Our WUWT editor, Charles Rotter was seriously injured today.
He was snorkeling [swimming] in Ft. Lauderdale, and he felt himself getting into a riptide. He forcefully swam out of it but in the process/panic he didn’t pay attention to the waves. caught [a wave to assist returning to shore,] him and [but due to riptide dynamics] it lifted his legs over his head and] threw him into the beach head first. He has spinal compression and vertebrae fractures. He’s mobile (can walk) and very lucky it wasn’t worse. He’ll be in the hospital a few days, followed by therapy.
More details as I have them. – Anthony
[update. 4 pm Eastern 9/19. I am now allowed to sit upright and my laptop was just delivered. Laying 100% flat for 24 hours in a neck collar on NBO protocol (no food or drink) is quite unpleasant. Far more unpleasant than the pain. It is not yet determined whether I will need surgery to pin the break or if I can just go home and wear a neck collar for the next three months. I’m the luckiest person in the world. The fact that I’m not dead or paralyzed is winning the lottery–charles]
[update 2. No surgery. Headed home in an hour or two. 12 weeks in a neck brace.]
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Bloody hell – that is shocking. Sending best wishes for a full recovery….
All the best, Charles.
Best wishes for swift recovery. !
I’ve been “dumped” before.. had a sore neck for a few weeks.
Get well soon Charles, we need you for your great articles.
I wish him the best for a full recovery.
Be patient and let your body have time to heal. Good luck Charles.
We pray that the Eternal One, whose name is Merciful, restore our brother, Charles Rotter to perfect health, and heal him in body and in spirit, speedily, without delay, together with all of those who are suffering from illness or injury; and let us say: Amen.
Amen
So mote it be.
Speedy recovery Charles!! Prayers too!
Thanks everybody.
Hopes for a full and speedy recovery, Charles.
Make the immediate future all about you.
And embrace the physio program with ideological fervor!
My exact thoughts too, and I would also add (since I’m still recovering from a compression fracture of a lower vertebra, L5), try a buprenorphine (Butrans) patch for the pain if it’s intense. Besides working well on the pain reduction, it cuts down on the Advil and Tylenol requirements.
I feel for ya Phil.
The thing I hate most about courses of pain killers is the inevitable stage 4 constipation they inflict.
I can never conclude which is worse, the injury / ailment or the agonizing efforts at “giving birth”.
😱 😖
Yeah, when I was in the hospital/recovery phase they stressed the importance of Dulcolax etc. and it was about the time Matthew Perry’s autobiography came out – apparently, he was taking 50 Percocets a day or something like that. He really did get a ruptured colon. Managed to get cured, then died from a ketamine overdose a couple of years later. Tragic story. Prescribers going to do jail time.
The patch does that too, but it’s not as pronounced and I’m always aware of trying to stop that effect. Charles, if you’re still reading along here, email me. I’ll help you with that aspect of painkillers.
I’ve taken two Tylenol total since the accident.
Heal soon!
Thanks for all that you do on WUWT.
That’s awful. Send him my best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Wishing you the best and quick healing. Take care.
I hope he recovers fully.
When I was in college in the early 1980s, I worked summers for a hospital/clinic in radiology transportation. Met a girl that had come to have testing done. While on her HS senior trip to Florida a wave pushed her head into the bottom. Broke her neck. Left her a paraplegic. Nature sometimes isn’t very forgiving.
Yep.
Shore breaks are often calamitous for surf swimmers.
(used to serve as a volunteer Aussie surf lifsaver in my yooof)
Nature is rarely forgiving. One is only allowed 1 serious mistake per lifetime. That is, none after the first one.
Could’ve been much worse, glad to hear you’re out of danger.
Oh! Reading this is a gut punch for me. I wish Charles the best.
Charles
Best wishes for a complete recovery.
THat’s awful. My very best wishes to Charles, and for a full recovery.
Hoping to have him back soon making his much valued contributions to WUWT.
And I didn’t panic. I tried to catch a wave to get out of the water. The extreme slope from the riptide change the wave dynamics and it lifted my legs up and smashed my head directly downward into the sand.
Glad you didn’t land worse. I did similar skiing once. What vertebrae were affected?
Crack in c1. No arterial damage. Whether to operate or not to pin will be determined today after more imaging.
Charles,
Wishes for a prompt 100% recovery.
In 1994 I slipped a foot or so down a mild hill slope while collecting Rhododendron species in western China and compressed a disc. Made it back to Oz, much pain, then surgery to fuse two neck vertebrae with entry from back of the throat with a bone graft from a hip bone. All went well. Tiny accidents can have serious, complex outcomes. Hope that yours is non-serious and simple. All the best. Geoff
You didn’t try to surf that wave with diving gear on did you Charles?
Anthony’s description gleaned from chats is not quite correct. I was simply taking a short swim. Turned around almost immediately due to the severity of the current.
Sorry for the academics but really glad your lucid and you seem to be the curious type. It used to be called undertow which was the bottom of the breaking wave circle moving offshore. I’m not much of a swimmer and not familiar with that area but have a long interest as an adjunct in surface phenomena, especially close to the coast.
In trying to get a good picture of a clear dangerous offshore current shutting down the agitated wave break the only place so far was adjacent to Pt. Reyes in California, distinct but no data needed to confirm. Like most currents they are not always simple. There was a special issue on the subject in the Journal of Coastal Research (SI72, 2014) on the The 3rd International Rip Current Symposium and these may be relevant.
Leatherman, S. B. 2017. Rip current measurements at three south Florida beaches. J. Coast. Res. 33 (5):1228–1234.
https://doi.org/10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-16-00124.1
Leatherman, S.P. and J. Fletemeyer. 2011. Rip Currents: Beach Safety, Physical Oceanography and Wave Modeling. CRC Press, 277p.
de Sylva, D. P. 1976. Attacks by bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) on humans in south Florida. Copeia (1):196-198. This was at Haulover Beach which is one of Leatherman’s study sites probably a little south of your event. This was their spring migration, good thing you missed the sharks. In Pt. Aransas Texas there is a rip current sign near one that says you can be put in jail for driving through a flock of birds which are often near such signs. Stay cheered up and hang in there as all here have shown your importance and looking forward to your analysis.
May your recovery be fast, and complete. We’re all thinking of you.
I exploded 2 vertebrae into small pieces when I jumped/rolled my rally car (they say 8 times, I lost count after 4) in 2018. The 3 months where the jumbled bits were slowly cementing themselves back together was pre Work-From-Home Covid, so I had Workman’s comp calling me daily, telling me to get back to work, while I memorized the side effect of the Big Pharma ads on daytime TV…. Necrotizing Fasciitus of the Perineum, the area between the genitals and A…
Breaking your back sucks and mine reminds me every day to “slow down and enjoy life more”.
Maybe someday. There are too many things that need doing.
In racing you go slow to go fast. Nothing will be slower than the next 3 months, but then you can go fast, again.
OK, fast-ish.
Best wishes for a quick and full recovery.
Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.
Sending prayers…
Ditto!
All the best, Charles. I wish you a full and speedy recovery.
Wow how terrible😟. Best wishes for a speedy recovery Charles.
Heal soon Charles, we need you here.
Yes, we do. Not only us, but the whole world needs to hear from Charles.
So sorry to hear that. Praying for a quick and complete recovery for you, Charles.