Rick,

Thanks for the info. I hope the kiters' injuries heal soon. Props to the other kiters who tried to help out. Sounds like they laid a lot on the line in their efforts. To me launching a kite is one of the most vulnerable moments we encounter in kiting. Having bridles on the kites obviously increases the odds of something going wrong on the launch, like with this unfortunate incident.

As a preventative measure, I always keep one finger in the QR loop during launch so that if anything goes even slightly wrong, I am "outta there" instantly. If I even flinch while launching, I will probably activate my QR. It's kind of a built in "kite ejector" unless everything goes smoothly on the launch.
It's just not possible to grab a QR while getting dragged and bounced around. I bet this kiter tried, or maybe stuff just happened too fast. Either way, it's not easy, I learned the hard way.

I hope he heals up real fast.