Kite surfer shares story of survival
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) -- A South Florida kite surfer is ready to head back to the beach after an accident that almost took his life.
"I love this place, no regrets on the accident," said Kevin Kearney.
Kearney is back on the beach that almost killed him last week during Tropical Storm Fay. The 28-year-old went kite surfing on Fort Lauderdale Beach when the storm's winds swooped him up out of the water, dragged him across the sand and slammed him into a building. "Luckily, I didn't hit a big wall at that kind of speed. It looked like the ground took some of my fall," said Kearney.
His fall was a bad one. His voice was left raspy from having tubes shoved down his throat to induce a coma. His eyes are still bloody, and cuts and scrapes cover his face and body. Kearney, trying to catch some air under his sail, got more than he bargained for. "I didn't know I was going to get up to 60 like that and lift me up unexpectedly," he said.
With peak storm season here, there could be other chances for kite surfers to glide across the sky. Kearney said even with what he's been through, he'll be right back out with the rest of them. "Well, I didn't really want to sit here and talk about my injuries all day because when you focus on negative, you know, that's just what ends up happening," said Kearney. "I usually like to focus on the positive aspects of kite boarding."
The accident was a very costly one for Kearney. His medical bills will cost him between $75,000 and $100,000, and he doesn't have medical insurance.
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