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Teenagers from Brighton and Hove seriously injured in sledging accident (From The Argus)
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Teenagers from Brighton and Hove seriously injured in sledging accident
9:00am Thursday 5th February 2009
Three teenagers have been seriously injured in a sledging accident.
Dan Lewis, 17, Scott O'Malley, 18, and Vince Ruocco, 18, were hurt after travelling down a steep hill at The Devil’s Dyke on a body board.
Vince, of Langdale Road, Hove, is still being treated in Brighton’s Royal Sussex County Hospital for internal bleeding near his kidney and a broken arm.
Dan, of Glebe Villas, Hove, was left with a fractured pelvis and Scott, of Varndean Road, Brighton, broke his collar bone after their board hit a rock.
The friends have both now been released from hospital.
The accident on Monday just before 9.30pm sparked a dramatic rescue by members of St John Ambulance, South East Coast Ambulance Service and a Sussex Police helicopter.
The friends had already travelled down the steep slope laying on top of each other on the board, but on their second attempt realised they were heading towards a rock.
Dan said: “At the last minute we suddenly saw it and I think we must have turned slightly so our heads didn’t hit it, but we still slid into it.
“While we were waiting for the emergency services we were just lying there for a couple of hours trying to keep warm.
“We are so lucky we had other people with us. They helped to keep us warm and talked to us to keep us awake.
“We were so relieved to see the lights of the ambulance and helicopter.”
Sam said: “We definitely feel really lucky. If that had been our heads we could have died.”
The friends said they would like to thank all of the emergency services involved and other people in the area who helped.
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Your Say YourArgus
davyboy, abingdon, oxon says...
9:14am Thu 5 Feb 09
Jim BB, Brighton says...
9:24am Thu 5 Feb 09
the rudeestmaninhove, Hove well Brighton actually says...
9:29am Thu 5 Feb 09
Jim BB wrote:Stupid question! Do you not remember how treacherous and impassable the roads were on Monday I take you don't live in Brighton and Hove Jim??. I think 2 hours is good effort
Why did it take 2 hours for emergency services to get there?
Voice of the silent Majority, Hove says...
9:31am Thu 5 Feb 09
PS i kid you not the security words are pair-hurt
tonyinbrighton, brighton says...
9:32am Thu 5 Feb 09
Hawker101, The Hawk says...
9:57am Thu 5 Feb 09
feline1, Brighton says...
10:09am Thu 5 Feb 09
Plus the homoerotic aspect of "laying on top of each other on the board" could scarcely be bettered. Seems like an excellent night out for all concerned!
Security word: hard-funs
Ray, Portslade says...
10:25am Thu 5 Feb 09
RIDICULOUS !!!!!!!
Ronald, Hailsham says...
11:19am Thu 5 Feb 09
Charismatic Andrew, Patcham says...
11:33am Thu 5 Feb 09
Hawker101 wrote:How do you sledge 'up the dyke'?
Absolute planks, sledging up the dyke in the pitch black, they should join jackass the nutters!!!!
Security word: bums-hurt
pigletstrotters, Brighton says...
11:34am Thu 5 Feb 09
aa7on, Brighton says...
11:47am Thu 5 Feb 09
Personally my heart goes out to the three guys, obviously they tried to get the most out of life which should be an inspiration to us all. Clearly these guys are injured and they don't need your criticism. The events of Monday night will speak louder to them than your misinformed gossip.
..as for sympathy, I feel really sorry for the people who sit indoors all day reading TheArgus.co.uk looking for something to moan about, rather than enjoying the life we have and the rare weather conditions that were given to us on Monday.
To the guys: get better soon, it's not about how many times we get knocked down, but how many times we get back up again.
puddingandpi, Brighton says...
11:57am Thu 5 Feb 09
NoWaySeriously, Hove says...
12:00pm Thu 5 Feb 09
Pontop Pike, Partridge Green says...
12:10pm Thu 5 Feb 09
aa7on wrote:Your heart goes out to them?
What happened to sympathy? Personally my heart goes out to the three guys, obviously they tried to get the most out of life which should be an inspiration to us all. Clearly these guys are injured and they don't need your criticism. The events of Monday night will speak louder to them than your misinformed gossip. ..as for sympathy, I feel really sorry for the people who sit indoors all day reading TheArgus.co.uk looking for something to moan about, rather than enjoying the life we have and the rare weather conditions that were given to us on Monday. To the guys: get better soon, it's not about how many times we get knocked down, but how many times we get back up again.
Buffoon!
What do you suggest they do next? maybe go karting through the Southwick Tunnel?
If you really want to see the sheer STUPIDITY of sledging, check out the story from Sheffield about the girls who thought it would be a good idea to sledge down a steep bank on a cut off car roof. The end result was broken bones, lacerations from going through a barbed wire fence that left one girl DEAD.
Like you say, its not about how many times you get knocked down eh?
Pontop Pike, Partridge Green says...
12:15pm Thu 5 Feb 09
http://www.24dash.co
m/news/Communities/2
009-02-04-Eyewitness
-recalls-teenage-gir
ls-tragic-sledge-dea
th
Jim BB, Brighton says...
12:30pm Thu 5 Feb 09
the rudeestmaninhove wrote:I live in Kemp Town. I don't know about Hove but we had plenty of traffic on the road, including police cars and ambulances going past us. I know it wasn't the easiest of conditions but people can die if they have to wait for 2 hours, hypothermia can be lethal - and they had an emergency helicopter looking for them.
Jim BB wrote:Stupid question! Do you not remember how treacherous and impassable the roads were on Monday I take you don't live in Brighton and Hove Jim??. I think 2 hours is good effort
Why did it take 2 hours for emergency services to get there?
Scoomer, Moulsecoomb says...
12:37pm Thu 5 Feb 09
Security words: "pay-back"
BandWagonDiva, Seven Dials says...
12:47pm Thu 5 Feb 09
Scoomer wrote:I like your thinking Scoomer. Yes, they should have to pay for the ambulance services; who is stupid enough to go sledging at 9.30pm?! Stupid is as stupid does.....
By the time the three of them have recovered, it will be spring - a perfect time of year for them to do a sponsored walk along the South Downs to raise funds for the Sussex Air Ambulance Trust. Apart from their injuries, they look like fit young men and I'm sure they'll be delighted to offer their services.
Security words: "pay-back"
lorrie2, brighton says...
12:49pm Thu 5 Feb 09
Teila82, Brighton says...
1:05pm Thu 5 Feb 09
leedsnowfan, withdean says...
1:06pm Thu 5 Feb 09
security word: what-rock
8ryn, Portslade says...
1:30pm Thu 5 Feb 09
"Worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but it gets you nowhere."
My thoughts are with Vince in hospital and I'm glad that these 3 lads are alright!
CornishSeagull, Truro says...
1:33pm Thu 5 Feb 09
The man replied, "don't you mean zig-zag?"
The dyslexic guy says, "ahh yes,that's what I meant to say."
"Sorry," says the other man, "I'd like to help but I'm a tobogganist."
The dyslexic says, "oh right, in that case, can I have a 20 Benson and Hedgehogs?"
Curtis j, partridge green says...
1:40pm Thu 5 Feb 09
MzEden, Brighton says...
1:56pm Thu 5 Feb 09
MzEden, Brighton says...
2:08pm Thu 5 Feb 09
They were sledging! In a place where they weren't bothering anyone.
To put this in context, 10's of thousands of people were out enjoying the snow, how many did you hear in the papers had ended up in casualty?
Dickens Cider, Brighton says...
2:11pm Thu 5 Feb 09
Fair play to these lads for getting out there and enjoying themselves. Yes it perhaps wasn't the best idea but I bet it was bl00dy good fun! Wishing all a speedy recovery - don't give up on your sense of fun!
Let kids be kids. We learn through our mistakes. It's only human to take risks.
Let's face it, sledging down a hill has got to be a better pass-time than vandalism, arson, taking drugs or drinking? Kids can't win these days, damned if they do and damned if they don't....
a_j95, bn2 says...
2:16pm Thu 5 Feb 09
2. At what point did they think the benefits of this exercise outweighted the risks?#
3. If this was me, I sure would not want my future employers typing my name in and seeing this story - why was this in the paper? Absolute morons from the word go.
oh dear, hove says...
2:38pm Thu 5 Feb 09
I don't blame them and think people just need to calm down a little and get a bit of perspective!
Scoomer, Moulsecoomb says...
2:50pm Thu 5 Feb 09
A team of semi-literate media studies graduates get paid a pittance to cobble together a selection of rumours, adverts and lies, then bung them onto a website, where we, a bunch of slightly more literate care-in-
the-community patients, pick them apart as a form of play therapy.
It's like an on-line version of that bit in the pantomime where the Ugly Sisters throw sweets into the audience and all the kids scratch each other's eyes out trying to get hold of one.
puddingandpi, Brighton says...
3:02pm Thu 5 Feb 09
BrightonBean, Peacehaven says...
3:27pm Thu 5 Feb 09
oh dear wrote:I couldn't agree more! I would rather some of my tax money go towards this than drug-abusing, overweight, alcoholics who are an even bigger drain of NHS resources. We need people who are prepared to take risks in life and also people who know how to have fun.
Yeah, why are people pretending that teenagers don't do silly things?! I know I did and like written in a post above, I feel lucky that I got away with it. There are far worse things they could've been doing. They were only sledging in the snow and surely this could've just as easily happened during the day... I don't have any qualms with some of my tax money going towards this!
I don't blame them and think people just need to calm down a little and get a bit of perspective!
oh dear, hove says...
3:29pm Thu 5 Feb 09
Scoomer, Moulsecoomb says...
3:53pm Thu 5 Feb 09
Scoomer, Moulsecoomb says...
3:54pm Thu 5 Feb 09
MoreMikey, Formerly Bevendean (Lower, actually) says...
5:41pm Thu 5 Feb 09
TheInsider, Brighton says...
7:55pm Thu 5 Feb 09
Come and learn to be a journalist at journalism college and get the opportunity to work in a real newsroom (The Argus) if you pay your college fees......oh and just ignore the fact that half a dozen of the real journalists have just been made redundant at the paper and are just clearing their desks so you can work there for free.
The Garden Slug, your Kitchen says...
7:59pm Thu 5 Feb 09
pigletstrotters, Brighton says...
9:06pm Thu 5 Feb 09
Why anyone would want to justify bodyboarding down a very steep hill AT NIGHT is frankly beyond me. Why anyone would actually do it... well, they get injuries they deserve!
stan bailey, brighton says...
9:36pm Thu 5 Feb 09
BrightonBean wrote:Oh maybe they could have been doing something useful like clearing the snow from outside elderly neighbours homes. If you read the latest report on children they is too much individualism, all me me me
oh dear wrote:I couldn't agree more! I would rather some of my tax money go towards this than drug-abusing, overweight, alcoholics who are an even bigger drain of NHS resources. We need people who are prepared to take risks in life and also people who know how to have fun.
Yeah, why are people pretending that teenagers don't do silly things?! I know I did and like written in a post above, I feel lucky that I got away with it. There are far worse things they could've been doing. They were only sledging in the snow and surely this could've just as easily happened during the day... I don't have any qualms with some of my tax money going towards this!
I don't blame them and think people just need to calm down a little and get a bit of perspective!
Dave At Home, Brighton says...
10:05pm Thu 5 Feb 09
Dickens Cider wrote:What a great way to spend £15,000 of OUR money, as Dickens says, better they were out doing something that sitting in Shoreham Airport watching TV and eating donuts.... NOT.
FFS, what's with all the moaning about the emergency services having to be called out? Should everyone who is injured through their own misjudgement be refused help? "Sorry sir, I can see you've cut off your arm in a gardening accident, but as it was your own fault we're not going to treat you" etc etc. I don't think so!
Fair play to these lads for getting out there and enjoying themselves. Yes it perhaps wasn't the best idea but I bet it was bl00dy good fun! Wishing all a speedy recovery - don't give up on your sense of fun!
Let kids be kids. We learn through our mistakes. It's only human to take risks.
Let's face it, sledging down a hill has got to be a better pass-time than vandalism, arson, taking drugs or drinking? Kids can't win these days, damned if they do and damned if they don't....
I doubt they will ever give any money to the services that saved them.... they're students having fun... AT OUR COST.
code word FLOG THEM
alice_mahalia, partridge green says...
10:36pm Thu 5 Feb 09
Made In Sussex, Not Brighton says...
9:16am Fri 6 Feb 09
In other words before you start check what you are about to sledge down in case of hazards like rocks (as in this case) or barbed wire fences at the bottom.
These guys could have avoided all this (plus cost to us of helicopter etc) quite easily and there were three of them on one body board after all!
Also get some haircuts!!
katecharsoph1, Hove says...
12:27pm Fri 6 Feb 09
Love yazzz ****
a_j95, bn2 says...
1:09pm Fri 6 Feb 09
Scoomer wrote:I think of it like the playground at school, someone drops some loose change and fingers get broken upon retrieval. great days, such a shame that the broken fingered ones are now actually working for the argus.
While all the sympathetic posters probably have a point, I feel they may have failed to grasp the inner workings of "YourArgus" - so for the benefit of all the normal people out there, I'll just explain how it all works. A team of semi-literate media studies graduates get paid a pittance to cobble together a selection of rumours, adverts and lies, then bung them onto a website, where we, a bunch of slightly more literate care-in- the-community patients, pick them apart as a form of play therapy. It's like an on-line version of that bit in the pantomime where the Ugly Sisters throw sweets into the audience and all the kids scratch each other's eyes out trying to get hold of one.
a_j95, bn2 says...
1:41pm Fri 6 Feb 09
katecharsoph1 wrote:three people sliding down a V-shaped valley on ice at night, using only a piece of polysterene deserve to have the p*ss ripped out of them. Think of the social cost this little "enjoyment of life" has caused.
Guys, don't listen to anything any one is saying that is bad. You were enjoying your life and these lot need to CHILL OUT and clearly need to start enjoying their life. I know you are having to pay for it now with yiour injuries but we wish you a speedy recovery and hope you enjoy the next bout of snow - which will hopefully be coming! Love yazzz ****
I personally like to dress up as Pneumonia and chase the elderly up and down London Road for enjoyment.
a_j95, bn2 says...
1:41pm Fri 6 Feb 09
katecharsoph1 wrote:three people sliding down a V-shaped valley on ice at night, using only a piece of polysterene deserve to have the p*ss ripped out of them. Think of the social cost this little "enjoyment of life" has caused.
Guys, don't listen to anything any one is saying that is bad. You were enjoying your life and these lot need to CHILL OUT and clearly need to start enjoying their life. I know you are having to pay for it now with yiour injuries but we wish you a speedy recovery and hope you enjoy the next bout of snow - which will hopefully be coming! Love yazzz ****
I personally like to dress up as Pneumonia and chase the elderly up and down London Road for enjoyment.
dr-dougal, magic roundabout says...
3:41pm Fri 6 Feb 09
Brigadier Monty, Burgess Hill says...
3:58pm Fri 6 Feb 09
pigletstrotters wrote:They won't get any sympathy from me, that'll learn them!! What sort of numpty goes up Devils Dyke in the dark and sledges? They might be 18, but they have the sense of a 3 year old. Absolute complete and utter muppets. Charge them for the rescue that's what I say!
No sympathy with them. Body-boarding down a steep hill in the dark is asking for trouble... to be honest they got off lightly. The only shame is that the taxpayer has to pick up the tab for rescuing and treating this gormless trio.
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the rudeestmaninhove, Hove well Brighton actually says...
9:11am Thu 5 Feb 09