Oct 10, 2006

...and then its real


Lets hope its not the last one

Normally, on these pages anyways, I am loathe to be serious about anything. Its much more fun to poke a little fun here and there as the CRB crew yak about this sport.

But, as I am sure most everyone has heard, Dallas Friday got seriously hurt a little bit ago at a tournament in Singapore. At first you thought, thats pretty crazy. Breaking your leg and having some water in your lungs is never anything to sneeze at, but, you figured that everything would be ok and she would be back on the water before we all knew it.

Well, this is still hopefully the case, but, as it turns out it has been rougher then normally anticipated.

From the Orlando sentinel Newspaper.
"The doctors will do an assessment once she has been off the breathing tube 12 hours and will release an official statement about her condition," the Friday family said in an e-mail Sunday morning. "We are encouraged by this latest news."

The 20-year-old developed acute breathing problems after surgery Monday to repair a broken left femur, which she fractured in several places while performing a "whirlybird" during the final event of Sunday's 2006 Wakeboard World Cup series in Singapore.
Wow, that's some serious stuff right there. Hey, a broken femur is pretty serious, and breathing trouble is even worse, but, throw out the 'breathing tube' into the conversation and things take on a bit of "bite your nails" sort of vibe.

Additionally, here is a couple posts from both girlslearntoride.com and alliancewake.com.

The latest on Dallas is that she is breathing 60% on her own. They are going to take x-rays tomorrow morning of her lungs and may be able to take the tube out of her left lung. The right lung has shown significant improvement. In the next couple days if she continues to progress, they are going to take her out of her sedated state to see if she can breathe on her own. However, they will leave her breathing tube in when they bring her out of the sedated state to make sure she can breathe 100% on her own instead of removing the breathing tube and finding she cannot and have to sedate her again and put the tube back down her throat.

They apologized to Robin Sr. for having to tie her down but every time she hears her father's voice her body begins to flail. This says to me she wants to be cognizant and come out of the state she has been put in. Robin Sr. told them, "you don't know my daughter and that when she does come out of the sedated state they are going to need a straight jacket to keep her down!"
and.
Dallas Friday remains in a Singapore hospital today due to post-surgical complications for a broken femur she suffered during last weekend's World Cup event. I talked to Drew McGuckin, Dallas' boyfriend, today, and he said that doctor's still have Dallas on a respirator for her collapsed lung. He added that she was supposed to be off the respirator yesterday, but the recovery is taking longer than expected. Doctors are keeping her sedated during the recovery process, so she was not available for comment.
Its weird in a way, we all compete, play, enjoy a sport that always has the potential for terrible injury but balanced out by the potential for such exhilaration that it seems to make it all worth it.

We all pay a price in various different levels, from sore bodies, to blown out knees, to personal sacrifices and the like. So did she, but, this is something that no one ever expects nor wishes on anyone.

Additionally, it goes beyond the realm of individual personal sacrifice and pain in this instance, it travels into the territory of "I don't want to think about that, it can't happen anyway".

We all have that thought, buried in the back of your mind, that at some point something ugly could happen. Matter of fact, most of us have had something happen that we wish didnt. Maybe it kept us off the water for a couple days, a week, a month...a year?

Its not all fun and games, the possibility exists and in this case it did as well. So, if you are the religious type, shoot her a prayer for a speedy recovery, if you aren't, shoot her an email saying get better soon (at any of the pages listed below).


"Like that will keep me down!!"
Nabbed from wakeworld.com

Its doubtful that any of us have had the chance to meet Dallas in real life, but that doesnt matter. One of the greatest things that exists in the waterski world is the incredible feeling of community that exists. Every discipline, ability level and age is all under one big umbrella of love. You can't say that 90 some percent of all the waterskiiers you have met aren't the coolest people ever.

There may be petty fights and moronic controversy's (see last years collegiate nationals or Dr. Jims roving slalom course) that deviate peoples attention from the vast majority of people within the sport that at its core is made up of some of the best people on the planet.

We all work so hard for really nothing more then a little personal pride and maybe a trophy here and there. So when one of our own gets thrown into something like this, and not to be preachy but its important that we all take a second or two and send out some positive vibes.

At a time like this, she can probably take all she can get.

Links:
Wakeworld discussion (Wakeworld.com)
Alliance wakeboard (Alliancewake.com)
Friday breathes on own (Orlandosentinal.com)
Girls learn to ride forum (Girlslearntoride.com)

2 comments:

  1. Amen, brother.

    We're all willing to take a calculated risk every time we suit up and soap up, regardless of our level or ability. But few skiers should to risk the potential for regret that they never pushed themselves as hard as they could have.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous3:44 PM

    Right on, I think the same. Never want to say you didnt at least try or go big.

    ReplyDelete

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