WEAR A VEST EVERY TIME!!

!Source: Chad Sharpe

A couple days ago I was out riding with Scott Stewart. It was pretty cold so I was just messing around, having some fun and my BS 5 was not going so well. I was turning the last 180 really late and having some trouble with it. I figured I would just grab the next one to speed it up and problem solved… Right? Keep in mind before I tell this next part, I wear a vest 99% of the time I ride. It was cold and I was wearing a wet suit so I did not for some reason this set. No excuse and a very Bad Idea. So I cut in for the BS 5, grab the board and……….. The next thing I realize is I am 180 upside down in the water looking up at my board and light at the top of the water. Not such a bad thing, just swim up and wait for the boat to get back, Right? Thats what I thought untill I try to swim up and my whole body is not working at all, its just fuzzy and tingling but not moving. Panic time. So I still had a whole breath and am looking at the top trying not to panic. I actually am floating up slowly so going through my head is ” you still have a whole breath, your slowly going up, the boat has got to be back soon, dont panic and save your breath.”. The closer I got to the top of the water the more my hands were starting to move. By the time I hit the top Scott was very close, I was yelling to get back but my hands were only slapping the top of the water. Scott pulled me on the platform and it took a good couple mins to get my movement back in the whole body. It had to be the scariest few mins of my life, first thinking I was going to drown, then wondering if I the lack of movement in my body was paralysis. I have to thank Scott for getting back so quick and his calmness when I was boarder line freaking out.

The whole time I was under water I was trying to keep it calm but so many thing were racing through my head. 15-20 seconds feel like hours. As bad as it was I was so very lucky that I was not winded or came out of my bindings. I would have been floating away from my board to the bottom not even being able go give a fight. The closest thing I could compare what my body felt like was, a head to toe dead arm with no movement what so ever.

WEAR A VEST

CHAD