Tropical Storm Fay Kite Surfer Bucking for Darwin Award

There's a new entry for the famed Darwin Awards. This time a kite surfer named Kevin Kearney decided that the winds of Tropical Storm Fay were just what he needed for maximum kite surfing action. Guess what happened? He was lifted dozens of feet in the air and slammed to the ground. At this point, the intrepid kite surfer was lifted again, and carried through the air at high speed by the raging winds until he came to a complete and sudden stop against a downtown building. You can watch the video of the entire event on YouTube through this link.

I can sympathize with people who make poor choices. I've even made a few, myself. Deciding not to abandon your home in the face of an approaching hurricane when ordered to evacuate is a bad choice, but it's understandable. Deciding that winds so strong that may make it difficult or impossible to even stand up should be met while strapped into a kite surfing rig goes beyond making a bad decision. It is just plain stupidity.

Tropical Storm Fay Kite Surfer is not Unique

I feel sorry for the kite surfer, Kevin Kearney, who was seriously injured when Tropical Storm Fay tossed him like a ragdoll into a solid wall, I really do. I hope he recovers fully from his injuries. On the other hand, if his intelligence and decision-making capacity is at all controlled by his genetics, I hope he doesn't decide to have children. The Darwin Awards were designed for just such people as this. At the Darwin Awards web site, unfortunately, we find that kite surfer Kevin Kearney is not the first to attempt this particular feat. Last year in Spain, a kite surfer tried to ride severe storms winds and met a similar fate.

Other Darwin Award Winners

Even more troubling is the fact that kite surfing during Tropical Stor Fay is not really even close to some of the poor decisions people make on an ongoing basis. One example at the Darwin Awards website includes a man who decided to hook up an electrical test to certain body piercings. So a kite surfer who decides to ride through Tropical Storm Fay may not quite qualify as a Darwin Awards winner, but he's awfully close.