Hello Toby,

Thank you for your input and the link on "Auras." I have heard of similar phenomena but not as a reliable indicator of a pending more serious epileptic attack. It seems that the manifestation of the aura may be related to the part of the brain involved. It is up to the epileptic to tune in and pay attention. Are advanced auras that common among epileptics as a useful warning sign? I've seen you wear a helmet, good thing as you point out even non-epileptics can become one with an impact. Given the circumstances the epilepsy may be short lived if drowning follows. One more reason to wear a good lid in the impact prone environment of kiting (and reasonable flotation!).

I learned in a recent free diving course, in case of loss of consciousness and subsequent inhalation, there isn't a lot to stop breathing in of water without very rapid assistance. In the course we observed one diver down one up and tried to stay within grabbing distance during critical phases of the dive. Tricky stuff.

I hadn't heard about the snowkiter fatality you mentioned Jake, unless it was the one in Alberta Beach. Do you know other details?

It was a young man in Montana I think. Sudden death. It was presumed to be unrelated to kiteing and very few details were posted but there were some condolences on the snow/land part of this forum.

T Dub: Good for you. Like you say; you get ..if you can call it lucky ...a Head's Up before the curtain falls. I'd certainly trust you on my beach more than some of the knuckleheads that come around.

Press on. We're only here for a short time.

j i m

Rick, I am not sure what the numbers are in regard to the amount of epileptics that have auras as a warning signal like myself. What I do know is that certain types of epilepsy can be removed with brain surgery (unfortunately I am not THAT lucky ) and others like mine are very controllable even with frequent impact. I played 10 years of football, pop-warner, high school, prep school and college with only one seizure on the football field and that was at a high school practice and was deemed to be as a result of my medication being at the wrong dosage.

I also wanted to say thanks for the encouragement statuter, jakemooremd, OzBungy, Toby, Rick and Jim. It is glad to see support and an eagerness to learn about the different aspects of the disease by fellow kiters. It gives me at least a sense of brotherhood in this great sport, of my fellow kiters watching my back. Good winds to you all!

1st off condolonces to the deceased and his/her friends and family.




These are all very good points. One thing that is being overlooked is the fact that anybody can be at risk for a seizure. Wether from a blow to the head, a medical condition or from having a night out drinking (or other intoxicants).
A suprisingly large percent of the population has had a seizure(s) as a small child. The seizure is caused by fever (actually the rapid temperature change associated with the fever) and is usuallly benign.
The bottom line is that people who have chronic seizures will have another seizure sooner or later regardless of medications and other precautions.
Please don't misunderstand my point. I do NOT advocate preventing people from pursuing kiteboarding because they have seuzures. I just wanted to bring up the fact that we are all at risk for a seizure to some degree. Most of us won't have any problem. A very very small percent of kiters who don't have any known underlying cause for seizures could (and probablly will) have one while kiting.
Those that have a known seizure disorder need to take the precautions they feel necessary. And, at the risk of sounding cliche, Consult a physician before undertaking kiteboarding as a new sport.

Keep up the good work Rick!

I know I'm resurrecting a post thread that was last active circa 5 years ago, but I've recently been diagnosed with epilepsy, brought on by a bout of mis-diagnosed sinusitis - yes seriously folks, a sinus infection that goes untreated can have some serious consequences!

I have nocturnal seizures, which are now controlled by drugs and although it's still early days I'm pretty sure that I'll pose little or no risk to other kiters. Indeed I can think of a few ego driven maniacs who should generate more cause for concern than me. Further, I've been kiting since 2002, so it's part of my life and I'm simply not going to give it up.

However, I'm keen to minimise the risks I now take, so a helmet will be compulsory, I'll never kite alone and the person I'm kiting with will know what warning signs to look out for. That said if a seizure did happen (and that is very unlikely given the fact that my seizures are nocturnal) I acknowledge that it'll be very unlikely that anyone could get to me quickly enough and so I've been looking into some sort of buoyancy aid or floatation device that would help keep my head above water.

Now whilst I have no desire to look like a complete kook, needs must and so I'd be interested if any one has a suggestion for a slim fitting vest that would work with a waist harness.

Drizzle

I am sorry to hear about your condition and wish you all success in dealing with it in the future. I am not a doctor, far from it and suggest you try to find a sport physician with knowledge of epilepsy and kiting for better advice. Some more might be out there in the five years that have elapsed since this post went up. Some doctors might say the condition precludes kiting I suspect both potentially for your protection and that of others. Still, you seem determined. That said, as to flotation, I would suggest in your case you consider a Type I PFD or one that automatically will float you face up. I usually advise against this for kiters given the greater bulk and risk the device may pose to neck injury on impact. The problem with Type II or III (impact vests) is that they won't reliably automatically float you face up which seems essential in a seizure. The trade off is avoiding more extreme or ambitious types of kiting. Things like high wind, big jumps, demanding tricks, etc. Working to avoid anything that might bash you into the water in short.

The main reason is avoiding strong head impact which might trigger a seizure which can occur to some level even with a helmet on hitting water. Another is to avoid loading up your neck on impact due to the fulcrum created by the neck collar of the Type I PFD with out without a helmet.

Another concern is having a powered up kite during a seizure. I am have no good idea how to reliably deal with this other than to avoid the circumstances in the first place. I would study causative factors for a seizure and do my best to minimize them in your sessions. Good luck and take care.

FKA, Inc.

transcribed by:
Rick Iossi

Thanks Rick.

I am, indeed, under the care of a very good doctor and (as I'm sure you'd expect) I now know far more about the condition than I did. In fact, I was shocked to discover how little I actually knew before my diagnosis.

As someone who has suffered two nocturnal seizures there is very little risk that I will ever have a daytime one, particularly if I maintain my drug regime, and as a result there is very little that I cannot do as long as I take sensible precautions. Therefore, returning to kiting is not the high risk decision that it may at first appear to be.

Thank you for your advice on the type of flotation device I should be looking at. What I'd really like to hear from other members of this forum is some feedback on the devices that are available - what worked, what didn't. I note that Liquid Force have started to market an impact vest with floatation built into the upper area and shoulders - is it any good? Another thought was (as an ex skiff sailor myself) would a skiff style buoyancy aid work? There, designed to work with trapeze harness, so maybe they'd work with a kite waist harness as well.

Another option that has come to my attention is a kite specific harness produced by Crewsaver. I suspect it's designed with kite schools in mind, rather than someone who has been kiting for 10 years, but any feedback on similar kite specific floatation aids would be welcome too - as I said earlier needs must.

I was hoping to see some input from others on new PFD's that float you automatically face up. Even if it isn't certified but accomplishes this it would be good to take a close look at it. Looking over the symptoms of some of the more severe types of seizure, it seems this type of PFD is a necessary precaution. http://www.epilepsy.com/101/EP101_Symptom

Some of the symptoms of the more serious types of seizures for kiters for folks who may not know are given below.

Major convulsions – rapid muscle contractions
Blackouts, memory loss, or passing out
Extreme fatigue after an episode
Being unresponsive, acting confused or dazed, or having a blank stare
Stiffening up or falling down
Little or no bodily movement

There are several lesser symptoms for more minor types of seizures.

I hope you never have another seizure or at least of the daylight variety or with any of the serious symptoms. The fellow that prompted this thread years ago seemed to be ignoring the condition, avoiding medication which may have led to his tragic accident. You seem to have learned a good deal about the condition and are taking steps to manage it which is the way to go.

I just did some searching to see what new PFD products are out there. Unfortunately, I was unable to find anything that might provide the automatic floating face up without a neck collar. There are some nice low profile models, inflatables but unless you trust yourself to the autoinflator (dissolving of an aspirin in water) you would need to have it inflated. When it is inflated it may be even more bulky that normal Type I PFDs. I think normal kiting would result in accidental autoinflation given the amount of time we can be in the water.

I took a quick look at the models you referred to. They both seem to be Type III PFDs or similar types of flotation devices. This is the kind I use as do many other kiters, kayakers and wakeboarders. The thing is if we are unconscious or in a seizure they will not keep you face up, necessarily. I know and accept this limitation and so far so good but I have never had any seizures yet, knock on wood. I have had friends who have had seizures on land. It can be a harsh thing to deal with. I think you would want to be kept face up and breathing as the seizure passes along with taking some steps to improve the odds of not being dragged by a powered up kite.

Other input out there on newer Type I PFDs?

Epilepsy hasn`t stopped anyone from kiteboarding.

In fact, it is a pre requisit, especially for the professional young dude...

....Just look at any of the newer tricks!