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Surf helmets - hopefully Roy fcuks off

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2018 11:31 pm
by Grooter
So anyway, last Sunday just before finishing up at my local a guy on a massive longboard ran into my head with his fins. He was deeply apologetic and had tried to turn the log but couldn't do it.

End result I came up with blood pouring out of my head from a near 10cm cut and and a raging headache.

He helped me back in, patched me up with a first aid kit and then when I got back in my car I began to feel pretty bloody sick. Called the wife and she came with my Dad to pick up my car and get me to Rosebud hospital all the while I was spewing out the car window

Turns out the damage was a lot worse, by that afternoon I had been stitched and CT scanned and was on my way for surgery at Frankston Hospital. I waited a day and then the next night around 21:40 I was wheeled into theatre to have a plate and 4 screws put into my skull to pull my cheekbone back into place

Turns out no surfing for 10 weeks and I can barely eat much solids.

Not a fun way to end a Sunday.

However thanks to a life filled with contact sports including the Greatest Game on Earth - Australian Rules Football and being just a general all round clumsy fcuk I'm now up to my 10th concussion, my kids are pretty spooked by the whole affair and my parents are begging me to get an MRI on my head to ensure there is no aneurysm in there - side note, my cousin died from an aneurysm the doctors believe resulted from a king hit she received waiting for a cab on New Years Eve about 10 years ago.

So to keep some peace and perhaps help to avoid my 11th, I'm looking at helmets to at least give some protection. I'm not stupid enough to think that a Gath will prevent a full front on contact with a reef but any protection is probably better than none right now

So..... who has one and what advice can anyone give?

Re: Surf helmets - hopefully Roy fcuks off

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2018 11:55 pm
by alakaboo
No eating?! A fate worse than death for grooter.

Gaths don't have proper impact protection, it's the wrong sort of foam. More like footy headgear.
They take a while to get used to. Lack of noise and difficult to duckdive without them filling up and snapping your head backwards.

I've got one you can have for the postage.

Re: Surf helmets - hopefully Roy fcuks off

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 6:46 am
by Trev
Bad news Groote. Heavy stuff. My wife is genuinely convinced I'm going to die in the surf one day.
Hope the recovery goes well.

Re: Surf helmets - hopefully Roy fcuks off

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 7:09 am
by Skipper
fcuk, ouch. plates and screws!! that's a severe injury. hope you have a full recovery groots.
get the mri. head injuries can come back to haunt you.

a reason i surf so infrequently here on a hard board amongst the throng of them, is the fear of being hit by one.

Re: Surf helmets - hopefully Roy fcuks off

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 7:18 am
by jimmy
Shit. Sorry to hear mate. I hope the scar isn’t on that massive forehead of yours. I agree with Skip. Get the fcuken MRI.

Re: Surf helmets - hopefully Roy fcuks off

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 7:25 am
by channels
Get the MRI. It's a no brainer :lol:

A gath might have helped but if you do the maths of a the weight of a longboard with a person attached with the speed it would have been traveling and the force of impact would have been significant. I tried a gath years ago, hated it.

Good luck with recovery.

Re: Surf helmets - hopefully Roy fcuks off

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 7:46 am
by Trev
My Dad died from an aneurysm.
Not from a head knock though. Most are a genetic fault. Weak spot in a blood vessel.
I can see how a knock might cause it. Scary stuff.

Re: Surf helmets - hopefully Roy fcuks off

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 12:25 pm
by Grooter
Thanks all for the advice and support folks it is appreciated. I will definitely get the MRI too

Thanks for the offer Boo but I want to go down and check out my options at the local shop first once the swelling subsides, as Jimmy alluded too I have a decent and odd sized cranium so hats and helmets have always been a difficult affair to get sorted for me

Re: Surf helmets - hopefully Roy fcuks off

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 12:57 pm
by alakaboo
Well let me know if you want a black xl Gath once you're done testing.

Any headaches or vision issues?

Re: Surf helmets - hopefully Roy fcuks off

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:03 pm
by swvic
Fcuken hell, Groots. All the best

Re: Surf helmets - hopefully Roy fcuks off

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:07 pm
by Hatchnam
Get well hatchman but some photos wouldn’t go astray

Re: Surf helmets - hopefully Roy fcuks off

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:54 pm
by Drailed
Fcccks sake Grooter thats shithouse.
Get well

Re: Surf helmets - hopefully Roy fcuks off

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 2:15 pm
by channels
What Iggs said, photos or it didn't happen.

Re: Surf helmets - hopefully Roy fcuks off

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 3:34 pm
by BA
Heavy Groots. All the best with your recovery.

I copped a fin chop in the head years ago (when I lived in Vicco). I wore a Gath helmet for about 6 months. As ‘boo said, they take a lot of getting used to. I had real trouble duck-diving. Maybe they’ve improved.

Re: Surf helmets - hopefully Roy fcuks off

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 4:46 pm
by steve shearer
I headbutted the limestone at Blacks in South Oz and got a Gath......couldn;t get used to it.

Good luck Groots.

Mate of mine who is a prosthetist, broke his neck diving into shallow water .....very lucky to make a full recovery. He made himself a custom lightweight helmet from carbon fibre.And padding.

Wonder if you can find something like that?

Re: Surf helmets - hopefully Roy fcuks off

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 6:31 pm
by Beanpole
Heavy shite, Groots. I suggest getting a chrome one so you blind everyone on sunny days and score all the waves.

Re: Surf helmets - hopefully Roy fcuks off

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 5:49 am
by offshore1
I really thought a scooter mishap was what would finally bring you down big guy. Fortunately damages were limited your head and nothing important.
All the best to you Hatchman.

Re: Surf helmets - hopefully Roy fcuks off

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:22 am
by Grooter
alakaboo wrote:
Thu Oct 18, 2018 12:57 pm
Well let me know if you want a black xl Gath once you're done testing.

Any headaches or vision issues?
Will do mate, XL would be my size I would think too so I'll let you know. No major headaches and the vision has been fine the whole time - I haven't had a painkiller since Monday morning. The vision was what the surgeons were worried about, apparently if shit goes wrong my eye cavity could have filled with blood causing the eyeball to bulge and that could lead to blindness with the pressure restricting blood flow. That did get my attention!
Hatchnam wrote:
Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:07 pm
Get well hatchman but some photos wouldn’t go astray
Well since y'all asked this is me after the surgery. Eye is now in glorious shades of pink, purple, black, yellow and green :o

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipP ... i9HA9Cvr3b

The reason why they wrote to not apply pressure on my face is that part of the break is being held together by friction, the plate is attached to the other broken bone on my zygomatic arch, or where the zygomatic and temporal bones meet. The had to pull my zygomatic bone back up and then screw the plate in, this why there is an incision where they shaved my head as the tool gets inserted there and runs under the skin on your face :shock: