On my trip to N. Wales back in March I swam in Gun Barrel Gorge, just after Ogwen bank falls, lost my paddle and hurt my shoulder... I probably wouldn't have swam there if I wasn't rescuing another swimmer who was on the back of my boat as we went down the gorge, but it was better to help him out than not! My paddle was later recovered but was stuck in N. Wales, which was a bit of an issue. My hurt shoulder recovered within a couple of days as it was just a knock on a rock, but it did end my weekends paddling.
A week before the Alps trip I met up with some friends from N. Wales down in the Gower, got my paddle back and things were looking good for a week of paddling in the Alps. 2 days into the trip we headed for Chateau Q, the only Alps river I have previously swam on about 4 years ago, and a river which I struggle to make it down without a roll. This year was no exception. I was about halfway down the narrow gorge, where the kink in the gorge normally gets me, and not surprisingly I went over on a wave. To my surprise and discomfort, when I went to roll up, my shoulder dislocated. I tried to manoeuvre it back into place while upside down getting recirculated in the water, but this was quite a severe dislocation, I even tried rolling 3 or 4 times with my shoulder out of place. After a while I came to the crushing realisation that I was going to have to swim. This was made worse by the fact that I was leading a fairly inexperienced group down, and I was first so there was no one else in front of me, and my shoulder was dislocated.
At no point did I think I was not going to make it out alive, but near the end of the swim I did think to myself, this needs to end as I'm really starting to struggle to remain conscious! I was being washed down the gorge, and I knew the only eddy available was at the end of the gorge on river right, which was annoying as it was my right shoulder that was still dislocated, so I scrambled to the right side of the river. When there was a pause in the rapids, and as I was struggling to breathe so much I let out one of the biggest burps I've ever done, which actually let me catch my breath before the rapids started again, if not for that burp, I don't know if I would have made it through!
During the next rapid and again while struggling to surface and breathe, I became aware that I was floating down alongside my boat, which I gratefully used with my left hand to pull myself to the surface, gain some bearing of where I was, and get some vital air. I didn't manage to hold on long though, as although the rapid was nearing the end, the rocks were starting to build up, I was very short of breath, and could only use my left arm.
At this point I was getting pretty desperate, so I was actually trying to swim into the rocks, just so I could push my head out of the water with my legs from the rocks, as up to this point, I was relying on my BA and my boat. At this point I also started trying to grab the rocks on river right, to stop the swim, only to be reminded of the fact that I couldn't use my arm! During these attempts I saw the second kayaker, who was luckily still in his boat and looking concerned about my situation. To say I was relieved to see him is a massive understatement. The tactic of aiming for rocks seemed to pay off as a large one I aimed for had the eddy I was aiming for pretty much next to it. I managed to get in the eddy just as the second in the group caught up to me.
At this point I was on the side of the river, right in the bottom of the gorge, the rest of the group caught up one by one. They helped me out of my cag and rashie, and one went to grab the medic up at the top of the gorge. I think at this point all I wanted was to have my arm back in place, so I had one guy hanging from my arm, and one holding my body... nothing happened, and I realised that I was going to have to go to le hospital in Briancon... after I climbed out of the gorge. I was led out by an excitable medic, who led me the wrong way at least 3 times.
I later found out my boat was rescued at the bottom of the rapid, before it went into Guardian Angel Gorge, but my paddle snapped in half and was not seen again. I think it was cursed anyway!
I've never had to have more than 2 days off work before for a cold or something like that... but when I went to see the English doctor he gave me a note for 3-6 weeks! It's been almost 3 weeks since the incident, and I've been off work for 2 weeks more now, and I am starting to feel like a benefit fraud! So back to work Monday!
