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Lost my memory & a trailer guide post cap!


jtrovato

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So last weekend was an eventful one on the water. I took a pretty bad fall on the wakeboard and scrambled my brain a little. From what I have been told (I still have no memory of that entire day), I caught a heel edge when I came down from a wake to wake jump and went down hard. I came out of both bindings and seemed to be ok when my friends came back around to pick me up. I just said I'll be sore from that one and got on the boat, rested for a couple minutes and then went back out on the board. All this time I was acting normal. Then after a few minutes of jumping the wake and doing some grabs, I lost my balance and fell. Apparently this is when I lost it. My friends said I was acting weird and was asking weird questions. I couldn't remember the day of the week or even the month. So they took me back to the dock where I proceeded to help load the boat on the trailer because apparently I was acting normal in the moment but just couldn't remember what I did 5 minutes after it happened.

Long story short, I ended up in a local hospital but then got transported to Boston by ambulance because my memory loss was so bad. A doctor asked me to remember 3 things and then came back 15 minutes later to ask me them and I told him I'd never seen him before in my life. This was when they made the decision to transfer me to Boston. I started getting my memory back later that night, where earlier in the day I couldn't remember things that happened a month ago. They did a catscan and everything was normal and they ended up releasing me the next morning. The neurologist said the memory loss is normal for a deceleration type of injury like I had and I will probably never get the memory of that day back (no skin off my back). By the next morning I could remember everything except the day before and had one hell of a sore neck and stomach from the fall. It was a very scary experience to say the least, but everything turned out ok and I'm so grateful my wife was with me and stayed calm the whole time. Even though I did hear her tell a friend that she was worried her life would turn into that movie "50 First Dates."

So anyways, the important part...apparently when we were taking the boat out of the water, one of the caps to the trailer guide post popped off and floated away down the river. Anyone know where to order one online or is my best bet to just get it from my dealer?

Sorry for such a long post, but anyone else have a similar experience with a bad fall? I think I'll be investing in a helmet next season (this one's pretty much over for me, except surfing).

Jay

Edited by jtrovato
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So last weekend was an eventful one on the water. I took a pretty bad fall on the wakeboard and scrambled my brain a little. From what I have been told (I still have no memory of that entire day), I caught a heel edge when I came down from a wake to wake jump and went down hard. I came out of both bindings and seemed to be ok when my friends came back around to pick me up. I just said I'll be sore from that one and got on the boat, rested for a couple minutes and then went back out on the board. All this time I was acting normal. Then after a few minutes of jumping the wake and doing some grabs, I lost my balance and fell. Apparently this is when I lost it. My friends said I was acting weird and was asking weird questions. I couldn't remember the day of the week or even the month. So they took me back to the dock where I proceeded to help load the boat on the trailer because apparently I was acting normal in the moment but just couldn't remember what I did 5 minutes after it happened.

Long story short, I ended up in a local hospital but then got transported to Boston by ambulance because my memory loss was so bad. A doctor asked me to remember 3 things and then came back 15 minutes later to ask me them and I told him I'd never seen him before in my life. This was when they made the decision to transfer me to Boston. I started getting my memory back later that night, where earlier in the day I couldn't remember things that happened a month ago. They did a catscan and everything was normal and they ended up releasing me the next morning. The neurologist said the memory loss is normal for a deceleration type of injury like I had and I will probably never get the memory of that day back (no skin off my back). By the next morning I could remember everything except the day before and had one hell of a sore neck and stomach from the fall. It was a very scary experience to say the least, but everything turned out ok and I'm so grateful my wife was with me and stayed calm the whole time. Even though I did hear her tell a friend that she was worried her life would turn into that movie "50 First Dates."

So anyways, the important part...apparently when we were taking the boat out of the water, one of the caps to the trailer guide post popped off and floated away down the river. Anyone know where to order one online or is my best bet to just get it from my dealer?

Sorry for such a long post, but anyone else have a similar experience with a bad fall? I think I'll be investing in a helmet next season (this one's pretty much over for me, except surfing).

Jay

Plus1.gif

Looking good just isn't as important as the ability to use your brain after you wakeboard.

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Glad to hear that you are ok.

I dont understand the resistance from so many people to wear a helmet. We have our helmets and a spare in the boat and always wear them when wakeboarding. We always suggest that when people are in our boat that they wear a helmet when wakeboading. They dont look bad, they dont effect your riding, and you just never know what is floating just beneath the water.

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It's not that I've ever been against wearing a helmet, I've just never thought that I needed it until I started trying to do some more technical tricks like inverts and such. Apparently I was wrong and will definitely be investing in one. As a matter of fact I was just on wake-space looking at one and will probably order it today.

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So anyways, the important part...apparently when we were taking the boat out of the water, one of the caps to the trailer guide post popped off and floated away down the river. Anyone know where to order one online or is my best bet to just get it from my dealer?

Yeah, that's the important part. Crazy.gif

NvBoarder told me a story from earlier this summer that was similar. Only I think that he was wearing a helmet.

As for our own experiences, both of us have had concussions but not bad enough to lose memory. The worst ones would have to tie with 1) slider ending up in the hospital & giving us a scare over what they thought was a ruptured kidney, & 2) my wreck that broke my foot & put me on crutches for 3 months. Both of those experiences I could have done without. :lol:

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Glad to hear that you seem to be doing better... and yes get that Helmet!!

As for the guide post cap, what kind is it?? 2" square or round PVC type? I have an extra 2" square post cap from my extreme trailer I could ship to you if you want it, no charge.

-Jed

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Glad things are looking good.

As for the post cap, I bought a pair of them from the dealer. He gave me a hint that I never thought of, when you put the new ones on, spread a little silicon caulking in the caps then install them. They will never float away again, no matter how bad your memory gets.

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Glad to hear that you seem to be doing better... and yes get that Helmet!!

As for the guide post cap, what kind is it?? 2" square or round PVC type? I have an extra 2" square post cap from my extreme trailer I could ship to you if you want it, no charge.

-Jed

Thanks for the offer, but mine's the round PVC type. I'll probably just call my dealer to order a new one and use the silicone trick kb3 mentioned to keep them from popping off again.

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Jay, Glad to hear your doing ok. I wear a helmet intermittently. Maybe I need to wear it more often.... Crazy.gif

On my Extreme trailer, the caps and poles are just painted PVC pipes. You should be able to go to Home Depot and just paint it.

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In a case like this, would a helmet even help? If this is a deceleration type of injury, the helmet doesn't slow down the deceleration at all. (Or it shouldn't if it is fit correctly). Not arguing that you shouldn't wear one, but I can't see how it would have helped. Dontknow.gif

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The ProTec Ace Wake is the one I'm looking at getting from Wake-Space. How do you like it?

When I learned how to do a back roll like 8 yrs ago I had two bad crashes where I lost consciousness & my buddies came back around to pick me up, only to find me blowing bubbles, eyes rolled up in my head, etc. I tried a Gath helmet & hated the dopey egghead look. I've been using the Ace Wake ever since. Haven't had the lights dim since.

I understand the theory about your brain sloshing around inside your skull & causing a similar injury (so a helmet may not work). Plus people say that they improve the chances of a neck injury. But years of riding, and crashing a lot with a helmet say otherwise. And I know dozens of other riders who use them too.

The Ace Wake had a few design issues that I modded. It comes with a foam liner in it plus some thinner pads that you Velcro in place to make it the right size. That Velcro failed long ago. I used Shoe Goo to glue them in place. And the chin strap was riveted on to the helmet in 4 places...... those rivets failed & were replaced by stainless screws, washers & nylock nuts. Since the mods the helmet works great. And it doesn't look dumb enough to effect my vanity..... much. Crazy.gif

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In a case like this, would a helmet even help? If this is a deceleration type of injury, the helmet doesn't slow down the deceleration at all. (Or it shouldn't if it is fit correctly). Not arguing that you shouldn't wear one, but I can't see how it would have helped. Dontknow.gif

I was thinking the same thing...

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In a case like this, would a helmet even help? If this is a deceleration type of injury, the helmet doesn't slow down the deceleration at all. (Or it shouldn't if it is fit correctly). Not arguing that you shouldn't wear one, but I can't see how it would have helped. Dontknow.gif

I was thinking the same thing...

there is no real way of knowing but, i have had some crashes that have put me in the boat for a few days in the past. Since I started wearing a helmet i have had some of the same falls but just get up and keep riding. A slight headach is the worst i have had since wearing the helmet, and that was a hard fall on my back with some head whiping.

Edited by txwakejunkie
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I think the helmet would have helped in this situation. The padding in the helmet would have cushioned the blow to my head when it hit the water and maybe slowed it down enough that I didn't scramble the eggs in there. Who knows, maybe it would have had no effect?

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Glad to hear everything is OK, last weekend I took a pretty bad fall and was a little blurry. Normally I would just get up and ride again but I did tap and call it quits for a while, I'm not sure if I hit anything by my eye and the side of my head hurt much more than just hitting water. I at that point did think a helmet is in the future :)

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I can relate to this in a couple ways. My gut instict is that yes, a helmet will absolutely help if you were to hit something solid like your board, log, knee, etc. The foam in the helmet is there to absorb the impact vs. a solid object. Will it help if all you do is smack the water, which I would think would actually be softer on the impact vs. the foam in the helmet? But some swear that bouncing off the water at 30 mph is like hitting concrete. I work in the auto crash field so I can relate to the measures we take inside of a car to protect against head impact. Personally, I took a spill last week where at the time I just called it a "stinger". Wasn't the worst fall I've had but I felt it. No biggie, got right back up and went again. I paid later that day though because it triggered a migraine that I don't get often but when I do, it's not fun spending all evening puking your guts up and not being able to see or move. Not sure whether it was a whiplash or head impact that triggered it or if a helmet would have helped, but it has me thinking some.

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In a case like this, would a helmet even help? If this is a deceleration type of injury, the helmet doesn't slow down the deceleration at all.
I was thinking the same thing...

Absolutely the helmet would help. That's what the padding is for.

Will it help if all you do is smack the water, which I would think would actually be softer on the impact vs. the foam in the helmet?

I read somewhere once that water has surface tension similar to concrete. Shocking.gif If water was softer than foam padding then people wouldn't kill themselves by jumping off of bridges. It is the impact with the water that kills them, not the drowning.

Definitely get and wear a helmet. Especially for wakeskating. My helmet has some nasty dings and scuffs on it from my skate hitting me in the head. Any one of those would have sent me to the ER for stitches/staples.

Edited by NorCaliBu
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OK so here is my two cents. I have had a concussion with and with out a helmet. 360 to concussion, no helmet and backroll to concussion with helmet. The longest concussion I had was with the Protec helmet, about 12 hours. The same weekend I blew the button that holds the strap clean off the helmet. (the next day) I am looking at buying the VOZ helmet now, in fact I just ordered it. I have talked to a lot of people and have gotten a lot of mixed opinions. One guy I talked to was John which is a UFC ref he told me a helmet will not stop a concussion, it will help stop something solid splitting your head open but not necessarily a concussion. What he suggested is a mouthpiece which will help keep your jaw aligned and the two jaw bones from slamming into each other. But he also said the ones you buy in the store that you heat up at home are not great and to get one that is fitted professionally. I did some research on the net and there are a lot of postives about the mouthpiece so I purchased one from the Shock doctor, its the type you heat up but it seems to be pretty good. I want to get a good one sooner or later. I have had a total of three concussions in the past 5 years so what ever might help stop them I am trying. oh yea the other reason for the helmet is the ear flaps, which they will protect your ear drums from blowing out from the impact of the water slamming into your ear drum. I know of two people that have done this.

Sorry so long just wanted to get the whole story out, good luck with your decission and your wakeboarding.

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Thats some scary chit man...one good thing about being a Masshole is we have some of the best hospitals in the country. I agree that a helmet can't prevent a concussion but it can definitely help the severity or the degree of "scrambled ness!!!!!!!"

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