A kite surfer remained in critical condition after being dragged and thrown across Fort Lauderdale Beach by Tropical Storm Fay. A local news crew caught Kevin Kearney’s accident on video. “The wind was whipping around, picking him up and dragging him around,” said Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Chief Lois Bowman. The kite surfer hit the sand, was picked up again by the strong wind and blown out of camera range. Emergency workers treated him at the scene and then brought him to the hospital, where Kearney is being treated for a serious head injury and lacerations on his arms and legs.
A 23-year-old Georgia Tech student died skydiving Saturday and happened to videotape his own fatal plunge. Olen Reid Ashe III was an experienced skydiver, and this was his 299th jump.
The case is under investigation, but it appeared Ashe deployed his main parachute at 3,000 feet, but it failed to open. Ashe should have activated his emergency chute at 1,500 feet, but for some reason he didn’t deploy it until he was at 500 feet, which was too late.
Authorities believe that although Ashe was an expert skydiver, he may have lost "altitude awareness" in the emergency and failed to react quickly enough. Police are reviewing the videotape that Ashe made of his fatal fall to search for more clues.
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A newspaper photographer covering the Utah state high school track championships got a little too close to the action and was speared through the leg by a javelin. Ryan McGeeney of the Standard-Examiner was spared serious injury and even managed to snap a photo of his speared leg while others worked to help him. “If I didn’t, it would probably be my editor’s first question when I got back,” McGeeney said later.
McGeeney, an ex-Marine who spent six months in Afghanistan, was photographing the discus event when he wandered into an off-limits area set aside for the javelin throw. The javelin struck McGeeney just below his knee, pierced the skin and emerged on the other side of his leg. “It wasn’t real painful. I was very lucky in that it didn’t hit any blood vessels, nerves, ligaments or tendons,” McGeeney said.
Medics cut off most of the javelin at the scene, then surgeons removed the rest of the javelin at the hospital and patched McGeeney’s knee with 13 stitches.
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Sloan Carafello of Schenectady, New York, was on a flight with the Duanesburg Skydiving Club. His job was to videotape the skydivers in the plane as they prepared to jump.
Robert Rawlins, pilot and owner of the single-engine plane, opened the door at 10,000 feet to allow the divers to jump. An instructor, student and videographer jumped out of the plane. As Rawlins had begun to close the door, the 29-year-old Carafello inexplicably jumped out the door with camera in hand but no parachute on his back.
His dead body was found next to a house with a damaged roof west of Albany. Police said they did not suspect foul play but would not elaborate.
A drunk driver plowed his car into a bicycle race on a highway near the U.S.-Mexico border, killing one cyclist and injuring ten others. An amazing photograph taken by a city official shows the moment of impact. The collision launched riders and bikes high into the air. Witnesses described children crying, women shouting for help, and men trying to beat the driver before police arrived to arrest him. The 21-mile race was canceled after the crash.
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The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is intense, but this is going too far. Once again, "A-Rod" got an unfriendly welcome at Fenway Park. But this time it was 13-year-old Alexa Rodriguez, and not the Yankees All-Star third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
Alexa was touring Fenway Park on a school trip Thursday when she was attacked by a red-tailed hawk living in the upper deck behind home plate. The hawk drew a little blood from her scalp, but Alexa was not seriously injured. The hawk, perched on a railing while the students toured the stadium, swooped with its talons extended right at the girl, scratching her scalp. Wildlife officials removed the hawk’s nest and egg.
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This TV news reporter thought it would be a good idea to cover a downhill toboggan race from the bottom of the hill. Watch the video and see what happens.
One thing you can say is this reporter is a true professional. As he’s laying on the ground right after the accident, he raises his head and says, "That was a bad idea. At Riverside Park, Rob Leth, Global News."
And then as the producer is helping Rob to his feet, the producer says, "Are you OK?" To which Rob responds, "Did you get that?"
In spite of all our differences, the one thing that binds all living creatures is that we each have an expiration date. This finality to our existence is what makes life special, something to be cherished and protected. But occasionally things can go terribly wrong…
