by gary begley » Mon Jun 08, 2009 6:10 pm
Awesome Tony...you must not have been told about opening up this topic with me. My favorite topic, death. Making assumptions like most people do is a slippery slope. It generally assumes you know the person's history and story. Not to go on a long rant, since many know my story already. To give you some background Tony, I was shot at the age of 18 and pronounced dead, then was brought back to life; given a second chance. This of course was the greatest gift possible. It allowed me to understand the ego and finality. Which can only truly be grasped when death has occurred to you. Injury gives us a glimmer at this and lets us taste the fact that we are mortal. it always interests me how many people quit the activity after an injury occurred despite the love they had prior. I have witnessed this many times.
I had been involved in adventure sports for 20 years without ever spraining a pinky, having seen death and serious carnege; wondering when I was going to get bit because we are playing with x-factor. I define x-factor as being the variables completely out of our control regardless of how well equipped physically or mentally for the task at hand. And if one is playing hard enough and often enough, it is close to inevitable that you will have a story yourself - an injury, death or at best a near miss.
So my x-factor time came five years ago as a pilot when training with Dixon White (feel free to research the article written by Dixon about the accident, his last comment being "be careful, there are air sharks out there"). It was great to have such a person witness the episode, being able to recount it, being myffed by the event. To make a long story short, I hit the ground from 250 feet. Then spending 3 months in a hospital bed, followed by 6 months of residential rehab; learning to walk again. My only dream at this point was to get back to the life I had as a full time adventure athlete. But the path had to change a little bit due to the effects of the accident. rods and screws in back, T12/L1, no feeling still to this day in my feet - plus many other issues from crushing my sacrum 1/4 the size and splitting my pelvis in half. There is more, I will stop there. My conclusion on this incident, chalk it up to x-factor - thermal conditions can be dangerous close to the ground.
Now for the pilot error incident. 10 months after the above accident, I was invited on a photo shot with Ozone. I was flying in Hawaii close to the cliff doing wingovers which I knew was failing the IQ test, fully aware of the potential consequences. I took a cravatte and hit the cliff. This resulted in a right hip that is metal, loss of a kidney and more rehab. Conclusion on this, failing the IQ test.
In regards to saying that I am unaware of risks, that is a total assumption and poorly crafted accusation. I am aware of the risks and honor them fully knowing the potential consequence anytime I do an activity. This actually making me rather conservative. I won't open the discussion of what speedflying is, because if I have to explain it to you, you will not understand it; BASE jumping included. Am I afraid that others will follow in my footsteps and speedfly, absolutely not. I hope that many do and for sure some shouldn't. Just as many should not be strapping themselves into a paraglider. This topic could go on and on, people will fail the IQ test all the time, some are just more aware and willing to accept the consequence. But in the end let's not take ourselves too seriously, we are not permanent; reserve or not. In the end, whoever lives the longest and has the most fun wins. So live the dream Tony, just be cautious.
Gary
. this wing continues to amaze me. cant wait to continue learning all it can do. as for the non-cropped field landing, i have special permission. call me if you want to know what that is. 
