We Have A Man Down In The Water!!!

[scooper77515]

My dad took the XP out this morning before the cold front blew through. It was pretty big and REALLY choppy.

Anyway, he said he took a decent wave and ended up getting 15' air, and landing hard and falling off, and the XP went to the beach without him.

2nd time, same kind of air, and he lets go in mid-flight.

Climbs back on (he is getting pretty good at climbing on, nowadays) he sees this huge puddle of blood in his lap, and spends the next 20 minutes trying to get back out past the waves, around the jetty, into the channel, and back on the trailer.

He didn't tell me how many stitches he got, but the description of the gash sounded pretty nasty.

So, what the hell did he cut his leg on?

I cannot think of anything on the XP that could tear open a leg like that.

 

[kustomkarl]

OH MAN...I hope he's doing better. Is it possible that he got his leg on the handle bars? Maybe the jet pump nozzle? I hope this doesn't let this slow him down. I wish him a quick recovery.

Karl

 

[scooper77515]

We haven't figured out yet what got him. He thinks jet pump nozzle because it is the only hard piece back there. I think that is a far stretch, but having not seen the "incident" in person, I have no idea what he and the XP were doing relative to each other during their mid-air flight.

Personally, I think the nozzle is pretty round and smooth and wouldn't cut a gash in your thigh. But what do I know...

So, anyway, I show up an hour later (didn't know he was hurt at this point), grab my surfboard from under their house (beach house on stilts, with storage shed underneath), and go surfing after the front moves through. I notice the XP half on the trailer, out at the end of the driveway, almost in the street. I just figured dad was lazy and went shopping or something.

Later, I find out he spent half the day in the emergency room...:ack:

 

[kustomkarl]

I was thinking maybe the cable linkage...or a bolt on the nozzle. For the most part the seadoo is kinda smooth all over.

Karl

 

[scooper77515]

For the most part the seadoo is kinda smooth all over.

That is why he is so confused about what got him. The cut in his leg is pretty deep and smooth, so it had to be something with a decent edge on it.

It was also one of those clean cuts you don't feel until you see it.

I am almost wondering if he hit something in the water. We had a hurricane last year and people are constantly finding pieces of houses, cars, dishwashers, etc in the water. There is a slight chance that he just happened to wipe out and hit a chunk of something under the surface of the water.

 

[kustomkarl]

I'm thinking there is a good chance of that happening. There isn't really any way to get cut on the seadoo if it threw him off and away, unless it landed on him, so it could have been something just below the surface the he hit.

 

[scooper77515]

Dad is STILL in the hospital! He went in Friday, then out Saturday, in bed Sunday at home, then to work Monday morning til lunch, started to hurt and change colors, and back into the e-room, and now on Sunday, he is still in there.

They think he picked up some sort of staph infection while his cut leg was exposed to all that nasty beach water. They are keeping him on 2 antibiotic IV drips until his blood and cultures come back clean before they let him out.

Just thought I would toss out an update and encourage everyone to not get in "over your head" when messing around with your toys...

 

[jhjesse]

Hey Scoop,
Hope your Dad is feeling better soon. I know those infections can be tough to get over. :cheers:

 

[kustomkarl]

Infections aren't a good thing... A few years ago here in Blind Pass, in Sarasota some one I know cut their feet on the rocks that were full of barnacles. It got so bad he had is leg amputated from not getting it checked out till it was too late. He kept saying it was no big deal...just a small scrap. Good thing your dad had it looked at quickly. Salt water is bad news sometimes.

We wish him a quick recovery. Give him our best.

Karl

 

[timmyboy76]

ah, man...thats a bummer, Scoop...hope for the best, stud..:cheers:

 

[scooper77515]

Well, they finally let him out. It took a week of antibiotic drips, so don't think that little scratch or scrape doesn't need a good cleaning next time you get one. Especially in nasty salt water.

I am always cutting my feet on oyster shells or glass when I surf, and I always bubble it out with peroxide, then alcohol (soak, not drink :reddevil, and then neosporin. I have gotten some nasty infections and scars from kicking stuff and not cleaning it, especially where the water "looks" cleanest, California, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, but that coral is the worst.

Of course, my dad's cut was QUITE a bit deeper and bigger than the average scrape. We are talking 2" deep and about 12" long. NASTY!!!