Hi All

I just thought I'd update those that stayed home and save the others
from having to pass this along, but I also thought I'd start with an
optimistic header! Brandon had a bit of an accident at Salton Sea on
Saturday morning. We're still waiting for details (the doctors are
supposed to meet and inform him better by this afternoon), but what I
know for now is that he's broken his L5 vertebrate, which is the
lowest one before your sacrum. He CAN wiggle his toes, and he's in
reasonably good spirits. He's mostly worried that everyone had
better still be having fun and feels guilty that Dave will have to
drive back alone! From his account, he was doing a canyon run (and
he thinks there may actually be footage of the whole incident) and
got too close to a wall. He managed to maneuver out of that, but
hadn't fully regained control when another canyon wall came up and he
hit it. He said his machine took the brunt of the impact, but he
still got hit pretty hard. I guess he was only about 15 feet up at
that point (I think Phil told him this), and landed but not on his
feet. In typical Brandon fashion, he admits he first thoughts
were "some ice, some ibuprofen, and if I can borrow someone's
machine, I should be able to fly in the morning!".

He was airlifted to Palm Springs hospital (and again, typically, he's
annoyed that from the position of patient, he wasn't able to really
enjoy the cool flight). Ryan, who is a surgeon, was very helpful
interpreting things, and Dave, and Phil and I'm sure everyone else
has been incredibly supportive. His options seem to range from 6-8
weeks of bed rest, or a back brace but no surgery, or surgery, but
that's what will be decided today. Brandon did decide to call his
parents, who are coming down from Oregon, so he won't be alone when
most of the guys leave today. I'm just waiting to hear the plan
before I decide what to do, but I may be the most help here for a bit
paying bills and making sure things are covered on this end, but then
I'll jump on a plane if it makes sense (I've been halfway to the
airport in my head about a dozen times already!).

Let's all think positively. On the bright side, if Paul gets hold of
the video, he won't need a crash test dummy for this scene! I'll
update you all when I know more. Greg, I'm sure he'll still tell you
that you shoulda been there!

~Cristine