Two weeks ago, I was kayaking the Ocoee and anticipating a month of October packed with many more Ocoee activities. Sadly , I won’t be kayaking at all this month while I heal . I bit off a little too much of Mike Tyson ( that pre entry wave at Table Saw). I made it through upright ,but the wave slowed me down and knocked me off line , too close to the boof rock at the top. My brace failed and I flipped. I tried to roll and while in the attempt, I was hit hard by the notorious underwater rock we call “guide ejector “ which sits amidst the waves.
Remarkably, I stayed conscious and held onto my paddle, but I was still upside down and not confident I could roll , so used the hand signal to solicit a boat assist. Fortunately, one of the leads on my crew was nearby and I was able to do a hip snap on his side rail. I came upright in my boat and saw that I was approaching diamond splitter. I thought I could make it over to the far right eddy to sight my next line, but I was dazed and not paddling well. I was pulled off my ferry line by the strong current and into the left side of diamond splitter rock. I was slow to react and I flipped again , washing into witches hole, then flushed out. At this point I was exhausted and pulled my skirt to eject from the boat and get to shore.
After the crew gave me a quick mental status check, a kind person with a raft invited me aboard and towed my kayak to below cat’s pajamas rapid . From there, I ferried over the short distance to river right where I could climb up to access the road and wait for my crew to pick me up. I was oriented and alert, so I drove myself to the emergency room .
Diagnosis: T2 fracture, whiplash injury, CHI possible mild concussion. ’m very certain I would not be alive without the excellent Sweet Protection helmet I was wearing. Worth every penny. Needless to say, I have to avoid hitting rocks for a while.
