Donation Drive - Ft. Lauderdale Lofting

[ricki]

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/kevin_banner.jpg (http://kevinkite.org/)
CLICK BANNER TO GO TO DONATION SITE AND FOR UPDATES ON KEVIN'S PROGRESS

Kevin Kearney underwent a violent lofting during a squall from Tropical Storm Fay early the evening of August 18, 2008. Images from this startling accident were captured by a TV news cameraman as Kevin was repeatedly lofted and flew overhead as rain pounded down. The rain spattered clip was carried by news services and websites worldwide. Many wondered how anyone could survive such a high speed flight into a hard landscape.

Amazingly, Kevin spent only a few days in the ICU and regular room before being discharged to go home. For those that saw the video, this outcome might be called miraculous. We understand he has no memory of the lofting or ensuing accident. We hope this very rapid healing continues leading to his full recovery.

Kevin was recently laid off from his job and in the process, lost his medical insurance coverage. As a result, his emergency medical treatment, time in the ICU and future rehabilitation and treatment will be at his cost alone. Such expenses can be overwhelming but at the same time critically necessary. Donations are being requested to help Kevin out. Please click on the banner above to be taken to the website, http://kevinkite.org/.

Thank you in advance for your concern and generosity. Any donation regardless of amount is very sincerely appreciated to help Kevin work his way back to health.

[Kiting cutie]

Thanks for posting this up.


Kevin is still at home, but his brain is still very fragile. He has / had brain bruising, and brain bleeding.
Also, he will be on Good Morning America this Monday for an interview, his condition permitting. This way we can all put a face with the events.

[ricki]

I am glad he is home and am sorry to hear about the brain trauma. Time can do wonders with things like that. Also, I had this insistent craving for blueberries after my TBI. I found out much later that they may help with brain injuries.

It is unfortunate that GMA is moving so quickly for an interview. Kevin just got out of the hospital after all from a horrific accident less than a week ago. It isn't really fair to him either as he may be viewed as the de facto spokesman for the entire sport by lay people out there. That is a lot of responsibility for anyone and particularly for someone just coming back from some significant trauma.

Hopefully, he'll have family and friends there to support him. Good luck and keep healing Kevin.

[bigairal]

seems like a good idea to me....apparently he can not remember the event anyway.....

[WindRyder]

and during an interview with his parents, his dad stated that Kevin thought he was invincible. and because he rode so much in a variety of conditions, his dad began to think so, too. Unfortunately, this incident happened. I don't think that kiters, in general, believe they are invincible and that nothing bad will happen to them. Instead, when sesssion after session, strong winds, big surf, etc, you come in safely and have a beer with fellow kiters, we start to take that for granted and perhaps become complacent. This is a sport where nature must always be respected, gear must be checked, and common sense, not adrenaline, prevail.

[OttoNP]

On that page for Kevin can you guys add a thermometer or something to show how much is owed in medical expensives versus how much received in donations?

[greg meintjes]

Just read in the Key West Citizen that Kevin says that if he goes out in a tropical storm again he will wear a helmet, I really hope this was a misquote by the reporter as after his accident he should always wear a helmet and never ever consider going out in those conditions again.Learn from your mistakes,hope he continues to improve.

Greg

[Spencer]

Greg, that quote is correct. I heard it on WXEL radio here in Jupiter. He did sound like he was on some good pain medication, but he did say it.

[ricki]

The Sunsentinel quoted the same thing. When I got bashed my voice was screwed up for over a month, it was mechanical sounding and my short term memory was shot for about the same time. When you been through some serious head bashing, not only does your memory suffer but other things can get messed up too. It is hard to imagine having an interview on national TV a week later. I just managed to get out of the ICU around that time and just before a nasty ten day relapse of coma-like nearly continuous sleep and other stuff I would just as soon forget. I had my miraculous recovery, the neurologists term not mine, about 2 to 3 months later. I was wearing a helmet and the neurologist indicated it was probably why I survived the impact. Somehow I got the impression Kevin's was a more severe impact (induced coma, etc.). Then again, the results of bad head bonk can vary to some degree. Hope he is up to it, regardless of what the producers and American public think they want to see. Take care and don't push it too hard Kevin.

[linhster]

I hope that the meds are really adversing his thought process. If it is not then why are we feeling bad about the accident? If he had worn a helmet during this incident, he still would be in a hospital right now.

My analogy to his statement is:

An alcoholic telling you he will drink less.

He has to realize what exactly the mistake that he made. By the statement, he has not understood it.

Good luck Kevin, I hope someday you realize LUCK is not predictable.

I am sure you will give a much concise interview once the meds wore off.

[amber]

He mentioned on GMA that he will be back out riding trop storms and will wear a snowboarding helmet. The reporter had to give a disclaimer after the interview to say that they do not condone his behavior or statements and then the weather guy came on and talked about predictable wind that we love in the winter vs. trop storm gusts. Kevin stated that "everyone was out" because of the lack of wind in the summer. We def know that not "everyone" was out, so that stung a bit. What do you guys think? Case in point that someone that has been riding for 4 years ends up in such a risky situation versus many newbies. Linda was spot on when she mentioned complacency.

[BigR]

I don't think he was ready for the interview, he mis-said quite a few things.

[WindRyder]

Wow, what an interview. There should have been a disclaimer beforehand stating that this is an interview with a brain injured individual, and that comments made cannot be considered fully valid, as adequate time has not been allowed for recovery.
From the sounds of his injury in prior postings: spinal fractures, fractured ankle, subdural hemorrhage, I can't believe he went home so soon! I am an occupational therapist, and anyone with these types of injuries will go to inpatient/subacute rehab after leaving the hospital. I understand that Kevin does not have insurance, but geesh, I would think that he would need a lot more observation and therapy to make a better, healthier recovery. He's come so far this quickly, why take any other chances??!!
I really hope that his "I'll go back out in another storm," comment is merely taken with a grain of salt considering the circumstances......

[C. Moore]

His family should have said no to the interview. Cleary he is in no state of mind to be in front of a camera or doing anything for that matter.

[ricki]

Kevin has had a serious brain injury. I understand he forgets things within minutes and has very poor short term memory. I experienced this for almost a month after my injury.

Out of concern for the rise of negative sentiment in the kiteboarding community, I spoke with his mother by phone today for the first time. She was present during the two hour shoot that was condensed into the four minute GMA broadcast. She said Kevin was asked three times would he go out in such conditions again. The first two times he said no emphatically. The third time when the interviewers decided to go live, he said yes, astonishing the people present. He kept confusing the storm with a hurricane, wind speeds and still other details. If his injury is anything like mine, the confusion, poor recall are intense. They are also fairly obvious. I understand he made several comments that might have helped things which were left out of the broadcast.

I understand he may be facing $75,000.00 in medical expenses without insurance. Interviews may help with these expenses although perhaps not substantially so. At the same time, interviewing someone recovering from head injury with impairment isn't a great idea either. It potentially damages his credibility, his statements and that of the media carrying the broadcast. To portray events as otherwise is to no ones credit. All this at a time when it might be best that he focus on healing.

I just learned from his mother that interviews were given to Nightline and Inside Edition as well. Astounding. I contacted a person (producer?) with Nightline and expressed all these concerns and followed it up with an email summary. I said many in kiteboarding were very concerned about the harm potentially being done to the sport by the original video clip and possibly in response to subsequent interviews. In addition to identifying some of the points listed, I asked that an expert be interviewed to provide an accurate view of the sport and ways of avoiding problems. There must be dozens of kiteboarders (not me either) out there that could help to put things to rights in a broadcast. She was sympathetic, said she would forward the email and was uncertain if the Nightline segment would run given the Democratic Convention coverage. A person well placed in the Kiteboarding Industry is trying to do the same thing with Inside Edition.

We have had so many donation drives here and elsewhere over the years. We go in with a simple expectation, to help others, the need is still there. In this case I leave it up to your judgment what you choose to do with these new developments. I am still reeling myself.

[conchxpress]

Rick. My vote is for you. You've been through it all. You can sympathize with Kevin and yet maintain an objective opinion. Your expertise could not be impeached by the likes of any sly, manipulative tv journalists. Even said, we can't control what goes on the cutting room floor, but you could make it hard for them to get any derogatory info in which to apply the scissors to.

Frank

[greg meintjes]

I second Frank, if anyone should go on TV as an ambassador for our sport , Rick you are the right choice , you know more than anyone about the backbone of kiteboarding, have been doing it long enough and are intelligent enough to use the interview to portray our sport in a favourable light.

Greg

[C. Moore]

I agree Rick. We need you as our voice. I had to poke fun of Kevin's interview. I'm sure if that happened to me I would be acting the same way. I'm glad he is alive and able to kite another day... I hope they do a follow up in 6 months when he has had time to heal and time to reflect on the whole ordeal.

[WindRyder]

I just read the short piece of interview Kevin gave from the beach in Miami from a link posted on Kiteforum. Seeing how quickly he is back out and about and ready to kite, I truly wonder what the real extent of his injuries were. Media presentation and other info that was provided on this site and others, led me to believe Kevin had spinal fractures and a fractured ankle. Interestingly, I have seen no crutches, no support brace (TSLO), nothing but a few bumps and scratches. I understand that he was put under an induced coma to keep him from combating physicians and staff due to his head injury, but the other injury claims appear invalid based on what I saw on GMA and the Inside Edition link from the other forum.
I know that I should be supportive of a fellow kiter, but I am finding it harder and harder to rationalize at this point. Sorry for the negativity, just a gut response.

[ricki]

Why do they induce comas and is it a fairly new thing? Is it to allow the body to better manage hematoma without the patient making things worse by being too active?

[thebestkite]

A friend of mine's dad had the same thing happen to him in ICU after a heavy car accident.
The explanation was that the patient has a more speedier recovery as the patient is not actively feeling the pain and can not think about what has happened or what is going to happen, which of course creates a lot of stress. By inducing the coma the body and brain are set for full recovery mode (unconsciously) and hence do not have any "side effect" disturbances create obstacles during the recovery.

[WindRyder]

Also, with a head injury, one of the common issues during recovery is combativeness. The patient may be awake, but he does not know how to respond appropriately to stimuli. He will therefore "fight" people who may be touching him (checking vitals, changing IVs, holding his hand). Because of this confused state, the patient becomes more harm to himself, as he may rip out IVs, pull out a trach tube if he has one, etc...

[John-]

Also, with a head injury, one of the common issues during recovery is combativeness. The patient may be awake, but he does not know how to respond appropriately to stimuli. He will therefore "fight" people who may be touching him (checking vitals, changing IVs, holding his hand). Because of this confused state, the patient becomes more harm to himself, as he may rip out IVs, pull out a trach tube if he has one, etc...


yea but the real problems start when they try to eat dinner out of the thunder mug, aka bed pan :eek: