Got back from YAPC::Europe just after 1pm on Sunday afternoon and decided to head down to the quaintly named "Middle Wallop" near Salisbury to catch the last few hours of a kite festival. Spent an excellent few hours kiteboarding until Roger, also riding a kiteboard and seemingly overpowered with a huge kite in a big gust of wind, came tearing towards me ending in an inevitable head on collision. We must have impacted at a combined speed of around 70mph+. I dived off the board across Roger and our legs collided. The front of my left shin hit the side of his right leg and broke clean through both tibia and fibia. Not a pretty sight or sound. I walked away from the crash with nothing more than minor cuts, bruises and a sprained ankle. Roger required surgery to pin his leg back together. It's hard to describe this as a "lucky" turn of events, but I'm pretty sure that we both got off lightly considering how badly it could have turned out. In the second or so before impact, I had just enough time to realise that this might be the "Big One". I had just enough time to think about the things that I might never do again or the people that I might never see again. As it happens, here I am, the luckiest bastard alive, having once again stared death in the face, laughed, and lived on to see another episode of Buffy. I have a few more stitches to add to the collection and perhaps also a slightly modified outlook on life. That may not be a Bad Thing. That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger. But that's not to say it doesn't shake us up, too.
