NCAA Louisville vs Duke injury

[TheYoungOne]

Did anyone catch the Louisville vs Duke game and seen the Kevin Wares' Compound Fracture leg injury? Let's just say if you haven't seen it, when you do, it will make you cringe. That said, beside feeling sorry for the poor kid, it also made me think about hiking. All Wares did was jump up to block a shot and landed on one leg, and it just snapped. On other player was near him or touched him. Just a freak accident.

How many times have I hopped off a boulder with a full pack, or jumped up and landed on one leg while on the trail. It would suck to have a massive leg injury like that while alone on the trail.


Just stay safe out there everyone.

[Tipi Walter]

"Go slow" is good advice when backpacking. On climbs you need endurance. On downhills you need concentration. Falling generally occurs by going too fast and by not concentrating on foot/boot placement. In my backpacking youth I fell all the time, now as I am older I am more careful, I go slower, and I look at my feet more---ergo much less falling. Plus, pack weight has alot to do with falling. A 40 lb pack is nothing and loss of balance is quickly restored. Now try the same stumble with 80 lbs and POW you're like a sac of concrete and on the ground.

[tds1195]

Man that was one rough injury...felt bad for the guy. Hope he gets well and can get back in the game!

[coach lou]

Did anyone catch the Louisville vs Duke game and seen the Kevin Wares' Compound Fracture leg injury? Let's just say if you haven't seen it, when you do, it will make you cringe. That said, beside feeling sorry for the poor kid, it also made me think about hiking. All Wares did was jump up to block a shot and landed on one leg, and it just snapped. On other player was near him or touched him. Just a freak accident.

How many times have I hopped off a boulder with a full pack, or jumped up and landed on one leg while on the trail. It would suck to have a massive leg injury like that while alone on the trail.


Just stay safe out there everyone.

At least Lawrence Taylor didn't grind it into the Parkade!...............That was grody. Also Compounds are not as bad as knees that are bent in the wrong direction!

[tiptoe]

Just read about this horrible injury, which seems to have happened randomly to a presumably well-conditioned college athlete. Ugh. And I can empathize because I broke my ankle pretty randomly, too. I'm not young, and I was not well conditioned but not teriffically out of shape either when my ankle just gave way on a descent, which I was negotiating very slowly. I was definitely not hopping over boulders, like TheYoungOne. My story had a happy ending, as I was helped five minutes after the injury by southbounder thrus. You can only take so many precautions.

[The Solemates]

he had to have a stress fracture or bone deficiency. that injury doesnt "just happen" so to speak.

I'm in orthopaedics and play ball 3x a week so know a thing or two about it for the naysayers

[double d]

he had to have a stress fracture or bone deficiency. that injury doesnt "just happen" so to speak.

I'm in orthopaedics and play ball 3x a week so know a thing or two about it for the naysayers

Yes, that is a good point, as I've read the same thing from many of the same professionals as you, the kid must have had a stress fracture or some other issue in that part of his body. But, as Tipi says, go slow, take your time, but wow-feel sorry for the kid, that leg just broke like it was a twig.

[Pedaling Fool]

he had to have a stress fracture or bone deficiency. that injury doesnt "just happen" so to speak.

I'm in orthopaedics and play ball 3x a week so know a thing or two about it for the naysayers

Yeah, that was my initial thoughts.

[gizzy bear]

i am in the medical field and blood and guts don't bother me like seeing a limb contort in ways it shouldn't... my heart broke for the guy.... tipi has it right, slow down and pay attention... that or hike in a full body cast

[SCRUB HIKER]

I also thought of hiking when I saw that injury. Actually, first I thought of the soccer game I had to play last night and how I was suddenly scared to run and jump around. But I also thought of how I may have had a tibial stress fracture on my AT hike, and I continued to hike on it. I also know other people who have been positively diagnosed with them, one of whom said "whatever" and proceeded to successfully hike the next 2000 miles of the PCT. The nature of the impact when, say, you're moving fast down a steep descent and twist your landing as you turn to take a switchback is a lot like what injured that guy Kevin Ware. Even if you're moving slow, there's still a lot of knee and lower-leg impact on some downhill sections, especially in the Whites or Maine, or really any boulder-y mountain section.

I'm comforted by the fact that, to the best of my knowledge (which isn't much), I haven't heard of any catastrophic leg breaks resulting from routine walking motion among long-distance hikers. Broken ankles, hips, ribs and shredded knees from falls, yes. But shins snapping on a normal stride, no. Still, seeing that injury reminds you that it can happen, and long-distance hikers and runners are the type of athletes who are at a relatively high risk for the stress fractures that can lead to that sort of thing. For me, remembering that there is a real injury risk in hiking makes me enjoy all the days where I'm feeling strong and 100%.