The Adventure Sport Accidents Support Center

Every person is unique, but when you face a challenge like surviving an adventure sports accident, you are never alone.  Countless men, women and children have faced the exact same type of accident and have survived and thrived.  The following guide is designed to help you navigate your journey with the best information and resources that helped other survivors when they faced the same challenge.  

TSC has scoured the Internet and assembled links to the very best adventure sports accident resources: articles, blogs, forums and tools that can help you make better decisions and take action to overcome the range of physical, emotional and other challenges that you face.

As you’ll see, we always welcome your ideas and suggestions to make this Adventure Sports Accident Guide even more helpful to survivors like you.   

JUST FOUND OUT 

Survivors Say: Best Resources for Adventure Sport Accidents

• The New Zealand Medical Journal
  
• Traditional Mountaineering: Smith Rock Climbing Accident   
• Extreme Sports Channel
  

The Big Picture

The category of adventure sports covers a wide variety of exciting activities. Basically, if a major adrenaline rush is the primary benefit it’s an adventure sport. The more extreme that these sports and activities become the greater is the risk for injury. Perhaps that is part of the thrill but the reality is that sports related injuries can not only cause irrefutable harm but in some cases even lead to death.

There no escaping the facts that engaging in any sport could lead to an accident.

Sports Injury Statistics

Now add to playing typical sports the heightened risk associated with the adventure variety and you’ll discover the same level of accidents but with much more devasting effects. Can you name the last time someone was killed playing baseball?  But sky diving is another matter:

United States Parachute Association: Submit an Accident Report 

Your Adventure Sport Injury

There are common injuries associated with sports activities no matter how extreme it may be.

A Health: Sports Injuries

Beyond the sprains and broken bones, brain injuries are common among victims of adventure sports accidents.

Brain Injury in Sports

Your World

After suffering an injury due to an adventure sport accident you could be facing weeks and sometimes months of rehabilitation. Usually you’ll be working with a licensed physical therapist but ultimately you’ll be doing much of the rehab work on your own.

Sports Injury Info: The Basics of Sports Injury Rehab 

If you're engaged in adventure sports, chances are some of the extreme nature of these activities might be out of your control. However, there are things you can do to prepare and perhaps prevent injury that could be related to physical activity.

Got a Sports Injury? Are You The Cause?

Adventure Sports Myths

• You can free fall in sky diving for about five minutes
• There are sharks in the ocean and they eat divers
• Snowmobiling is a safe sport

Information and Recommended Links for Survivors

• Steamboat Pilot & Today: Snowboarding Accident Recovery 
• Sports Injury Bulletin
  
• Fort Wayne: Health, Mind, & Body

Types of Adventure Sport Injuries

Sky Diving

You may have very successful free fall in terms of your parachute opening but most of the sky diving injuries happen on impact. Is that really surprising?  A proper landing can make all the difference.

U.S. Parachute Association: Risk Overview

Hunting

Even the most experienced hunters can still fall victim to injury either by other hunters or accidental causes. In extreme cases, malfunctioning firearms can also cause major accidents to happen.

Hunting Accidents Injury Center

Scuba Diving

Going scuba diving means you are totally dependent upon the proper function of your breathing apparatus.  That alone should be enough to insure that you have the necessary qualification to go diving. But don’t discount various other underwater creatures as possible causes for injury.

E Zine Articles: Scuba Diving Accidents

Snow Mobiling

When winter comes, the extreme sports kick into high gear. Snow mobiling is a great way to spend the day after a decent snowfall but it can also lead to accidents for riders and drivers who push themselves too far.

22 News: A Month of Deadly Snowmobiling Accidents

Mountain Climbing

As long as there have been mountains there have been people climbing them because “they are there.” And for as long as that has been going on there have been accidents.

Traditional Mountaineering: Notable Mountain Climbing Accidents Analyzed by Experts 

Rock Climbing

Although not as grand as scaling Mt. Everest, rock climbing involves tackling a rock face in extreme conditions. And there can be just as many risks and potential for injury.

Rock Climbing For Life: Rock Climbing Accidents

Possible Injury Side Effects

Every injury, no matter who or where is occurs could come with possible side effects. This could come in the form of problems with pain medicine or the improper rehabilitation techniques. The key is to go slow with your recovery and consult with you doctor every step of the way in your recovery process.

CE Health Makeover: The 10 Most Common Sports Injuries and Treatments

Orthopedics

A large percentage of adventure sports injuries will mean injuries to bones and muscles. This can range from mild sprains to compound fractures and in extreme cases require multiple surgeries to correct.

Information About Sports Injuries 

Creating a support circle

• Set up your TSC Survivor Profile
• Join support groups of other survivors or set up your own
• Interact and provide updates on your profile or our forums
  

Insurance & Work Matters

Insurance Matters

Although not applicable in the United States, citizens of the United Kingdom can actually get sport injury insurance policies.

Sports Insurance Quotes

For Americans engaging in adventure sports activities, it’s a wise decision to check your health insurance policy to make sure that you are covered if you are indeed injured while pursuing your activity of choice.

Resources to Find Doctors

If you have suffered an injury due to an adventure sports related accident, you may seek out the help of a doctor who specializes in sports related injuries. This happens to be a growing field in medicine and rehabilitation.

How to Find a Sports Medicine Physician

The Emotional Roller-coaster

Surviving an adventure sport accident proves to be a challenge to everyone who has gone through this. Some people find that dealing with the aftermath of the accident is more of a hardship than the actual incident. Many survivors panic and break down under the stress. To avoid this, it's important to continue living your life normally, participating in the same daily activities you've always done. Support groups are also important to maintaining a healthy emotional state. Other than that, educate yourself on the reality of sports injury and trauma by exposing yourself to books and stories written by those who have dealt with accidents their past can help give you and your loved ones hope while dealing with his crisis.

Books Survivors Recommend

• Extreme Sports: In Search of the Ultimate Thrills
• Being Extreme
• To the Extreme
• Adventure Sports   
  

What Survivors Wish They’d Known


Communicating with Your Health-care providers

• Bring a friend or family member with you to your appointments not only to provide support but to lend an extra ear to understand everything your health-care provider has to say and to think up any more questions you may not realize are important at the time.
• Don't be afraid to ask any questions you feel you need the answer to, even if you may be scared of the answer. Ignorance won't help you fight this injury - emotionally or physically.
• Write down any questions you may have ahead of time and the answers to those questions as your health-care provider walks you through them.  Don't be afraid to ask for clarification on anything.
  

Dealing with Adventure Sport Injuries: Information and Recommended Links for Co-Survivors            

How you can help

• Assist your friend or family member with their day-to-day duties or chores, but be sure to find a good balance so as not to throw off their pattern of living, which may increase their stress as they may feel they are becoming a burden.
• Preserve your friend or family member's daily activities. It's normal to feel protective but excluding patients from activities or decisions you don't see them as fit enough to do or make contributes to feelings of helplessness.
• Involve your friend or family member with others. Don't focus exclusively on their injury and treatment plan when interacting with them. Talk to them about yourself or make plans to visit friends and loved ones. A survivor involved with others has a better chance of avoiding feelings of abandonment.
  

What to say    

• "You’re on the road to recovery."
• "There are a lot of people who will help you get through this."
• Tell them how much you care about them   
  

What not to say

• "I told you this was a mistake."
• "Why would you try this? You’re not athletic."
• "You’re never going to recover properly."
  

Things you can do for a survivor every day

Offering day-to-day support is a great gift to give a family member recovering from an adventure sports injury or a friend/neighbor that has been the victim of an accident. If the survivor isn't a family member, help out the patient's family when they are away at hospitals or hotels by picking up the mail or newspaper, making meals, going grocery shopping, etc. If the survivor is a family member, help out with chores or other duties they may have fallen behind on.

How to build a support network

• Set up your TSC Co-Survivor Profile
  
• Create a support group for your friend or family member.
  
• Interact and provide updates

After recovery, assess and share with others how you feel emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Recovering from an injury like this is almost as shocking as hearing the diagnosis for some people. By telling your story, you can not only put into perspective your thoughts and feelings but you can provide hope to others who are going through a similar journey themselves, whether it be with an adventure sports injury or some other sports related injury.  

Recovery

As impossible as it may seem, people have survived from sky diving accidents when their parachutes failed to open. There were many reasons for why these people were spared but you certainly cannot discount good old fashioned luck.

Green Harbor: Free Fall

Deciding to climb a huge mountain peaks is an adventure that shouldn’t be taken lightly. You need the proper equipment and training to avoid disaster. And yet even with all of those positive factors, accidents still happen. Fortunately, there have been miraculous survivor stories that belie the odds.

8 Incredible Survivors Stories
 
As the number of sports related injuries continue to rise, medical science is seeking out new advances in treatment.

Science Daily: Future of Sports Injuries Will Be in 3D

Give back


What helped you while you were dealing with your sports injury, undergoing treatment and realized you had recovered? Take a look back at your journey and share with other what helped you and what you wished you would have known/done during your injury experience. You can create a profile, reach out to other survivors, join support circles or share your story by following the links at TheSurvivorsClub.org.

Participating in adventure sports can be thrilling and exciting. It can also be deadly. No one who sets out on one of these adventures wants to end their life. However, it is a sad reality the more risks you take the greater potential for true catastrophe.

Mid Day: Adventure Sports Cost Under Scanner
    
You also have to consider how your choices for adventure impact not only on your own family and friends but on the government services that might be forced to rescue you.

Alpinist: The Risks of Adventure Sports/People