Brain bleed!

BS · Since 23 Apr 2011 21 Posts Portland

So I had a nasty head injury while kiting recently. I’d like to share my story, in the interests of education and keeping everyone as safe as possible.

I was kiting off the sandbar on July 2, a pretty good 8m day. I was trying to learn surfboard jibing. I was at a point where I would frequently lose my balance when establishing my new back foot. So, I was taking a few small spills into the drink. At one point, I noticed my head was hurting pretty bad. I chalked it up to dehydration or something like that. Then I noticed that with each subsequent fall, it was getting worse. Still, it was not bad enough to give up. Then the wind backed off, so I came in and packed up.

About an hour later my head was hurting really bad. I took a couple Motrin, then starting having a late lunch. Immediately upon eating I starting feeling nauseous, then vomited half an hour later. I told my wife I thought I had a concussion. I knew just enough from watching sports that the usual advice is to rest and wait it out. We got back to home (Hillsboro) and then my wife starting to think a bit more critically. She texted some friends and family with medical training and they advised us to go to the hospital.

Good thing they did – we went to urgent care, and then they routed us straight to the ER, so I could get a CT scan. This confirmed I had a concussion, but then the bad news – I also had a small amount of blood in the brain cavity (sub-arachnoid hemorrhage). Next thing I knew, I was on an ambulance – with a neck brace and full immobilization - to the head trauma center at OHSU. I would find out later that I was on high alert for some very bad things, including paralysis, coma, brain surgery, death. Basically I was aneurysm/ stroke territory.

I was still vomiting and ridiculously cold. They had to put about 30 blankets on me. However, I was starting to stabilize. After a third CT scan, the bleed had not progressed, and I was starting to recover. Fortunately, it was a vein that burst and not an artery.

After two days in the hospital I was cleared to go home. After a week of pretty much doing nothing at home, I was given a clean bill of health, with an expected full recovery! However the doc advised I give up any and all sports in which I could hit my head. “Give up kitesurfing – take up chess” he said.

We are still trying to reconstruct what happened. I am very sure I did not head my head on the board, but likely just hit the water hard. Don’t know if it was one bad hit or several in a row. The irony is it wasn’t really kiting related – since I was practicing switching feet, I was going very slow, and fell from a height of exactly 0 feet. I have been kiting for 10 years and have had some really nasty wipeouts on the water, going fast and from very high up. So I still can’t quite believe I got this injury from that kind of fall. And I have a pretty hard head! But water is incompressible and has proven to be harder. Very likely it was just a VERY unfortunate angle, and maybe the wind chop made it worse. I had no external injury or related trauma (neck, etc.) so the doctor thinks it was caused from the inertia of the brain slamming against the skull, with likely some internal shearing forces, which caused a vessel to break.

The good news is I am at full recovery, but an injury like this never fully heals. Any more blows to the head could reopen it. So the bad news is I will likely be retiring from kitesurfing, and probably snowboarding and outdoor rock climbing Sad

My wife and mother are happy though. And I am happy to be alive.

I think the takeaways from all this are:
1. DO NOT underestimate any kind of fall into the water. Even when fooling around on a surfboard. As soon as you know you are going into the water, prepare your body for impact as best you can.
2. DO NOT underestimate head pain. In my case, probably the endorphins and adrenaline masked the pain. If you have a headache, stop kiting and make sure you are OK before going back out. Think NFL concussion protocol. Also, if there is vomiting involved, you will likely be told to go to the ER.

If I had done these two things, I might have either prevented the injury or improved my recovery.

I’m sure at this point someone is going to want to say “Wear a helmet!” However, I myself am not convinced this would have guaranteed prevention. In my humble opinion, the above two rules may be better. It’s possible that helmets give a false sense of security, and may also not be able to prevent the presumed mechanism (inertia/ shearing). Recall that I had zero external injury, indicating there was no acute external pressure point from impact. But if you like helmets, rock on.

Most important thing: Be safe, and take care of your brains!

- Brandon

ldhr · Since 21 Jul 2009 1471 Posts Hood River XTreme Poster

Heartbreaking post - thanks for sharing.

Dern · Since 11 Jul 2010 544 Posts Vancouver, WA Addicted

I suffered from a subarachnoid bleeding incident. Wiped out snowboarding in 2012. Don't remember much of the incident itself, but the ambulance ride from Meadows to OHSU is pretty boring! Now I wear a helmet on the mountain.

WindSki · Since 14 Dec 2012 402 Posts Portland Obsessed

Wow, what a story!
Life without Kiteboarding is not worth living, are you sure you're out of the game?
You should get a second on this advice. Ya, you might stop jumping, but totally give up?

moondog · Wed Jul 13, 16 4:42 pm

Thanks for sharing, sad for your sports retirement, but glad you are alive! We just watched the movie "Concussion" it was a real eye opener. I was told by a nerve specialist to never bike or kite again because of a pudendal nerve injury. I took a year off of all activity, very difficult by the way, I feel for you. I got a second opinion, a waist harness and have been kiting ever since(lots) and biking ( a little). My local Doctor basically said if you are careful and it is not getting worse go for it, you only have a certain number of days on earth! I wish you wellness!

Sasquatch · Since 09 Mar 2005 2060 Posts PNW Bigfoot

My condolences on your retirement on kiting and skiing/snowboarding.

Thanks for sharing. It was another reminder to me not to take things for granted as they can be taken away from you in the blink of an eye.

If you don't mind me asking, what is your current age?

Heal up and the smoothest transition into something else that "floats your boat and rocks your world."

stringy · Since 23 Jun 2006 1727 Posts vancouver XTreme Poster

heal up brandon! that is a serious story. sorry for the outcome on giving up any head impact activities.

user124 · Since 02 Aug 2012 390 Posts Portland Obsessed

That's a crazy story. Glad everything turned out OK. Did you ask the doc if he thought it was possible your bleed was not at all related to head trauma? I'm no expert, but since you didn't really hit your head I wonder if it might have had nothing to do with head trauma and maybe was from increased venous pressure from exertion, straining etc.

I'd also get a second opinion before you give up all the activities you love because of this incident. That's a huge decision to make on one doctor's opinion. And they may have just been playing it safe with their recommendation, not realizing that this may be an enormous sacrifice for a kite addict and outdoor enthusiast. We all roll the dice a bit when doing any kind of sport. But there are consequences of sedentary lifestyle as well. And as moondog said, you only have a certain number of days on earth, and chess just isn't as fun as kiteboarding.

splaterwin · Since 17 Nov 2005 165 Posts Vancouver Stoked

Had a bad concussion riding my electric skate board back in Oct 2014. The dog & I loved riding that board and to this day still miss riding it. That said I don't use it any more because the risk is just to much. Hit a tree root that pushed up the asphalt on a bike path, board stopped and I went flying. It knocked me out cold and I woke up in the hospital. I spent 2 days in ICU and 1 in general hospital before being released. The following 2 weeks I laid in bed with the worst headache you can image. Was off work for a month and the hospital bill was over $50k (2 cat scans in the hospital and another taken after release). All this happened wearing a helmet. I was lucky I put one on because I normally would ride without. To this day I don't remember the crash, my wife was riding her bike behind me and called the ambulance and update me with what happened. I have a new respect for head injuries but still kite, just dialed back a bit. For me it's live life in fear and not do anything (not my style) or live to enjoy what time I have left.

Nak · Thu Jul 14, 16 10:16 am

Brandon, that totally sucks. Glad to hear you're OK though!

Definitely get a second opinion on sports activities. I was told I was done kiteboarding a few years back if I wanted to continue walking. You get very depressed and tend to accept the bad news. I mean, Doctors are the experts. Some docs though just tell you to stop because that's the easiest thing to say and carries the least liability. Talk to a doc with a history of getting injured athletes back into their activity.

Good luck!

Wind Slither · Since 04 Mar 2005 2574 Posts The 503 METAL

Scary one! Glad you're OK!

The doctor is compelled to tell you to stop kiteboarding because sure, it's less risky if you do. So is never getting out of bed. Not to downplay it though...I'm sure you'll do what feels right for you.

Thumb's Up

Gman · Since 11 Feb 2006 4907 Posts Portland Unstrapped

Holy shit! thats awful Brandon and Pat!

So sorry - thanks for sharing the takeaways
definitely a consideration for foil-boarding some of the wipe-outs are neck adjusting

proletariat · Since 22 Feb 2013 102 Posts Denver, CO Stoked

Man I'm glad you're okay. That's some scary shit. Such a shame to have to stop kiteboarding. I had to stop diving a few years back due to what they thought was a fistula in my ear drum but then ended up being a superior canal dehiscence (hole in my skull near balance canal). Sucked to have to give up, but I don't miss it at all now, 7 years later or so.

I always maintained that when I get too old to kiteboard I'd take up sailing. Just a thought.

Again, glad you're okay.

wjb · Since 14 Aug 2007 223 Posts Nor Cal Stoked

I would be hesitant to give it up unless it can be proven that you are prone to this type of injury but for sure a tough choice no matter what. Especially if you have kids. I tend to look at life like this. When it is your time to go, it's your time. Thankfully it was not your time

fisherman · Since 06 Aug 2007 113 Posts Stoked

Sorry to hear about your injury and happy you are recovering. I got hurt couple of months ago having pretty major car accident and there went my kite boarding season. Hopefully, you will find some replacement activity you will like. Fishing would keep you at least close to the river.

BS · Since 23 Apr 2011 21 Posts Portland

Thanks to all for the well wishes. I am continuing to feel better every day. Overall, I count this as a positive experience: No permanent damage, and I learned so much.

Also, I will get a second opinion, probably in a few months. I definitely plan to stay active, and there’s so many ways to have fun living in this area.

Sasquatch, I am 39.

User124, I don’t think it was due to exertion, because like I said, I was just fooling around on a surfboard. I’ve done so much more strenuous stuff, with and without a kite.

The more I think about it, the most likely sequence of events was this:

1. Took an awkward fall into the water head first, got a minor concussion
2. Noticed I had a headache
3. The concussion caused some internal swelling, maybe pushing a vein into a vulnerable position
4. Ignored the headache, and kept kiting (and kept falling)
5. Subsequent fall burst the vein.

Needless to say, step #4 is where the problem lays. But the good news is, this is 100% preventable.

So again, I think this can be a positive outcome for all included. Listen to your bodies and play it safe!

clymbergirl · Since 01 Oct 2015 7 Posts Kook

Oh Man,
Sorry to hear about your accident, BUT glad youre ok. Thanks for the reminder, always good to be reminded to be careful and listen to your body when something isn't right!!!