicken and beer to heal faster. I am glad you were limited to a hurdling accident and not more serious.

For Speed comparison:


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3yN9G5rJYQ[/youtube]
There is 1/2" Tartan Rubberized track. I think the soft grass saved you too, Thanking the CSS groundskeepers.

Get Better Soon,
Doug

[JD]

Praying for you to heal....
Get Better Soon,
Doug

Thanks Doug,

Here's my flight until the last 3 seconds which I could not recover.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHLDLk-Dr90[/youtube]

[Malury]

I'd rather have a Bottle In Front of Me than a Frontal Lobotomy.
All kidding aside, nerve damage can be a devastating condition. It can take 6 months just to recognize you have damage. When I injured my right wrist it took 3 months to notice increasing weakness and muscle atrophy. It took Kaiser 2 months to diagnose and perform a surgery and 2 years to achieve a 90% recovery. Keep that in mind, all year Jon.
Heal up fast and fully friend.

[JD]

I'd rather have a Bottle In Front of Me than a Frontal Lobotomy.
All kidding aside, nerve damage can be a devastating condition. It can take 6 months just to recognize you have damage. When I injured my right wrist it took 3 months to notice increasing weakness and muscle atrophy. It took Kaiser 2 months to diagnose and perform a surgery and 2 years to achieve a 90% recovery. Keep that in mind, all year Jon.
Heal up fast and fully friend.

Thanks Malury,
I see the neurosurgeon tomorrow. His name is Wilhelm. I will ask him about your wrist along with the bottle you left behind. I once won a trophy too. It has a goggle wearing turkey atop a crushed beer can with some engraving about a Hack Ward. Maybe some letters wore off?

[Steve90266]

Yeah Jonathan, get well soon. Nobody else cuts a hang gliding vid like you do. See you in the skies soon!