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Continentseven: Evi Tsape speaks about her horror crash
“Yes I did it… I almost died… But I am still here”, this is what Evi Tsape writes on her blog on the 18th of March. Evi Tsape (F2, North), top five in the women´s PWA wave world ranking, crashed badly on the 6th of March while windsurfing at her favourite spot in the Korinthian Gulf in Greece, doing a stalled Forward Loop. On this day she did not work in the office of the shipping company of her father. For the past 1,5 years Evi was working there from 8 in the morning until the night. Only when it was windy she got some time off for windsurfing, but then she had to catch up with the things she could not complete later – during the night.
In the beginning she did not recognize the seriousness of the situation being in the water with a ‘hangman’s fracture” (fracture of the axis vertebra) but with the help of her good physical fitness and a good portion of* luck, she narrowly escaped being paralyzed.
Read here our interview with Evi.
Evi Tsape – Pic: Anna BlanchC7: Where did you sail, when the accident happened?
Evi: I was in Ksilokastro, it’s a spot in the Korinthian Gulf (Peloponnisos). It’s about an hour and a half drive from Athens. We always go there when it’s blowing from the West or Northwest. The conditions are side-onshore port tack, with fun waves for riding. We’ve had some good riding sessions there, so we are always eager to sail that spot. On a good day it’s good for jumping too. It’s one of my favourite spots around Athens.
C7: Which move did you try or how did it happen?
Evi: I prepared my 4.0 Ego and Rave twin fin board with 71 liters, when I got there, but then the wind picked up so much that I rigged my 3.4 Ego and Rebel 63lt and went straight into the water. On the first tack I didn’t try anything. I jibed, came in, took a wave and did 2-3 turns and then headed out again. On the first ramp I thought “what should I try now?” and in a split second I decided I’m going to do a stalled forward. So I jumped, waited, put my mast forward and went straight into the rotation. That’s what I thought. What happened in reality? I never went into the rotation properly, as it all went wrong. The unlucky part is that, although I could feel that it was not going as I expected, I was sure that I was already into the rotation and turning, so I kept going like that and keeping the sail sheeted in and my head tucked in, as I was sure I was going round, so in the end I ate it so bad it’s unbelievable. So I got hurt trying a stalled forward in the third minute I was in the water.
Evi Tsape with the collarC7: What was your first thought after the accident?
Evi: When I realized I had hit the back of my neck really hard, I thought “oh my god, please tell me that I am not paralyzed”. When I tried to move my arms and legs and saw that everything was ok I started to feel my neck hurting so bad, an unbelievable pain. Then immediately, after realizing I was alive and ok, I got very angry, I guess I got angry with myself being so stupid, so I started shouting “oh god why me”? Although I didn’t realize exactly how serious it was, I knew already since the first moment that I would have to stay out of the water for a long time, it’s strange how I could feel it already. It took me 3-4 minutes to kind of register what had just happened and move on to the next step, how I was going to get out of the water.
C7: How did you get back to the beach?
Evi: I was about 25 meters from the beach and when I looked back at the shore I realized that if I would have someone drag me out I would end up on a spot where it would not be easy to come out of the water. The waves were breaking on the beach and where I would end up was exactly below the road, where I could see metal tubes and bind-beams from the asphalt. I remember thinking “no way I’m going there”. I don’t know what I was thinking about my injury, I probably was not thinking straight. I decided to get back to the beach by myself. So I waterstarted, headed back out to go upwind, jibed, and came in planing, stepped out, carried my equipment to the parking, put it down, and then I got help to get dressed, as I could not bend my neck forward to even put my trousers on. So stupid, I did all this with my life hanging from a thread, if I would get the slightest catapult or if something went wrong as I was planing with my head unsupported, I would be paralyzed now, or even not here at all. Of course I told my mother that I came back to the beach by swimming, and she freaked out. If she ever finds out about what really happened, she’s going to have a heart attack…
Evi Tsape in the Gulf of KorinthC7: What are your feelings now?
Evi: It’s more than 3 weeks already since the 6th of March. I am thinking that the most difficult part has passed; I have been in bed lying as still as possible, to let my bone heal. It’s only now that I have realized the idea of me being paralyzed. You know in the beginning I was thinking of what I would be missing while I have to wait for my neck to get better: the weather had just started to get better in Greece after quite an average winter with not-so-good sailing; I was going to have my windsurfing camps in the beginning of May; I was going to start spending more time on the beach, which I have missed a lot for quite a while. I am a person who always gets more motivated and happy, when spring and summer comes. I totally hate winter and I hurt myself right in the beginning of spring. If this would happen 4 months ago I would be having a party, so to speak, for missing work and staying at home during the cold days. Now I just wanted to be outside all the time. I am also going to miss the Gran Canaria competition this year, where I would go ranked 5th overall after 4 years, so it would really be a good chance to do well this year, as I have always had a bad seeding (always against Daida Moreno in the second round and got kicked out every time. I could never make it to top four in the single elimination, and then the double elimination would go wrong all the time). But after 3 weeks I have realized how lucky I was in the end, and time doesn’t matter so much anymore; imagine if I was hurt so bad that I could never windsurf or even walk again. In the beginning I hadn’t fully realized what actually happened to me, how serious it was and how much more serious it could have been for the rest of my life. Now I am just thankful for my guardian angel, who was watching over me through all this, God who also put his hand in there, my luck, and also the time I have spent in the gym in the past 4 years to keep my muscles in a good condition.
C7: Did the accident change you?
Evi: Oh yeah, this is a big issue here. You know, I didn’t break a leg or pulled a muscle and have to wait a bit until it gets better. I almost died, kind of reached the end of life and came back unharmed. And, being so lucky, I started to take myself a bit more seriously. For sure a lot has changed and is going to change for me, not everybody gets such a shake in his lifetime. It’s like I started from the beginning, in a way. “Everything happens for a reason”, they say, as well as “when you lose, don’t lose the lesson”. Lying in bed I had time to think about a lot of things and take decisions that I have been postponing for a long time. My whole perspective changed; all the small things in my life are part of a bigger picture now, like I have been holding the pieces of a puzzle which I now started to put together. I was usually doing things in a hurry, sometimes passing by people, things or even my own thoughts without considering; now I give more time to everything as well as to myself, to enjoy a moment or just think. I used to take everything too seriously, now I see things in their more realistic dimension, distinguish what matters from what doesn’t. I think most people need a good shake to really understand some things, and now I’ve had mine.
C7: You are known for your Pushloop and as a very hardcore ripping woman, pushing the limits. You think, you will now be more scared about getting hurt again?
Evi: Well, I’m not sure, but I think not. I am sensible enough not to try crazy stuff before my body tells me I´m 100% ready; and I know that once my body feels strong again, then my mind will follow as well. For sure it will be a bit difficult in the beginning, as my injury was as serious as it gets. Maybe I will be scared in the first sessions, but I have a strong mind, and the only possibility that I will not get over this fear is if I don’t want to be ripping anymore. If I don’t feel like going for it anymore it will be a compromise, and I don’t like compromises, especially in things that I can control. I want to live things 100% the way I want. If I can’t have it the way I have imagined, then I don’t want it. In other words, I know I can do what I want, so if I want to be ripping, I will; if I cannot, it means that I don’t want it enough, so I may as well stop competing, or even sailing. But as I said, I don’t think this is likely to happen.
CutbackC7: The situation for women, who are doing competition is moneywise not easy. Are you now scared to lose your sponsors or how did your sponsors react?
Evi: Of course my sponsors were very worried about my accident. But they are all here to support me, in the good as well as in the unlucky times. There is not much more to say… I am not scared to lose them; good relationships don’t end like this. There is plenty of time to do everything I had planned for this summer, so it’s not that they’ve thrown their money away. When I get better I’ll just take things from there. Besides, do you know how much my popularity has gone up since the accident? I have been receiving flowers from all greek windsurfers wishing me a speedy recovery… joking of course!!!
C7: You write in your blog, that your good physical fitness protected you from the worst case scenario – to be paralyzed. How does your training look like to get fit?
Evi: I go to the gym 4 or 5 times a week, depending on if and how much I am sailing during a week and how tired I am. I spend about 45’ to 90’ each day there, more like 45’ if I have to go sailing afterwards and 90’ if it’s a no wind day. I think it is very important to be fit, as well as to build strong muscles, which can perform all movements efficiently and endure possible strains. And of course let’s not forget flexibility. I do weight training, as well as cardiovascular fitness. I train the upper body 2 times a week (one day I have for example chest and back muscles, and the other I have shoulders and arms), another 2 times I train the lower body, and one day I have cardiovascular exercise only. I always change my program from one week to another, as to which muscles I train together in one session, so I can mix the order in which I perform the exercises. I also change the reps/resistance ratio, to always try and keep my program challenging for my body and not get bored by doing the same over and over again. My typical session starts with 30-40 minutes of cardio (bicycle or treadmill), I then move on to the weight exercises and finish with abdominal/spinal muscles and stretching.
C7: When will you be able to go windsurfing again?
Evi: I don’t really know. The doctors told me that every case is different with such accidents. It depends firstly on how fast the bone will heal (I have 4 small fractures on the C2) and consequently on how fast my neck muscles will be restored, since I now have them completely immobilized and it’s normal that they be quite weak when I take off the collar. I think that 5 months in total is a good horizon for my recovery, that’s beginning of August. However, as I said before, I will not rig my sail until I feel ready for it, so that remains to be seen.
Thanks for the interview and we wish a speedy and full recovery!!!
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