Messed Up **** :(

[funkedup]

My coworker was out on Sunday with his family and his friend and his friend's young daughter.  They were hiking in a wilderness area near where we live.  

Right as they passed a real steep spot (40 foot cliff next to an arroyo), they hear the daughter crying.  They turn around and his friend is lying at the bottom of the stream, face up, bleeding bad from the head.  

They got down to the creek as fast as they could, and did CPR, but the guy had a serious head injury and was underwater for a couple of minutes.  They did CPR until the helicopter showed up, but the guy was DOA.  

Turns out he was a diagnosed epileptic, but was in denial and refused medication and didn't tell anybody but his wife about it.  He had a seizure at the worst possible spot on the trail.  Be careful out there.  

[Hangtime]

bummer.

condolences to that family. poor kid.. damn, that's messed up all right.

[Mini D]

sorry to hear that funked.

[Maverick]

Condolances to the family and I sincerely hope the little girl can get past the memory of this incident.  

[Sandman]

Poor girl.

Why did the guy get off the meds? That's just asking for trouble, IMHO.

[Staga]

Originally posted by funkedup
Turns out he was a diagnosed epileptic, but was in denial and refused medication and didn't tell anybody but his wife about it.  

Refused medication?
Friend of mine is also epilectic but thanks to the medication there can be months between seizures.
Epilepsia is not a plague, I'd say its more like a migrane.

[Dowding]

Stigma, maybe. There's still alot of ignorance out there regarding epilepsy. Although things have improved since people thought it was a possession by the devil.

I'm only mildly epileptic, I had 3 seizures in three years, but I still take medication every day. I was lucky; my seizures were in my student house or halls of residence and the only unfortunate part was that one occured during my uni finals.

I don't let it get in the way of my life. I just don't drink as much as I used to, for instance, and am very careful when I'm tired as to how I feel. No more getting paraletic.

A terrible story, though. It sounds like it could so easily have been avoided.

[GRUNHERZ]

Sad..

[funkedup]

I didn't know the guy who died.  Only know what my co-worker told me.  Apparently nobody but his wife and his doctor knew he was epileptic, and he never took the medicine that the doctor prescribed.  I guess he only had a couple of seizures and just wanted to believe that he was bulletproof and it would go away.

[XtrmeJ]

My condolances to the family and friends:(
thats to sad

[Curval]

Sad story.  That poor little girl is going to be traumatised for life.

[Creamo]

"Be careful out there"... as if there are epileptic hikers on the AH bbs that may be near 40 foot cliffs next outing?

Sad story but huh?

[miko2d]

Denial is a common human reaction to an unwanted/unpleasant knowlege. It's a mental condition or rather inborn character trait which is not really a concious choice, however controllable it seems to another person.

 His reaction is deplorable but understandable. His wife was not as affected and could make decisions concerning her husband's health with a clear head. What the heck was she thinking? I understand that the oath to "care for each other till death..." is a meaningless traditional crap rather than a real obligation those days, but her and her child's interests were certainly linked to him being alive.
 There may arguably be valid reasons to disregard the doctor's advice and not take prescribed drugs, but then one has to make some accomodations for posible consequences like forgoing mountain climbing.

 My wife made motorcycle and skydiving off-limits for me for the next 20 years as a condition for conceiving a child. I was really upset at a time.

 I do not think/hope the girl will get psycholigically traumatised for life - humans originated in much harsher conditions and are equipped to handle problems - but her life will be definitely affected by not having a biological  father and siblings.

 Sad story.

[Siaf__csf]

Hmm no disrespect for the people in question, but I can't help to wonder where are the 'darwin at work' comments?

[Boroda]

Very sad

The worst thing that can happen to you hiking

I practiced hiking with my former school group as an instructor for about 10 years. I simply can't imagine how you should feel if you loose a teammate, or, even worse, a kid, in such accident...

We had extremely severe conditions several times, once or twice I thought we will not get out alive, but always had some luck to help us. The worst thing that happened to my group was a broken foot. The most experienced "instructor", a guy with 20 years of alpinist experience, including hi-alt Pamir and un-classicated routes in Central Caucasus like Bezengi Wall traverse, perpared to 1982 Soviet Everest expedition, broke his foot on a stone in a brook... I spent a week with him in a tent in tundra before a group finished the route.

Nice that you guys have communication and helicopters for rescue... Hiking in Siberia makes you feel extremely "lonely" when you understand that the nearest human dwelling is more then 200km away...

Condolences to the family and teammates...