Kiting accident last Friday 9/11, see below article, anyone know how she's recovering ?


A 35-YEAR-OLD woman is recovering in hospital with neck injuries after plunging head-first into sand dunes during a dramatic kite-surfing accident at Point Impossible yesterday.

The woman was rescued and taken to Geelong Hospital after falling more than 6m and hitting the dune at about 11.30am.

Paramedics believe the woman had finished a morning kite-surf and stepped out of the water when a strong gust of wind lifted her into the air and dumped her into 1.2m dunes on the Breamlea side of the creek.

"She's been dragged along the beach and gone head-first into the sand," said Rural Ambulance Victoria spokesman John Mullen said.

"She's hit the sand dune quiet hard ... she was quiet light, and the winds were fierce."

Paramedics rushed to the beach, where the woman was barely conscious.

"She had back pain and neck soreness, so the crew administered pain relief and placed her on a spinal board," Mr Mullen said.

An air ambulance was requested, but later cancelled, as Torquay SES arrived and helped paramedics load the injured woman into an awaiting ambulance.

The woman was in a serious but stable condition in hospital last night.

... damn

When I was teaching myself way back when, I was always worried about loftings and accidents (and not looking like a d!ck) I used to always assume it was going to turn ugly any second so I would always have my hand on the punch-out or at least thinking about it til I got to the water. That first seconds is so critical and if you could minimise your reaction time, things may be better for you. I remind my son always and I'm gunna show him this thread.

Horrible news, I hope she gets better soon!

Does anyone have any more details so we can learn from it?

cheers,

Robbie

hope she is ok.. and on the mend...

Friday was one of the wildest sessions we have down our way in years... Gusts of 15kn+ throughout the arvo... so im guessing it hit that area as well..

Keep us posted on her recovery..

Keep us posted Suffer62.

Was she a local? Hope she mends quick.

Thats a big loft with today's kites. I would assume that there was some sort of bar and line issue, unless it was a mega gusty. It goes to show that frontal, gusty conditions of more than a 10 knot range are awful to ride in and extra caution needs to be taken. In certain conditions, the wind does not blow horozontally, updrafts and downdrafts are common. Your kite needs to be down or at worst be 100m out to sea.

With limited information, she obviously hit the ground with a lot of horozontal force. Hope to hear your on the water again soon.

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RAL INN said...

Keep us posted Suffer62.

Was she a local? Hope she mends quick.

Ral,

Apparently not a Torquay local, no one here seems to know anything other than the local newspaper report.

Hope she's OK.

She is a French girl who lives in Sydney. She is friends with a local kitesurfer named Joel. Not sure how she is. But I think she hurt herself pretty bad.

www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/nocookies?a=A.flavipes

Good work AZZ

This will save you searching story.

THE experienced kite-surfer who suffered serious spinal injuries after being thrown head-first into sand at Point Impossible says she's lucky to be alive.

Sydney's Christelle Le Baccon, 35, yesterday recalled the horror accident that left her with two broken lumbars at the base of her spine and suffering hypothermia.

Ms Le Baccon, who is a member of a national kite-surfing team, had finished kite surfing with a friend last Friday morning and was making her way off the beach when a fierce gust of wind caused her equipment to malfunction, throwing her head-first into the 1.2m sand dune on the Breamlea side of the creek.

"Because it was so gusty I decided to leave my board and walk out with my kite first," Ms Le Baccon said.

"Suddenly the gust picked up and took the kite in the air, unhooking my harness and throwing me 5m in the air and then against a dune.

"When I came to, I realised my head was buried under the sand and I knew I had a problem with my back."

She praised the quick-thinking of her friend who rushed to her aid and called paramedics.

Ms Le Baccon has been told she'll spend the next six weeks in a back brace, but she said she considered herself lucky to be alive.

"I'm lucky to have hit a dune, not a rock and I'm lucky not to be paraplegic," she said.

"At the end of the day, yes, it is depressing to be out of the water, but you have to see it could have been much worse."

She issued a word of warning to other kite-surfers in the area, urging them to take care and plan ahead every time they tried the sport.

"Don't think you're invincible; kite-surfing is a very dangerous sport and injuries happen very quickly," she said.

"Make sure there is enough room to land your kite and ensure you're doing it in a safe environment."

She was the subject of an article in Kiteboarder a few months ago.



www.google.com.au/search?q=christelle+le+baccon&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&safe=active&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1019&bih=872&gws_rd=ssl

oh la la.....

nice work Gorgo

Glad to hear that she will be ok.

I hope all goes well and your back on the water soon Christelle.

Christelle, sorry to hear about this bad accident. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

sounds like it was a very close call with the reaper.
It would still be good to here a better explanation of the event from her though (when she is ready of coarse).
I think this happening to an experienced kiter would make it relevant to everyone.
the quote of " suddenly the gust picked up and took the kite in the air" makes it sound like it may have happened when self landing but I am sure she would have a more precise idea of what actually went wrong.

Oh no!! Get well soon Christelle

Erin

Get well Christelle. I'm sure the Botany Bay crew wish you a speedy recovery.

Wishing you a fast and 100 percent recovery christelle :) xo Nathan and the f-one crew!

That sounds heavy...Hey hope you have a speedy recovery ...

Hi everyone, Frenchy speaking!
I would like to start this email by a big " thank you"to all of you for your kind words...

I am still at the hospital but will be fly home soon. I am from Sydney and have been at Geelong Hospital since the accident.


What a shame, the week end in Torquay was promising, the wind was there, the sun was shining and we were going to have so much fun!

1.30h into the session, on friday morning, i went back to shore.. i was flying my 6m.
The wind was strong but i had previously kite in stronger wind. Once on the beach, I decided to drop my surfboard to the ground and walk back only with my kite. The wind got very gusty and the kite started to get agitated, pulling on and off on my harness. Before i even got time to realised, the metal part of the harness came undone and sent the kite from 1.00 to 9.00, lifting me in the air , twisting my body like for a S.BEND and crashed me unto a dune... the rest of the story.. you reed it!

I am not paraplegic, did not lost 1/2 of face, did not loose any of my teeth.. so over all i am lucky.
Thank you and sorry to all the people that have had to deal with my frustrations, my cries, my complains during and after the accident and in the next months to come.. For those how reckon i do not need to be injured to behave that way.. well , then it is just my personality ! lol
I will be out of action for a while so please do not call me to tell me that you had the best session of your life ( ah ah) ... but do not forget me if you are organising any type of event wish doesn't request back, legs, or arms... euh!!! drinking, chest, puzzles and movies should be ok lol
Thank you againJavascript:insertsmilie('')

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christellelb said...
euh!!! drinking, chest, puzzles and movies should be ok lol
Thank you againJavascript:insertsmilie('')

Tell me more about the drinking chest puzzles???

Get well soon Christelle, I hope Geelong Hospital is a lot better than my memories of it, I bet you are looking forward to getting home!
Don't freak out too much about your injury, the body is an mazing thing. I broke my back in 5 places and I'm still kiting. T7 and T8 and also L1, L2 and L3, I manage it now with lots of stretching, exercise and drinking, hence my interest in the drinking chest puzzles, ok?

get well soon xo
glad to hear you will be ok
see ya soon
oh its me jason lol

First and foremost Christelle, you dont look anywhere near your age (so there's another reason to avoid accidents).

Very happy news that you are not seriously injured and recovering well.

Can you clarify what you mean about the metal part of your harness becoming loose?

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terminal said...

First and foremost Christelle, you dont look anywhere near your age (so there's another reason to avoid accidents).

Very happy news that you are not seriously injured and recovering well.

Can you clarify what you mean about the metal part of your harness becoming loose?

I think she means spreader bar

Hello, come back to sydney where u belong to! hahahah
glad to see your comment, get well recovery!
you are the best female rider in whole AUSSIE, i'm your fan! ahhahhaha
toughcore lady, unbreakable!

Aloisio

Shame to hear of accident, hope you get mended soon, and we see you at the beach in Botany.
A reminder that things turn from bad to worse very very quickly.

Looks like another one ...

Gusty = danger

www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/arm-broken-as-wind-dumps-kite-surfer-20110920-1kj4n.html

^^^^
12 mths kiting and 2 posts, sounds like you have had a lot of experience with Gusty= Danger . Perhaps start another thread instead of tacking onto someone elses misfortune. Its amazing how some people jump to conclusions without knowing the details.

Gee, sorry Teabaggin. I kinda of thought that the 2 were related. I'll make sure never to make such a newbie mistake again. Probably my last post anyway.

That's harsh Teabaggin, its a reasonable observation and relevant too. BTW there are other posts about the Brighton accident, and yes, gusty wind was the issue

Back on topic.

Get well Soon Christelle, hope to see you on the water in a few months.

You are one tough rider.

Speedy recovery.

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Peterc150 said...

That's harsh Teabaggin, its a reasonable observation and relevant too. BTW there are other posts about the Brighton accident, and yes, gusty wind was the issue

Sorry , didnt see the other post in VIC /KBV . Apoligies Zedder I jumped to conclusions myself