Portugal XPD Race
Fall From the Flying Fox
Rob Howard / 10.10.2004
An accident on the flying fox (tyrolean traverse) on the 3rd and final stage of the race resulted in a serious knee injury to one of the Danish team, 30 year old Peter Nejsig.The accident happened Saturday evening around 18.00 at CP50, when 6 other teams and the first 3 members of Team Fusion.dk had already crossed the flying fox, set above a river gorge. While Nejsig was crossing the anchor gave way, and he fell to the rocks below, a height estimated at 10 to 15m by Thure Kjaer, his team captain.
“I saw him fall,� said Thure, “and was the second person to reach him. There was a lot of confusion at the time, but the paramedics arrived within 15 to 20 minutes and the helicopter came to evacuate him after an hour. He was taken to one hospital, then on to Lisbon for surgery as it was a bad injury. He had an open fracture below the knee and is stable after the operation. The hospital are assessing if he can be flown home.�
He added, “My team mates went to look at the anchor and as far as they could see it was just placed around a rock which came loose. We’ve been at the hospital with Peter, but will go back to the finish to check who was responsible for the safety of the flying fox.�
Race Director, Alexandre Guedes da Silva, said, “There was a reserve anchor which fortunately helped to slow his fall and he landed in an area where we could helivac him out.� However, Thure disputed this. “When I saw him fall he went straight down.� He added, “We have to discuss this with the Race Director at the finish line. We want to know how this could have happened.�
The race was suspended after the accident and a team meeting held to decide if the race should continue to the finish. The teams did agree to resume with the following skating/Trikke orienteering stage, which will be followed by foot orienteering (including a run through some tunnels) and a final kayak stage in tidal waters.
The German/Austrian team, Bavarian Tri Dragons, and Portuguese team, EcoAtitude are currently leading, and the winners are expected to finish around 4 p.m Sunday night.See All Event Posts
