Limitless The danger of speedrunning, how i lost part of my toe

[rotauq]

So speedrunning has marked me for life, i lost part of my big toe.

Obviously there was a chain of events leading up to this horrible event.
Did some testing with my rebuilt rig on 6S, all was fine. Figured it was time to put it on the road with 8S, but blew a bearing at my rear diff. Quickly replaced it and rushed back to my spot. My country has it's euro cup opening game and i wanted to be back in time to watch it. A silly mistake made me lose my rear spolier but it still felt stable enough to do a quick benchmark/datalog run (so no full pull). Done this 100x times so i never expected this to happen:

An extreme adrenaline rush, made me pack up all my stuff, even had to move the car because a lose battery was stuck between the road and my front tire. I figured my foot was hurt but initially i was more concerned about the smashed battery pack. Drove home, put the battery pack at a safe place and rushed to the freezer to fetch some coolpacks.

Then I finally took of my shoe and saw the liveleak worthy blood and gore.(i wont show pictures) I ended up watching the game at the emergency room. My big toe took the full impact and was spliced in two horizontally. The top phalanx is completely shattered and the top part cut of (nail including tissue below) Today i had my first surgery where the cleaned up the wound and removed all shattered pieces. Now the tissue has to heal before reconstruction surgery can be done.

 

[Sphexish]

Holy balls... Definitely food for thought about the potential destructive power of these little road-rockets. Just a split-second of lost control... Incredible how you managed to do all that after suffering that kind of injury -- sounds like adrenaline for sure.

Van harte beterschap man! Wishing you a speedy and full recovery.

But hey, our guys in orange managed to score a win, so at least the day wasn't a total fiasco?

 

[slick2500]

Oh man that sucks. I bet you got some weird looks when you told them you hit yourself with a rc car.

 

[LibertyMKiii]

Did you attempt to move out of the way at all?

I went out once on a cold day and the GRPs were like driving on ice. The car slid out of control like this towards me and I barely could lift one leg out of the way before it went sliding by me. It was not nearly this fast. Probably only 60-80 mph speeds and it was still so fast you couldn't fully get out of the way.

Luckily it didn't hit me in my situation, but it was a lesson learned that I would be in one of 3 places on future runs:
1. On top of my SUV
2. Ladder 3+ feet up
3. Behind my 1:1 vehicle with obstacles between me and the RC car.

 

[rotauq]

Oh man that sucks. I bet you got some weird looks when you told them you hit yourself with a rc car.

Yeah i had to explain that maybe a 100x times. The first doctor underestimated it too, she was more shocked than i was. "I thought it was just a toy car"

 

[jkflow]

Wow, hope you recover soon.

 

[rotauq]

Did you attempt to move out of the way at all?

I went out once on a cold day and the GRPs were like driving on ice. The car slid out of control like this towards me and I barely could lift one leg out of the way before it went sliding by me. It was not nearly this fast. Probably only 60-80 mph speeds and it was still so fast you couldn't fully get out of the way.

Luckily it didn't hit me in my situation, but it was a lesson learned that I would be in one of 3 places on future runs:
1. On top of my SUV
2. Ladder 3+ feet up
3. Behind my 1:1 vehicle with obstacles between me and the RC car.

Because it was rotating i had no clue where it was going before it was to late. I didn't move an inch...

I have a ladder in the car but hardly use it at that spot as its only a quarter mile. Never considered it as a safety feature. If a ladder is swept away under your feet it can also create dangerous situations, like hitting you head on the ground

 

[Notorious J]

So speedrunning has marked me for life, i lost part of my big toe.

Obviously there was a chain of events leading up to this horrible event.
Did some testing with my rebuilt rig on 6S, all was fine. Figured it was time to put it on the road with 8S, but blew a bearing at my rear diff. Quickly replaced it and rushed back to my spot. My country has it's euro cup opening game and i wanted to be back in time to watch it. A silly mistake made me lose my rear spolier but it still felt stable enough to do a quick benchmark/datalog run (so no full pull). Done this 100x times so i never expected this to happen:

An extreme adrenaline rush, made me pack up all my stuff, even had to move the car because a lose battery was stuck between the road and my front tire. I figured my foot was hurt but initially i was more concerned about the smashed battery pack. Drove home, put the battery pack at a safe place and rushed to the freezer to fetch some coolpacks.

Then I finally took of my shoe and saw the liveleak worthy blood and gore.(i wont show pictures) I ended up watching the game at the emergency room. My big toe took the full impact and was spliced in two horizontally. The top phalanx is completely shattered and the top part cut of (nail including tissue below) Today i had my first surgery where the cleaned up the wound and removed all shattered pieces. Now the tissue has to heal before reconstruction surgery can be done.

It was hard to watch. I've been struck while bashing, but never while speed running. I still can't understand what caused the spin as it was tracking straight til it got very close to you. I'm truly sorry for your injury and pain and hope you recover to 98%. Can't say 100 because, well you know. Lesson taught, acknowledged and ingrained on my side.

 

[Speed/267]

That sucks. Sorry that happened to you brother. Not to make light of it whatsoever but when Big Daddy Garlits exploded that clutch in his last slingshot dragster and took off half of his foot, while in the hospital he started designing the rear engine car that revolutionized the top fuel cars. I guess what I’m saying is he was chasing speed, you were doing the same just in a different way and I know that something good came from his sacrifice and that’s all that I can hope for in your situation also. Heal up buddy I know it’s a long road ahead, but you got this

 

[LibertyMKiii]

Because it was rotating i had no clue where it was going before it was to late. I didn't move an inch...

I have a ladder in the car but hardly use it at that spot as its only a quarter mile. Never considered it as a safety feature. If a ladder is swept away under your feet it can also create dangerous situations, like hitting you head on the ground

I figure going down on a ladder I can brace my fall a little bit and position the legs of the ladder between me and the RC car.
Better than a direct hit in my opinion, but im a young 37 year old guy

 

[Grimbles]

Geez buddy, get well soon. I've heard of "fighting tooth and nail" to get what you want, but always thought that was just a figure of speech!

 

[rotauq]

I figure going down on a ladder I can brace my fall a little bit and position the legs of the ladder between me and the RC car.
Better than a direct hit in my opinion, but im a young 37 year old guy

I learned direct hits are real bad indeed. I'll just built a steel plateau i can stick in the border. Standing on my center console with my head through the roof isn't ideal either, yet probably the safest place possible.

 

[arrmadillo]

Bummer Man, hope it heals and surgery goes well. It's no joke getting hit by a speeding RC. Happened to me years ago, painful with a limp for couple weeks.

 

[Speed/267]

This was his accident. I’m just glad your still amongst us

 

[JvG]

So speedrunning has marked me for life, i lost part of my big toe.

Obviously there was a chain of events leading up to this horrible event.
Did some testing with my rebuilt rig on 6S, all was fine. Figured it was time to put it on the road with 8S, but blew a bearing at my rear diff. Quickly replaced it and rushed back to my spot. My country has it's euro cup opening game and i wanted to be back in time to watch it. A silly mistake made me lose my rear spolier but it still felt stable enough to do a quick benchmark/datalog run (so no full pull). Done this 100x times so i never expected this to happen:

An extreme adrenaline rush, made me pack up all my stuff, even had to move the car because a lose battery was stuck between the road and my front tire. I figured my foot was hurt but initially i was more concerned about the smashed battery pack. Drove home, put the battery pack at a safe place and rushed to the freezer to fetch some coolpacks.

Then I finally took of my shoe and saw the liveleak worthy blood and gore.(i wont show pictures) I ended up watching the game at the emergency room. My big toe took the full impact and was spliced in two horizontally. The top phalanx is completely shattered and the top part cut of (nail including tissue below) Today i had my first surgery where the cleaned up the wound and removed all shattered pieces. Now the tissue has to heal before reconstruction surgery can be done.

Wow that must have hurt a lot, good luck recovering, beterschap

 

[Notoriousone]

The speedrun gods were not happy with you for whatever reason..
Wow that is horrible, that really sucks. Good reason to always bring a ladder, something I have been "meaning" to do but never did.. After seeing that now for sure I'm bringing one on my runs.. If the car hits it, I would much rather take a 2ft. fall off the ladder than a direct body impact from the car, though falls can be devastating also

 

[gotnitro]

Holy ! Lucky it didn't grab air and take your ankle out.

Note to self if I ever do a speed run again, stand in the trunk or on door sill!

 

[Speed/267]

A ladder works until the car lifts. If the car would have lifted a couple hundred feet before that.. I didn’t want to watch the video at first and had to look away when i saw the hit and heard the audio I just shut the phone off for a couple of minutes. It’s not that any of it scares me, it’s just something that opens my eyes a little wider when something like this happens.

 

[Notoriousone]

A ladder works until the car lifts. If the car would have lifted a couple hundred feet before that.. I didn’t want to watch the video at first and had to look away when i saw the hit and heard the audio I just shut the phone off for a couple of minutes. It’s not that any of it scares me, it’s just something that opens my eyes a little wider when something like this happens.

That happened to James McCoy, the car got airborne and took the ladder out from under him. I saw the video, it happened in an instant. I've stood about halfway behind a big tree before on speedruns, just in case the car targets me, that's probably the safest way. But if your out in the open and don't want to use a ladder or your 1/1 vehicle as a shield then you don't have many options lol..

 

[Speed/267]

That happened to James McCoy, the car got airborne and took the ladder out from under him. I saw the video, it happened in an instant. I've stood about halfway behind a big tree before on speedruns, just in case the car targets me, that's probably the safest way. But if your out in the open and don't want to use a ladder or your 1/1 vehicle as a shield then you don't have many options lol..

I hear that. When I was a young guy I raced middleweight superbike for a while. It’s amazing to me still how if a rider was off track in a turn they were and still are a magnet for other riders/drivers, it’s an odd phenomenon that I’ll never understand