22 year old died in Florida yesterday.

Shadowscape said:
Having delt with a lot of hangings, I would bet when the weight of the top fell it separated the spine at the base of the skull, just like a hanging from gallows. Instant dead.
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Feels very strange giving this comment a “like”, but I certainly understand your point. Similar to Dale Earnhardt.
 
I happened upon this video the other day before it was posted here. My first instinct was to copy the link and start a thread here. However, the video was so intense I ended up just pausing and contemplated what I just watched. I watched it several times. I tried to envision myself on the job site in that moment. I pictured my gear bag and the components I would grab to attempt a rescue. I pictured myself climbing the tree to do the initial work and thought about all the decisions and critical thinking I do when I climb to not be in a situation like this. This video is humbling to me. It should be watched. It's not gory, but it is intense and emotional. I truly believe this video will save some other climber's life.

Also, please don't cut a tree down that I'm in. Train for rescue and be equipped to rescue.
 
Ok, I will step out. I had to watch the full vid, I knew it was Casaurina and I have a climber who refuses to listen to me at times. He struggles with these trees. I put him is a very large one the other day. Early in the climb he wanted to take a monster top, way bigger than that. We were ziplining them. I said hold on buddy, you will climb higher and take it smaller. He had move out his comfort zone. It went as it should. I had to show him this. Because it is a reality with this species. The shape can trick ya, slight breeze and it will do what it likes. Always need favour to the lay. Anyway that is my take. We all have tricky trees, these are mine and I love climbing them.
 
I am a misfit in just about every way there is. I acknowledge my views tend to be different, but I often express them anyway.

I have not, and will not, see the video of this horrible accident out of respect for this young man and his family and friends. And if a video of one of you in a similar accident is ever released, you can be sure I will not view it for the same reason. Even if I happened to be there and had my own video of your accident, you can be sure I will not view it, and, more importantly, I will not publicize it.

It is not my intent to criticize or shame any of you who have seen it. I understand viewing it for analytical purposes and that such accidents can have instructional and motivational value for the professional, but that value can still be conveyed with verbal descriptions, sketches, and pictures that avoid showing the victim. But virtually all the other people who will see this video will gain nothing of value from it except a brief satisfaction of morbid curiosity at the victim's fatal expense. I don't understand people who enjoy viewing this. I have no stomach for violence, even the fake violence on TV and movies. I don't want to see it, and I especially don't want to be desensitized to it. But what troubles me more than people watching the video is the person who publicized it. That's sick and unforgivable. If that is normal and acceptable in today's world, then I am proud to be a misfit.
 
misfit said:
I am a misfit in just about every way there is. I acknowledge my views tend to be different, but I often express them anyway.

I have not, and will not, see the video of this horrible accident out of respect for this young man and his family and friends. And if a video of one of you in a similar accident is ever released, you can be sure I will not view it for the same reason. Even if I happened to be there and had my own video of your accident, you can be sure I will not view it, and, more importantly, I will not publicize it.

It is not my intent to criticize or shame any of you who have seen it. I understand viewing it for analytical purposes and that such accidents can have instructional and motivational value for the professional, but that value can still be conveyed with verbal descriptions, sketches, and pictures that avoid showing the victim. But virtually all the other people who will see this video will gain nothing of value from it except a brief satisfaction of morbid curiosity at the victim's fatal expense. I don't understand people who enjoy viewing this. I have no stomach for violence, even the fake violence on TV and movies. I don't want to see it, and I especially don't want to be desensitized to it. But what troubles me more than people watching the video is the person who publicized it. That's sick and unforgivable. If that is normal and acceptable in today's world, then I am proud to be a misfit.
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ex-fuking-zactly
 
misfit said:
I am a misfit in just about every way there is. I acknowledge my views tend to be different, but I often express them anyway.

I have not, and will not, see the video of this horrible accident out of respect for this young man and his family and friends. And if a video of one of you in a similar accident is ever released, you can be sure I will not view it for the same reason. Even if I happened to be there and had my own video of your accident, you can be sure I will not view it, and, more importantly, I will not publicize it.

It is not my intent to criticize or shame any of you who have seen it. I understand viewing it for analytical purposes and that such accidents can have instructional and motivational value for the professional, but that value can still be conveyed with verbal descriptions, sketches, and pictures that avoid showing the victim. But virtually all the other people who will see this video will gain nothing of value from it except a brief satisfaction of morbid curiosity at the victim's fatal expense. I don't understand people who enjoy viewing this. I have no stomach for violence, even the fake violence on TV and movies. I don't want to see it, and I especially don't want to be desensitized to it. But what troubles me more than people watching the video is the person who publicized it. That's sick and unforgivable. If that is normal and acceptable in today's world, then I am proud to be a misfit.
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We climb trees for a living. We share that fraternal bond. You can't buy in to this club, and once you're in, you will always be a member.. that's our brother's lifeless body hanging there. And but for the grace of God we all know that could have been us.

When we go to work we to ask ourselves this question.. "If I make this cut or climb this tree will I die?" I've asked myslef that question 1000x. When we hear those scream of anguish, we sit in front of our screens with tears streaming down our faces. And we make sure we tell our children that we love them, every time we say good bye.

We all know in our bones that no matter how good we think we are, it could happen to any of us in seconds. One bad move, one distracted moment, one freak mishap and that will be our lifeless body going onto the stretcher. That's the game we play. It's life and death. We do things regularly that not 1 in 1000 other human beings would ever consider trying. And some of us do these inherently dangerous things all day long, 5 days a week.

We have a deep interest in knowing what happened, but it is not coming from "morbid curuiosity", any more than those that investgate plane crashes. We want to know what happened so it's not us or someone on our crew hanging there next week. We want to think about what we would do if it happened while we were on the scene and make a plan how we might act if anything like that ever happened around us. When lay ing bed tonight we will be visualizing how that tragedy could have happened and go over and over it in our heads until we have an idea about how to make sure it doesn't ever happen around us.

Our primal instict for self-preservation forces us to look. We don't have a choice. Anyone that doesn't understand that hasn't been where we've been and done the things that we've done. And we learned a long time ago not to bother trying to explain these things to anyone who hasn't been there. They would and could never understand. And that's why we come here... because the men here do understand. They've paid their dues and worked for their knoweldge, and put food on their familes' tables for decades by risking their lives every time they put that saddle on.
 
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Phil said:
I happened upon this video the other day before it was posted here. My first instinct was to copy the link and start a thread here. However, the video was so intense I ended up just pausing and contemplated what I just watched. I watched it several times. I tried to envision myself on the job site in that moment. I pictured my gear bag and the components I would grab to attempt a rescue. I pictured myself climbing the tree to do the initial work and thought about all the decisions and critical thinking I do when I climb to not be in a situation like this. This video is humbling to me. It should be watched. It's not gory, but it is intense and emotional. I truly believe this video will save some other climber's life.

Also, please don't cut a tree down that I'm in. Train for rescue and be equipped to rescue.
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I had a similar thought process and have no idea how I would react. My wife and I work together every day and honestly it made me sick to my stomach. Or God forbid I was the one hanging there and she had to recover me....
I don't have a morbid curiosity or like seeing videos of people dying or dead bodies, but this is one that will stick with me every time I climb as it's burned into my brain.
I fall victim to pushing to get a tree done, and while I try to be 100% safe I know there's unnecessary risks that get taken.
I wish this video wasn't around because I want this guy to still be alive. But if something happens to me I would hope someone could learn from it and avoid the same fate.
 
misfit said:
I am a misfit in just about every way there is. I acknowledge my views tend to be different, but I often express them anyway.

I have not, and will not, see the video of this horrible accident out of respect for this young man and his family and friends. And if a video of one of you in a similar accident is ever released, you can be sure I will not view it for the same reason. Even if I happened to be there and had my own video of your accident, you can be sure I will not view it, and, more importantly, I will not publicize it.

It is not my intent to criticize or shame any of you who have seen it. I understand viewing it for analytical purposes and that such accidents can have instructional and motivational value for the professional, but that value can still be conveyed with verbal descriptions, sketches, and pictures that avoid showing the victim. But virtually all the other people who will see this video will gain nothing of value from it except a brief satisfaction of morbid curiosity at the victim's fatal expense. I don't understand people who enjoy viewing this. I have no stomach for violence, even the fake violence on TV and movies. I don't want to see it, and I especially don't want to be desensitized to it. But what troubles me more than people watching the video is the person who publicized it. That's sick and unforgivable. If that is normal and acceptable in today's world, then I am proud to be a misfit.
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Word
 
I can see this in multiple ways. IF there is something to be learned from it, AND/OR if the video is enough to get it through some cowboys skull that this can be the consequence of making a bad call.
I’ve witnessed death live, and have worked with the dead. I don’t need to see a video to understand the repercussions of an accident or mistake.

The thought of trying to fall the tree is just way too much. The suggestion is horrible. I’ve bathed the body of my mentor for 4 days, while keeping him on ice in preparation for his wishes of a traditional send off. The tree was 30’ and he was taking a small top when the pushback caused the stem to separate from the roots on a dead tree. The mere suggestion of falling the tree onto a roof while the guy has something stuck on his body is murder. Trust me I can understand last ditch efforts, and damned if you do/damned if you don’t.
 
evo said:
I can see this in multiple ways. IF there is something to be learned from it, AND/OR if the video is enough to get it through some cowboys skull that this can be the consequence of making a bad call.
I’ve witnessed death live, and have worked with the dead. I don’t need to see a video to understand the repercussions of an accident or mistake.

The thought of trying to fall the tree is just way too much. The suggestion is horrible. I’ve bathed the body of my mentor for 4 days, while keeping him on ice in preparation for his wishes of a traditional send off. The tree was 30’ and he was taking a small top when the pushback caused the stem to separate from the roots on a dead tree. The mere suggestion of falling the tree onto a roof while the guy has something stuck on his body is murder. Trust me I can understand last ditch efforts, and damned if you do/damned if you don’t.
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If I was there, that tree would have been cut at the base... that was his only chance fo survival... have you seen what happens when a sheath of palm fronds smothers a climber, slowly crushing the life out of his body? How long does he have before he's dead? A whole lot less time than it takes for the fire company to get him down... If I can drop the tree on a vehcle or building to save his life.... I'm going to cut it. And if you get in my way, you're getting cut too.
 
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I totally disagree with the benefit of watching this particular video. I am gonna go out on a limb here and say I'm thinking I've probably seen more death and destruction than probably anyone other than some of the combat medics on this forum. I have also taught Paramedicine and other EMS topics for many many years and used videos in a training environment. This video holds NONE of the qualities of a video you can use to learn great lessons from. Its a lifeless rag doll being thrashed around. If thats what you need to watch to have respect for this job when you lie your head down to sleep, next I'll hear we need to watch a human body get chipped or a leg ripped off by a stump grinder to have respect for the machine. I don't but it for a minute. But thats me and you're you. I lived that for half my life so I'll respectfully and passionately disagree. This video is of no benefit to watch unless you just wanna see a traumatic death.
 
Steve Connally said:
I totally disagree with the benefit of watching this particular video. I am gonna go out on a limb here and say I'm thinking I've probably seen more death and destruction than probably anyone other than some of the combat medics on this forum. I have also taught Paramedicine and other EMS topics for many many years and used videos in a training environment. This video holds NONE of the qualities of a video you can use to learn great lessons from. Its a lifeless rag doll being thrashed around. If thats what you need to watch to have respect for this job when you lie your head down to sleep, next I'll hear we need to watch a human body get chipped or a leg ripped off by a stump grinder to have respect for the machine. I don't but it for a minute. But thats me and you're you. I lived that for half my life so I'll respectfully and passionately disagree. This video is of no benefit to watch unless you just wanna see a traumatic death.
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More truth. thanks bro.
 
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