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Southflaguy
08-19-2008, 11:45 AM
:eek::D...
Check out the video of how the wind throws this guy around...

http://cbs4.com/local/Kite.Surfer.las.2.798049.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulflABc4jMc



Caught On Tape: Wind Blows Kite Surfer Into Bldg.


FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ― Emergency officials warned South Floridians to seek shelter during Tropical Storm Fay but a man in Fort Lauderdale seeking some thrills on the rough surf didn't heed that warning and ended up in the hospital after being hurt in an astonishing kite boarding accident that was caught on camera.

A CBS4 news crew was on Fort Lauderdale beach at A1A and east Las Olas Boulevard on Monday when a huge gust of wind from Fay blew down the beach and took 26-year-old Kevin Kearney by surprise.

The kite boarder was harnessed into his sail when the wind violently picked him up and slammed him onto the sandy beach. Then, he was dragged across the sand before being lifted up into the air again and blown across the street where the wind slammed him into a building.

WFOR photographer Yuseith Osorio believes the young man was blown away by a forming waterspout. "Basically, we were getting ready to go live and I saw something forming up in the sky. I told Pete, 'Hey, careful, something's forming.'"

Witnesses ran to help the Fort Lauderdale resident, who lay crumpled on the ground in pain. "I'm surprised he didn't get hit by a car because we have A1A right here," said CBS4 Engineer Anthony Romano. "I think it was a miracle that he just flew over the street and into the thing."

Fort Lauderdale fire rescue crews quickly arrived on the scene and transported him to Broward General Medical Center. He is currently listed in critical condition, but his friends continue to insist they believe he will make a full recovery.

Kearney's friends say he was strapped into a harness with emergency releases. However, everything happened so fast, it's possible he had no time to think about unhooking his clasps. The incident is a very surreal reminder of the dangers inherent in Tropical Storm-force winds.

cajunguy
08-19-2008, 11:56 AM
It's not smart to try to mess with Mother Nature!http://bestsmileys.com/storms/1.gif


.

CityCopDC
08-19-2008, 01:11 PM
Wouldnt common sense tell you to simply LET GO??

Thats like me trying to roast marshmellows next to the fertilizer plant thats ablaze....

Southflaguy
08-19-2008, 01:24 PM
Wouldnt common sense tell you to simply LET GO??

Thats like me trying to roast marshmellows next to the fertilizer plant thats ablaze....

No, he was strapped to the para sail, he couldn't just let go...He must of been knocked on conscience when he was slammed on the sand, then the wind threw his body into the building...Must of happend real fast...

srq screw
08-19-2008, 01:43 PM
i just saw that on tv...ouch!

Columbus
08-19-2008, 01:46 PM
Huh... good for that guy.

Presence
08-19-2008, 03:07 PM
If you knowingly go kite surfing in the middle of a tropical storm, you are obviously looking for a thrill. Looks like he got one!

Taylor13
08-19-2008, 03:46 PM
I know a ton of kids that go out in cat 3 and go kite boarding with their long boards. Then again, most of them are dumb kids from Lighthouse Point..

exdrip
08-19-2008, 05:13 PM
the youtube video is gone, but watch the one on the news site.

It would have done him good to let go before he flew into the city. Looks like he had a couple chances to do that. Unless he was strapped in...which teaches us another lesson, don't strap yourself to something you have no control of! Pretty intense!

Guams
08-19-2008, 06:01 PM
Uh... duh?

I'm gonna go take my kayak over the dam now...brb.

JTShooter
08-19-2008, 07:55 PM
Darwinism at it's finest....

lawdog30
08-20-2008, 12:41 AM
um can you say ouch note to self never strap yourself to a giant kite

GC Tiger
08-20-2008, 03:54 AM
Dumb people give us a chance to be heros.

asullivan
08-20-2008, 03:41 PM
In a Hurricane!

Doh.

Doh DOH....

asullivan
08-20-2008, 03:43 PM
Turd teacher NOT tornado tamer....

DACP
08-20-2008, 04:52 PM
And I bet moments before the mishap the words “Here hold my beer” were uttered. :D

Unit453
08-20-2008, 05:46 PM
The best decisions are always made under the influence of alcohol.

nuthead
08-20-2008, 06:53 PM
Darwinism at it's finest....

+1. What an idiot.

Southflaguy
08-21-2008, 12:55 PM
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/651073.html



FORT LAUDERDALE
Man in kite-surfing crash can't recall ordeal

The man whose dramatic kite-surfing crash was captured on video is recovering in the hospital. But he is resisting treatment, denying the crash ever happened.
Posted on Thu, Aug. 21, 2008

BY ADAM H. BEASLEY
abeasley@MiamiHerald.com


Kevin Kearney's kite-surfing crash made him an overnight sensation. But two days later, the thrill-seeker laid up with a broken back swears it's a case of mistaken identity.

In fact, he was so sure that doctors were treating the wrong person Wednesday that he set off nearly every alarm in Broward General Medical Center trying to get out, according to his mom.

X-rays tell a different story.

In the horrific -- but remarkably nonlethal -- accident, Kearney, 28, broke an ankle, a rib and his back in four places.
Less than 48 hours later, he was walking on his own.

''He doesn't know what he's gone through, but I thank God he's alive,'' said Alicia Paradise-Garza, Kearney's mother. ``All of us that have seen the video feel blessed. It's truly a miracle.''

As for Kearney, he hasn't seen the video, which was captured by a WFOR-CBS 4 cameraman and has since aired on local stations, cable TV and all over the Internet.

But if he continues resisting treatment, his mom said, she will show him bouncing off A1A and into a building -- if only to convince him that it happened.

Kearney had just finished kite-surfing on Fort Lauderdale beach Monday -- hours before Tropical Storm Fay made landfall -- when a gust of wind grabbed him like a twig. He landed in a heap after slamming into a wall.

He was rushed to Broward General in critical condition, but on Wednesday doctors upgraded his status to serious, said Kathie Capstack, a hospital spokeswoman.

Kearney is out of intensive care and has been moved to the progressive care unit, his mother said.

Yet, even when he looks in the mirror, he still refuses to believe what friends and family say he went through.

As far as he is concerned, he did kite-surf Monday, but afterward went to dinner and then home, his mother said.

''He might be remembering a completely different day,'' she said.

Mom said her son's memory may have been skewed when he hit his head. He suffered a small bruise on the brain; he has undergone two CT scans, with the latest showing improvement, she said.

It still isn't clear when he will be allowed to leave the hospital.

As for all the attention his death-defying flight has received, his mom has a message:

``It's not humorous. I've watched all those amazing videos before, but when it's yours, it's so horrific.''