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philbox
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Mar 10, 2003, 12:16 AM
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Firstly I need to say that this post is placed here at the request of Miss B`s family.
They would like to express sincere thanks to all who helped at the scene particularly the first responders. C who is her brother would like to add that he is indeed very grateful that people jumped straight in and did all that they could in a very bad scene. The family are supportive of all the climbers who were involved with their daughter and sister and would like to add that they in no way hold any one person responsible for the tragic accident that befell their daughter.
They would however like the climbing communtiy to learn from the mistakes that lead to their daughters horrific injuries.
The facts first hand as witnessed by me and others at the scene.
1 Her helmet was in the pack at the bottom of the climb she was on.
2 Her extremely traumatised skull fractures all occured above the line of her ears. Her helmet would have saved her from receiving these injuries or at the very least minimised these injuries dramatically, of that we are absolutely of no doubt. Her skull was fractured at the back and at the front.
3 She has a broken lower leg.
4 Her leg below the knee received a large gash which is about 3 inches long and opened up about an inch wide.
5 Her top vertabrae which cups her skull has received a fracture, in other words she has broken her back in the worst possible place however at the scene she did appear to have movement in the lower limbs and arms.
6 After she hit the ground she was semi conscious. She was aware and holding one of the first aiders hands, she did seem to be responding to stimulii. As the rescue progressed her vital signs seem to stabilise but she lapsed into unconsciosness. Blood was coming from here ears, eyes and nose. One of her ears was semi torn off so had to be stitched back in place at the hospital.
7 The sound of her hitting things on the way down coupled with the jingle jangle of gear and her screaming and yelling as she plummetted to the ground is not something I shall easily forget. An independant witness was standing right beside where she decked and observed the whole event.
8 Her belayer was not at fault and did not directly cause the accident.
9 When she was in the v groove of Liquid Laughter Layback she had placed a black Alien and she then called for a take so that she could rest on that piece of gear. Approximately 2 seconds passed and the piece pulled which sent her to the ledge below the v groove. Subsequent to her hitting the ledge she was sent into a somersault and a Green alien somehow torqued out of its placement.
The height of the fall was approximately 20 metres with at least one ledge fall in that.
It was indeed fortunate that she did this somersault as that then lined her up to hit the ground in the best possible way. Her legs hit first then her hips then her body and finally her head. Al of this seems to have slowed her head down enough that she did not sustain immediate fatal injuries. She could so easily have landed any other way and that would have been fatal.
10 Where she landed is in itself a minor miracle. She did land on rough ground of that there is no doubt however mere inches away there is a large dead gum tree hardwood spear which could have easily impaled her and inches the other way is a back snapping boulder about where her hips would have landed.
11 Response to this emergency was virtually immediate with the witness calling emergency services who responded and arrived at the scene about a half an hour later. SES was on the scene around the same time. The carry out and field emergemcy trauma treatment was performed superbly. All of the emergency guys were thanked for carrying out their jobs superbly. They really did do a great job.
12 The policeman who arrived with the rest of the emergency personnel was very polite and treated everyone with respect and was very considerate and took great pains to ensure that people were feeling ok. He later organised the Salvos to debrief and counsel the belayer and witness.
13 As is the usual pattern of these tragic accidents it is befalls those on the scene to conduct first aid and all the climbers who were in the vicinity responded and did whatever was in their power to do. First aid kits materialised out of nowhere. When a spiderco knife was called for it was there. The chief SES guy on the scene winced terribly when he had to cut the victims harness off but of course this what has to be done in these situations.
14 Miss B is still in a critical but stable condition in the PA hospital and is heavily sedated and will be kept in a coma for at least the next 4 to 5 days.
Please use this board to receive updates. Those who know the family will know of the situation and can certainly contact the family directly. If anyone would like to pass on messages then I can certainly do this or I can get her brother to call back. Her brother has asked that we keep their names from the general media so as to protect his sisters privacy. If anyone wishes to post further information about this accident then please respect the families wishes.
Updates will be posted here as the situation becomes clearer. I have a few general scene pictures which I will link to this post as soon as I have uploaded to pbase. I would like to make a central pic site available to any other people who may have taken pictures. I`m happy for my name to be quoted but I will keep any other names confidential except to those who know the family and are climbers who need to know.
Oh yes one thing I did learn is that gathering as much info as possible in that time before the emergency services arrive is extremely helpfull. The family was contacted directly by me even before the emergency services guys got there. Fortunately I had previously met Miss B and had climbed with her brother several times and had been and met mum and dad so I knew who to call and they could put a face to the horrendous news that I had to deliver.
I had to ring the family several times through the day to keep them informed of events as they happened and they took great comfort in knowing that their daughter was being cared for by people that they knew.
I was able to hand the policeman pretty much all the details of the belayer, the victim and the witness. This made his job much easier and of course the ambos then also knew that the victim did not have any allergies.
I`ve tried to keep my suspicions and suppositions out of this post as to why the gear pulled and why she decked from this climb. This is something that could ran round and round but the fact is that there is a young lady in intensive care at the moment who won`t do any good for all of our speculations. Of course we all must learn from this accident but let us all digest the facts before we turn to finding out how best to protect people like Miss B who venture out on to the steep.
As I stated earlier any questions that come to mind feel free to post here.
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bentsid
Mar 10, 2003, 3:21 AM
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No questions, just sending my hope and wishes for a speedy recovery...
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wv5ten
Mar 10, 2003, 3:53 AM
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No questions, no speculations, none of those matter (coming from me anyways), because this young lady is fighting for her life, right now. if at all possible could you pass this on to her family?
I am extremely sorry for this accident, and what you're going through. Two years ago, a friend of mine fell fifty feet. Luckily, after a long stint in the hospital, he pulled through. If you need someone to talk to, to confide in, then please do not hesitate to contact me, pm,phone,email, anything. I'll do anything I can to help. This whole situation, and your whole family will be in my prayers, and, though kept anonymous, in the prayers of my church and bible study. Through whatever happens, I wish unending strength to you all. I wish you the best
-Bryan
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enigma
Mar 10, 2003, 4:31 AM
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Very Sorry-Hope she recovers.a real tragedy.
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philbox
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Mar 10, 2003, 4:39 AM
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Thanks guys I will certainly be passing on any well wishing to the family. We are conscious every time that we get on the steep that gravity is indeed a harsh mistress but when bad things like this happens it really rams home the message. Lots of lessons to be learned out of this experience. I am in constant contact with the family and I will relay your prayers.
...Phil...
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tradclimber2
Mar 10, 2003, 5:10 AM
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Philbox, What a horrific thing to witness. Please pass on my prayers for a speedy and full recovery to Miss B and family.
An aside - It is SOOO wonderful to hear that there were COMPETENT EMS people immediately on scene and were able to render aid until 'the professionals' arrived (at least this is what it sounded like). That is most likely why Miss B was able to get to the hospital. I hope I NEVER have to use my WFR training - but am sure glad I have it. Definitely a wakeup call for us all..........Ben
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jumaringjeff
Mar 10, 2003, 5:35 AM
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Please send the family my best. I wish them strength and optimism throughout Miss B's recovery.
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philbox
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Mar 10, 2003, 7:39 AM
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Pics now up on pbase here http://www.pbase.com/phil_box/accident_at_frog_buttress_8303
There are no graphic pics here they are of a general nature only and are useful for training purposes only.
...Phil...
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sniprfiend
Mar 10, 2003, 7:56 AM
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Truly a horrible accident, I can only hope for the best for the victims, both physically and emotionally, that this has effected.
Best wishes to all.
Be strong Miss B!
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glencoe
Mar 10, 2003, 1:48 PM
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Apart from this tragic accident, this does illustrate the need to be careful when trusting cams, to learn to place passive nuts like stoppers and hexes, and to backup everything where possible. Like everyone else, I use cams, but I have little confidence in my small cam placements--Much of the time I simply cannot see the position of all of the cams or of the quality of the rock they are touching.
I see a disturbing pattern to these serious leader falls and cam failures.
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lazide
Mar 10, 2003, 2:52 PM
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:( Good luck to her, I hope she pulls through without signifigant permanent injury. Very good thing that qualified first responders were able to get there so soon.
What route was this? Grade? Does it have a reputation for being dangerous or runout? It does seem disconcerting the number of serious accidents involving pulling cams lately.
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spider_woman
Mar 10, 2003, 3:01 PM
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Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Hang in there Ms. B.
-R.
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micronut
Mar 10, 2003, 3:40 PM
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Oh my god, terrible!
It's a serious game we play. This kind of thing puts all the divisive issues in their proper perspective. Who cares about sport vs. trad., higher numbers and what not. It's all about walking home at the end of the day, healthy and happy. My healing prayers go out to all involved.
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duracellbunny
Mar 10, 2003, 3:47 PM
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This story is very sad..... :( I wish her the best. Now she has to climb harder in order to recover herself 100%. Good luck :(
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epic_ed
Mar 10, 2003, 3:57 PM
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She's certainly in my thoughts and prayers. Nice job with the response to the accident. I'm sure everyone was very affected and shaken, and it takes a tremendous effort to pull it all together and act quickly and efficiently. It certainly seems nothing more could have been done and hopefully that means something to all those involved when you have time to reflect.
When the timing is appropriate, I'd be very interested to know the technical analysis of what went wrong. No need to speculate -- just the facts when you have them. Hopefully there will be something we can all learn from the accident evaluation.
Ed
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philbox
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Mar 10, 2003, 8:42 PM
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A more detailed technical timeline report is being prepared and shall be made available to the wider climbing community as a tool for identifying possible risky behaviour. It is hoped that the lessons that are to be learnt from this accident are identified and learnt from. This is her families wish.
The climb she was on is called *Liquid Laughter Layback 38 metre Australian grade 16. She was in the moderately desperate v groove aproximately 20 metres off the deck.
...Phil...
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tim
Mar 10, 2003, 8:58 PM
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that was a tremendous job describing and elucidating the causes and effects of her accident. I wish her the very best and I will be looking into a lighter, more comfortable helmet to wear all the time on climbs from now on.
I took a 5m (or so) fall on Saturday and chopped the sheath plus half the core strands of my lead rope. (I should have extended the top piece more; the rope slid along the edge of a crack in the back of a dihedral and got sliced) It was near the end, so apparently the rope is viable (minus the abraded section, obviously) but I am seriously considering twin ropes at the suggestion of my (more experienced) partner that day. I was also not wearing a helmet, out of complacency more than anything else. I cannot allow myself to make mistakes like that and Miss B was apparently a lot less lucky than I was.
My highest hopes and best wishes to Miss B in her recovery. I was lucky in my fall. She was not. It could easily have been the other way around.
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overlord
Mar 10, 2003, 9:11 PM
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damn, that CAN be called cratering. poor woman. my symphaties. thats why i dont like trad. you neve know when its gonna pull...
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veilneb
Mar 10, 2003, 9:33 PM
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This thread, and others like it in recent past made me think about helmets. I always wear an HB rock helmet (hard shell) when leading sport or trad (and on multipich stuff as well if I am seconding).
From what I understand, this type of helmet is best suited to protect the wearer from rockfall. How much protection does it offer in actuall falls? Of course it's better then nothing.
Is one better off wearing a foam (bike) helmet, a hard shell climbing helmet, or a composit (I think Petzl makes these).
Do people have any suggestions?
V
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jughead
Mar 10, 2003, 10:36 PM
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dam son, send the family my best wishes and I hope she gets better soon
it does go to show though that when climbing trad ALWAYS wear a helmet and never trust your gear unless your very confident, experienced and basically a pro.
get well darlin' :wink:
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acrophobic
Mar 10, 2003, 10:58 PM
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Damn another stupid waste! :(
NEVER NEVER NEVER LEAD WITHOUT A HELMET!! Leading TRAD without one is just insane.
especially with that rough landing and numberous ledges.
Would you drive without a seatbelt? or walk into the street without looking?
Just makes me so mad... I hope she pulls through, if she broke her neck it will be a long, doubtful recovery. :(
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davidji
Mar 10, 2003, 11:04 PM
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In reply to: ...How much protection does it offer in actuall falls? Of course it's better then nothing. Is one better off wearing a foam (bike) helmet, a hard shell climbing helmet, or a composit (I think Petzl makes these). Do people have any suggestions?
As another data point, I understand Goran Kropp was wearing a Petzl Meteor bike-helmet-style helmet when he sustained his fatal head injury last year.
I've found bike helmets to be inadequate for cycling crashes, and personally I wouldn't expect bike-helmet-style climbing helmets to make you particularly safe in a bad climbing fall. Maybe better than a hardhat-style helmet. I look at climb helmets as being a lot better than nothing. I go with a hardhat (Ecrin Roc) for comfort. I guess I would switch if I could get equal comfort and ease of adjustment (to quickly add/remove a liner) in a helmet that was demonstrably safer.
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ricardol
Mar 11, 2003, 12:00 AM
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phil: thanks for posting the information about miss b's unfortunate accident.
.. it has really brought into focus my experience on saturday .. when i took a 10 ft fall at pinnacles natl monument .. i decided to lead at my edge and blew the crux move (a traversing move) .. the piece i had placed to protect my second pulled, but the next piece held ..
.. now when i think about it -- i realize that i'm playing russian rulette with my life by leading at my edge in a crag that is notorious for crappy rock .. the fact that i had taken enough time to set a bomber 1.5 tricam is what saved my life .. if i i'd skipped that placement i would have loaded a .4 camalot behind a flake -- which was over 50% extended -- so i am unsure of wether it would have held -- something inside me tells me that i would have blown the flake apart and decked! ..
.. i've only been leading for 2 months, so i think its time to dial back the boldness and dial up the intelligence -- i had no business leadinga 5.10a -- phil, know that by sharing about this tragic accident, you are making a difference in the climbing community, since i believe many other climbers will also be reflecting on their past experiences and modifying their behavior to save their lives ..
.. i for one would like to become an old leader - and not die within the first year of leading trad ..
-- ricardo
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grigriese
Mar 11, 2003, 1:15 AM
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There seems to be a lot of serious accidents happening lately. I have a close friend who was in a really bad accident a couple of months. It is a horrible thing! My thoughts go out to "B" and her family.
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arsenalcrater
Mar 11, 2003, 2:05 AM
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I'm sorry to hear about this Phil. Where in Oz were climbing? Just curious, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to. I've climbed quite a bit in the Blue Mountains around Blackheath and Katoomba. I also had a great time climbing in the Grampians, the Flinders Range (I thought it was pretty chossy, but then again I was very green to the area), Kings Canyon, Sydney sport climbs....etc..... This tragic accident brought back the memories of an accident that happened while I was down under. I remember a climbing club was in the Blue Mountains and went on a rappelling trip. They had a 1000 foot (or was it meter?? maybe you remember?) rap line out and were abseiling down the line next to a waterfall. The rap line got tangled close to the waterfall and they were not able to free the lines and night came and they froze to death. All climbing accidents are horrific. I've had some close calls, but do my best to stay aware about the danger that we take for our freedom and liberty...first aid training, first responder courses, basic life support and leaving the partying for the campfire is essencial...ok.....here I am preaching now.....this has nothing to do with the accident. I hope to hear some better prognosis soon. Keep us informed....Cheers, Arsenal
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