Monday, January 24, 2011

Tom Kvilhaug Crash.

You may or may not have heard of Tilt and Victory rider Tom Kvilhaug being put in the hospital this past weekend after a nasty crash on a 16 stair.  Well Tom is out now after staying overnight Sunday at Levine Children's Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina.  I was able to talk to him and find out some more about what happened.


Tom was trying to barspin a 16 set, landed perfectly but his bars unfortunately snapped, slamming his head into the ground.  According to him, he  "had to get seven stitches in my left eyebrow and I broke my eye socket and one facial bone."  Tom had already barspinned a 12 and 360'd an 11, so he figured he could land this- "I was thinking about just committing and landing it this time. (My bars snapped on my second try) My bars snapping didn't even go through my mind."  


But he definitely wasn't overconfident. He says he "was scared, but it was more of just nerves than actually being scared of the set. I usually get butterflies before I do stuff down gaps." So after he landed, the impact broke his Lucky bars at the top of the slit (which were NOT cracked before he attempted the gap), and he took a ton of force straight to his head. Tom's friend Dorian Robinson quickly called 911, and paramedics arrived. Dorian as well as Alex Bukaweski and Kyle Wilson were there helping Tom as they waited for the ambulance to get there.


The first thing Tom remembers after the crash is "the nurse talking to me and telling me that 'the stitches won't hurt, you'll just feel a tug.' That was about five hours after the crash." Tom stayed overnight at the hospital and arrived back home at about 2:30 this afternoon. The doctor told him that as soon as he feels 100 percent again, he can go back to riding, which should be in about two weeks. When asked if he would ever think twice about riding or doing something gnarly, Tom said he definitely will not, however, he "might slow down with the gaps and big sets though."


Finally, Tom wanted to " tell all the guys that were there thanks, and if the paramedic that cut my Bangers T and flannel off is reading this, I expect a replacement haha."



Tom's horrific crash was captured on video...however, due to its graphic and disturbing content, I am only going to post the link.  There IS blood and Tom is visibly and audibly in pain.  If you can't handle that, don't click the link.  Also under the video link, are links to pictures of each side of his face.  One, his right side, was mostly unaffected by the crash.  His left side shows the injuries as of earlier today.  


1st Angle


2nd angle


Right side (unaffected)


Left side (affected)


Also, if this makes you doubt Lucky bars...don't forget that Lil Jon, who has hit El Toro (a 20 stair) a couple times, rides them, and Stefan Hefner has tricked a 16 with them as well.  Tom, understandably, says he will not be riding Lucky bars again though.  Hope you recover soon Tom, from everyone at IS.

41 comments:

  1. fell better bro.props for having the guts to trick that.

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  2. Much respect, hope he recovers soon, at least we know where the future of our sport is going, it's going big.

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  3. "had to get seven stitches in my left eyebrow and I broke my eye socket and one facial bone."
    DUUDE! I hope you make a speedy recovery and feel better my fellow rider. You've got more balls than this 21 yr old.

    Love ANON

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    1. He doesn't have balls, he's a fucking moron

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    2. He has balls i bet u would never atempt that so stfu atleast the guy did his best and he got right back in the game after his recovery

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  4. Get better soon Tom! That was a gnar banger bail, we'll get you a new shirt ASAP!

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  5. get well dude. so gnarly. props.

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  6. aleC bukaweski just sayin. toms the man

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  7. From Kyle Wilson: Tom Kvilhaug is the man. His attitidude about doing it was crazy. He was soo down to do it without almost any hesitation. Only took maybe 4 run ups before actually comitting to it. Crazy props bro. Recover fast my man

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  8. hope you recover fast man
    -brent ikedah

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  9. What Kyle said^

    Tom, that was crazy. And you look like two face from batman in those pictures ha. That was crazy though. and scary. Feel better soon.

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  10. Fucking damn. Get better soon Tom.

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  11. From Alec Bukaweski: what kyle and dorian said^

    and Tom, I don't know what to say except you are my favorite rider, and a great friend, thank god nothing serious happen to you. Get better soon. by the way, when do you think you can give me my sole from my shoe back?

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  12. tony :) hahahah get better soon were gonna miss are bro...... bitches from Sammamish
    -Connor and Ryan

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  13. Jeff Mroz : your crazy ... I already told you , have a fast recovery bro, major props too I was talkin to alec bout it and he told me a ton and I was like Wtf

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  14. tom i wanna send you teddy bear

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  15. I wish you the best man! ive been through a situation like that with Nick Donatelli. And i gotta say it wasnt easy, and i was just a witness.

    Its gonna be hard getting back from this. I just recently went through it with my knee surgury. Nick Donatelli suffered a similar injury and was in the same situation for a while. On both occasions the hardest part isnt getting the physical strength back, its the mental side. I gotta tell you man, with my surgery its been very hard for me to get back into the old side of my riding. With big gaps and high impact. Its a huge restraint on me and it does lower my confidence. The hardest part about landing some tricks is just getting back the courage to overcome those fears. Ive been watching you progress alot lately man. And i have no doubt you will regain your confidence in yourself and overcome any fears you might have. Keep with it man and dont give up!

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  16. Helmets anyone? I know they aren't "cool", but a properly fit helmet most likely would have prevented or at least lessened his injury. Tom is very lucky. and speaking of lucky, did you physically inspect the bars at that point after the first attempt to make sure there was no crack? I would not jump to blame Lucky for this tragic accident... that was a big ass stair gap!

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  17. yeah um you def should have been wearing a helmet

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  18. I know exactly what your going thru dude, all i can say is just give it time and youll be back from where you left off
    -Donatelli

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  19. The main reason to ride street is to be free , not ruled by a skatepark that's gonna makes you wear helmets and shit. even if IT IS USEFUL don't get me wrong. These are just the risks, iT happens sometimes and not to others only.

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  20. Thanks everyone for the Get wells. And I did actually check the bars before I did the second attempt. Read my comment to what James said if you ant to see that I do not think he was right either. I am sorry for blaming lucky, it is now out of the video description and I sent them a personal apology. I have a lot of respect for lucky and do not want this to hurt the company.

    -Tom K

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  21. ATTENTION TO EVERY SCOOTER COMPANY. WHEN YOU MAKE YOUR PRODUCTS INCLUDE INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO CHANGE PARTS.TOM OBVIOUSLY DIDNT KNOW ANY BETTER;MOST PEOPLE WOULDNT HAVE.THIS IS SERIOUS,AND WE ALL OWE TOM KVILHAUG A THANK YOU FOR TEACHING US THIS.DONT IGNORE THIS COMMENT UNLESS YOU WANT INCIDENTS SUCH AS THIS OCCURING.To anyone who read this COPY THE ABOVE MESSAGE AND SEND IT TO A SCOOTER COMPANY.THANK YOU.

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  22. I smashed my head on a 12 it was my fifth concussion I wear a helmet all the time now.
    Get Well Soon Tom

    -Riley White

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  23. Get well soon Tom, props for having the guts to do that
    -Colton F.

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  24. 2liveclothing atgmailFebruary 16, 2011 at 5:36 PM

    i havent laughed that hard in years. i saw this on ebaumsworld, and had to investigate further. scoo scoo scooter. the only way to make that fall even possibly funnier is if tommy boy donned a cape. a red one.

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  25. Helmet's are for pussies! And by pussies I mean smart people.

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  26. You could have just as easily wound up in a wheelchair for life. I'm sure your parents would just LOVE to pay for that and wipe your ass until the day they die. No helmet, no pads, no common sense. Something tells me you're destined to have a lifelong limp and the attention span of a grape.

    My only hope is that whoever owns that building/staircase sues the crap out of you for bleeding all over their bricks.

    Dumba$$.

    What's worse, some kid somewhere is going to think you're cool, try to imitate your stupidity and will wind up getting killed.

    Why don't you post your hospital bills and perhaps a video rebuttal by your mom and/or dad about how happy they are they work so hard to pay for those bills??

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    1. You know what you can think and say whatever you want but this kid is trying to express himself through riding! and if your going to act so heartless that you cant just give advice then you can just leave us all alone. if he had died im certain you wouldnt have acted so terrible.

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    2. That clearly was a lucky defect. Accidents happen, maybe instead of being so judgmental you grow a heart before karma comes back and seriously bites you in the ass.

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    3. Original poster is 100% right. I would not have shed one tear for him if he would have died or worse, been paralyzed or got(more) brain damage. I would have felt sorry for his parents though. He was so lucky, he has no idea! People have died and become disabled by FAR FAR less hits! Doing that crap takes almost NO skill! Just stupidity.

      You want to do that stuff, fine, it's a free country. You wanna do that crap without a helmet and at least wrist guards, you just prove you should never procreate. AND you should pay your f-ing bills when you get hurt! Yes, accidents happen, THAT'S WHAT SAFETY GEAR IS FOR! Or on the other hand, it can saves dumb asses like this.

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  27. Ouph! Am I glad that I've found this.

    I saw the crash in a stupid "fail compilation" on Youtube (which I still regret ever clicking on, btw; I thought I was going to see someting like "funniest home videos").

    A few hours after I had first seen it, I was still really shocked / disturbed by it. So I just had to find out if "the kid" had made it through.

    A thourough internet search finally brought me to this site with "the good news": I had not seen a kid die from a skull fracture or get dissabled / mutilated for life. My God, what a relief!

    I hope you fully recover, and if there's ever a next time, please wear at least a helmet, or even better: never take such a risk again!

    All my best to you.

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  28. The main reason to ride street is to be free , not ruled by a skatepark that's gonna makes you wear helmets and shit. even if IT IS USEFUL don't get me wrong.

    risk vs. reward. just don't ask the government (i.e. taxpayers) to pay for your $50,000 facial reconstruction because you were too cool/cheap to buy a $50 helment. that's all you.

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  29. Hope you get well soon, man. But what's the password to watch the video?

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  30. Yes, he either died or was knocked unconscious.

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  31. He lived and was carried to the hospital a few minutes after, he was back on his scooter a couple weeks after... Every time I look at that video I feel so fucking bad for him... Youre the man Tom!

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  32. Good topics & articles these are so important for anyone.This is a fantastic website, could you be interested in going through an interview concerning just how you made it? I very much enjoyed reading your description. George offers changeparts opportunities and teaching Commercial to Residential Conversion.

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  33. Who the fuck rides scooters hahahah dumbass kids

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  34. Great post! Been reading a lot about injuries from these sorts of accidents. Thanks for the info!

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  35. What an idiot. No protective gear whatsoever. You deserve all the pain and suffering you endured. I would have laughed if you ended up a drooling vegetable.

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