Patrick's Story...

The long and short of how this happened was that I went out in waist to chest high surf (like I have a million times before) one morning before work.  I was a Bay Street in Venice, CA.  Keep in mind that I've been surfing for 30 years.  Somehow, after being tossed around after being closed-out in a small barrel, I felt that I had been hit somewhere on my head or face.  I immediately stood up in waist high water, felt my teeth and they we're there and of course I could see, so I knew I was okay to some degree.  However, I was immediately thrown into shock, not realizing that my throat was slashed and I was in the midst of loosing close to 3 pints of blood, since I had cut my exterior jugular with one of my FCS skegs.Staying cool and calm, I made it through the whole 911 thing and later that day, ended up with 50+ stitches inside and 50 exterior stitches.
	Bottom line - This is what resulted that day - (I don't mean to get sentimental here, but unless it happens to you, one will never know the magnitude of an injury like this & the consequences)
	*Who would have ever thought this could happen to me? *I've been surfing for 30 years, this shouldn't happen to me? *Thank god I was with a friend and other surfers we're there to help. *I was a short 5 minutes from the hospital. *What about my wife and kids?  I NEED THEM HERE NOW! *I really want a Starbucks and this is going to be an inconvenience today. * I'll go into the office later and catch up. * Doctor Griffiths - "you are as lucky as winning the lottery." * I can't believe that I might not ever surf again - I'm in too much shock. *Holy Sh#t!  I could have drowned or died in an instance. *Life's too short - don't worry about the little things. *Thank god for my wife and children! *I can't wait to charge it in about a month. ~ Patrick Ashby