Incident on Mellte

[charliew87]

Hi all,
Posted this on the South Wales section as well, but think this section gets more traffic and I feel it important, so copied and pasted it to here (apologies for double posts, adminstrators!).

Yesterday (30/10/2011) whilst paddling the Mellte (0.8m on the gauge), my friend took the second drop: the 30ft with either the river left double drop or the main line down the middle. He took the main line, did everything absolutely perfect (video soon if you don't believe me), but must have hit a rock at the bottom of the pool with his boat at some considerable speed.
He was unable to walk out and was airlifted out by an RAF Sea King. He is currently in hospital and will make a recovery.
I'd like to extend an enormous thank you on behalf of myself, his friends and family to the mountain rescue and hospital teams for all of their hard work, you were all spectacular. My thanks as well to the two doctors who were coincidentally on the scene: Anthony and Paul.
This was a very large case of bad luck, but I would be negligent if I didn't put out a bit of a warning to the paddling community:

PLEASE be careful with that drop: this sport is not without its dangers and always plan for the worst. I know it's a downer, but if I hadn't had my work's waterproof phone on me (for one thing!): this could have been a lot lot worse. It's a very sobering experience to have your best mate in such a state, as you never think it will happen to you, even though you see it happen to guys at the very top end who are pushing the boundaries... however, this was NOT a case of over-the-top paddling though: it can and does happen, people!
So please play safely guys
Charlie

[Ieuan Belshaw]

Thanks for that post, good to know these things & I hope your mate gets better very soon.

Could you get a photo of the drop & point out where abouts it is (using paint or something).
Theres a hidden ledge just right of the double drop as far as I know.

[TomOL]

He went pretty deep on landing, there was a sound rather like a boat hitting a rock (though no dents on the hull to prove this theory), he surfaced, paddled over to the edge and got out of his boat (by himself, I should make clear) and lay down on the rocks. The rest is as Charlie has written above.

[charliew87]

Cheers Tom: we had a detailed look at the nose last night: nothing there to suggest it, but Nomads are built pretty tough! Will check the rest of the hull today.
The video will make it crystal clear where it is, so will pull some freeze-frames off of it tonight and edit them as Ieuan has suggested, as that's a great idea.
Thanks
Charlie

[justin-g]

It's a bit bizzare - .8 is a good level - it looks like he got an ok launch... but the Melte is a scary river in terms of rock formations - hope he is ok.

[buck197]

Get well soon young man and hopefully no lasting damage

[Mark R]

That drop gets run endlessly, in every which possible way, without incident. Looks like your friend was really unlucky.

[charliew87]

Thanks for all the good wishes guys.
Indeed, Mark, have heard tales of people running it upside down, swimming over it, taking horrendous lines and not even getting a minor boo-boo. You're absolutely right: rotten luck, and I reckon you could run that drop, same line a hundred times and have no issues. But accidents and bad luck does and has happened, just wanted to bring it to peoples attention to keep people on the lookout and to be prepared!
Cheers
Charlie

[llantal]

Charlie

I am a member of Brecon Mountain Rescue Team that was involved in the call to assist your mate at Scŵd y Pannwr yesterday.

While I wasn't attending the rescue myself I've spoken to a number of my team mates (some of who have paddled the drop) who agree with your comments. Water levels were fine & from what they could gather the route seemed correct too. The centre line with the ledge is normally slightly left of centre, but not by much, and the pool is pretty deep. The water here is very aerated, but they've never heard of anyone hitting anything.

The only explanation Mark (deputy team leader) can think of is that it was the first 'flush' of water of the season and maybe there's a log jammed in there somewhere. This would explain the 'bang' you've reported hearing, but wouldn't mark a boat. If this is the case it might be worth giving this fall a miss for a while.

With regards to the way the group & passing doctors reacted to this incident, the team were impressed - seemed to be text book - so well done.

If you want to find out more about our work or see the winch on this rescue you can go to www.breconmrt.co.uk . If you get footage of you mate paddling this fall we would be very interested to see it.

Hope he makes a full recovery. Let us know he is.

[morsey]

It looks like the chap in the boat may have deflected off the little ledge near the top of the drop. I've seen two people hit that and cause the nose to rise up and the boat land quite flat. Both made a nasty noise on landing, one was okay, the other suffered spinal compression, they were leaning back. The fall is quite high and the pool is not that aerated so it can dish out a harsh landing. Hope your friend gets better soon.

[johnswan]

http://youtu.be/gHS19H_6OU4?t=1m10s
did you have a similar line to the kayaker in the orange burn. he also hit something on the way down this drop at 1 min 14 sec. this was at the end of march in 2011. I think it was a glancing blow on a rock sticking out of the wall just under the fall somewhere near the bottom

[charliew87]

Llantal: thank you so much for that, it's very useful to know. And if they haven't seen this thread already, could you please send our unending thanks to them all. He is most definitely on the road to recovery and is still himself.

John: it seems he may have done something similar yes: see below for photos please...

Morsey: I'm afraid this situation was entirely different: he didn't land flat in the slightest, nor did he hit this lip you speak of... Pictures to show his drop:





















The video from which these photos were taken is currently uploading / converting to Vimeo now.

Thanks all,
Charlie

[charliew87]

The video is here:

http://vimeo.com/31403747

Thanks to all who have read / replied to this: he really appreciated the paddling community being behind him and wishing him well.
Cheers guys
Charlie

[biketastik]

It does look like a superb line...

[hardy]

Shear bad luck as far as I can see.I overcompensated on my last stroke there several weeks ago and landed on my right side perfectly fine apart from a bruised ego.I hope he mends quickly.Well done to all those who aided him.

[Pete the kayaker]

It looks fairly similiar to a line that I (and may others) have taken on that drop, so I suspect the log/tree theory is highly likely.

I might be worth some exploration when the water levels drop off a bit.

Hope he has a swift recovery.

[Ieuan Belshaw]

I've heard a mate hit a rock there last week. As others have said it was more of a glancing blow because his boat angle was about 45-60degrees instead of straight vertial.
I think the 'rock/log' object is about 2.5/3ft under and more or less attached to face of the falls.

[morsey]

The video shows a different picture from the first picture. The paddler is moving at an angle (not straight out) and the landing is really close to the bottom of the fall so potential for hitting something in the bottom and without wishing to criticise there is not a significant lean forwards, so any force is going to pass to the spine! Its a tricky take off because the angle of the lip and I'd say the chap was unlucky, especially having seen loads of people welly off there completely out of control.

[charliew87]

Thanks to all for their kind words and best wishes.
Morsey: I'm well aware that the first photo doesn't show any decent idea of his take off or landing, so I think you made a few too many assumptions from one picture... On a 30ft drop, his level of leaning forward is perfectly sufficient. Going with the working theory of log/rock impact in the water and thinking about the anatomy of the spine and the nerves' exit from the cord, had he lent forward more, he would have been actually come off even worse. I'm not going to explain everything to do with what damage has been done as that's not my place, but take my word for it!
And sadly, yes, he's been very unlucky. But at the same time VERY lucky as he's doing really well so far.
Thanks again everyone
Charlie

[LucyLou19]

Did it turn out to be a compression fracture injury?

[charliew87]

Did it turn out to be a compression fracture injury?

I'm not going to explain everything to do with what damage has been done as that's not my place

When we know the full situation of his injuries and he says it's ok, I'll let you know.

Charlie

[charliew87]

A public apology to Lucy for being a bit hostile... have made a personal one as well.
I didn't mean to have a dig, just not keen to plaster all of his details on UKRGB just yet (you may have noticed I've not mentioned his name... though I can confirm he is a he.)
I've had a few PMs as well as the posts on here wishing him the best. I'd like to publicly thank all of you again for that, it really is quite lovely to see so many paddlers showing their support. I told him about it last night and he, too, was very grateful... He even grinned at the thought of being famous!
Sorry for being soppy.
Charlie

[Tom_Laws]

The video shows a different picture from the first picture. The paddler is moving at an angle (not straight out) and the landing is really close to the bottom of the fall so potential for hitting something in the bottom and without wishing to criticise there is not a significant lean forwards, so any force is going to pass to the spine! Its a tricky take off because the angle of the lip and I'd say the chap was unlucky, especially having seen loads of people welly off there completely out of control.

Dig out that video of Pasty and Danny....

Is there anything to be gained from picking over this with a fine tooth comb on the interweb? Doubt it. The dude got unlucky, as Morsey says he lands in really close to the fall where there is a little bit of a ledge.

Perhaps it's safer to throw hammers off the other side? Maybe we should paddle in bubble wrap.

Heal fast fella!

Tom

[charliew87]

Is there anything to be gained from picking over this with a fine tooth comb on the interweb? Doubt it.

I wish more people shared your opinion, I see it far too much these days.
On that note: paddling in bubble wrap? Terrible idea. If someone had an impact, how would we tell if the noise we heard was caused by boat-impact, bone-breakage or bubble wrap-poppage? Get real, man... :p

[benpilkington]

On that note: paddling in bubble wrap? Terrible idea. If someone had an impact, how would we tell if the noise we heard was caused by boat-impact, bone-breakage or bubble wrap-poppage? Get real, man... :p

People would be paddling into rocks on purpose because bubble wrap popping is the coolest sound ever.

B

[Simon Westgarth]

The lien looked good, still two possible points can be made, firstly as recognised, that the paddler may of landed too close to the drop, and hence may of glanced off a submerged ledge. Secondly, the paddlers upper body, is not at all forward to absorb the impact on landing, and is in fact quite upright in absolute terms, and as such if an impact with a submerged object were experienced, the energy of that impact would be absorbed by the paddler's spine.

These are academic points, based on the video and image sequence observation.

Good luck with a speedy recovery.

[charliew87]

Simon, these points have both been made: I still stand by his take-off, kayak orientation and body position for a drop as high as that with a (supposedly) deep pool to land in. The number of people who've got this same line absolutely and utterly wrong and walked away scott-free is staggering when you think about it:
Simply put: it's bad luck that he landed a bit too close to the fall and likely hit something submerged there: and bloody GOOD luck that he leant as far forward as he did. Further forward or back and he may have done more damage...
In the friendliest way possible... Can we now stop nit-picking and concentrate on the main points of this thread:

1.) Be careful and think again on that specific drop!
2.) Take no line for golden.
3.) Be prepared for bad luck and accidents.

Gracias. Muchos gracias
Charlie

[nomorfkindhalbhat]

I think you will have gained a lot of admiration including mine for the dignified way you have conducted yourself throughout this thread Charlie. I wish your friend a speedy recovery.

Nick

[MK123]

Rescue was on "helicopter rescues" earlier

Hows the guy doing now?

[Einstein]

Anyone know where we can watch this?