Man dies after paintball tragedy

[GoblinGreen]

I don't know if you guys have heard anything about this. Here is the newspaper clipping from the UK.

http://www.sapaintball.co.za/main/news/news/images/velocity.jpg

We have had a lot of debate on this and our local field has turned down the max velocity to 280fps.
I think this is the first time someone has died from paintball but they also say he had other problems since birth.
I am very sorry for their loss.

[Psycow]

It is sad that this had happened, but like the post said nothing could be done to make the game safer and he has suffered from migraines for a very long time. As long as you make sure that you are using good quality paint and shooting under 300fps theire shouldn't be any problem. Also wear the proper safety equipment. They are making neck protectors mandatory for all tournaments at our local field next year and like Goblingreen posted lowering the maximum fps to ensure that theire is no shots over 300fps.

It is very sad that this game we all love is being made a scapegoat for a very tragic & unfortunate accident.

[JanStah]

There was a lot of discussion about this in the UK; The guy was part of one of the major UK teams.

I'm reasonably sure that this wasnt actually entirely paintball related; he guy didnt die immediately afterward (it was about 10 days after.) and he also had a history of migraines.

While it's always sad when anyone dies (especially when they have a family), he could just have easily have knocked his head in the kitchen, in the car, garden or wherever and the result would have been just as fatal.

It's unfortunate that the media chose to latch onto his paintball hobbie as the cause of death, when it was just an accident that occured while paintballing that triggered his head injuries. A similar event at a football match or any other sport would not have cause such a storm.

Anyway, RIP dude...

Jan.

[bornl33t]

british would call them missles....

[kenshinkandon]

He should have seen another doctor it sounds like he got a concusion and his brain swelled until the point of death. I think that his death could have been prevented if his doctor would have looked into the head trauma.
Something similar happened to my father where he got into a car accident and hit his head, his behavior changed and he couldn't remmeber certain things like he usually did. So my mother forced him to go to the doctor there they did a cat scan and found tumors in his brain. Because of his concusion he was able to be treated for the cancer immediently, it saved his life.

I hope that before anyone overreacts to this tragdey they look at the exact cause of death which I didn't see in the report.

[manike]

The guy that dies was an acquiantance of mine. I didn't know him well enough to call him a friend but I did know him.

Since it happened his wife has come out and defended his hobby of paintball which was a huge part of his life.

It's very unfortunate that our press is so sensationalist and that they like to blow things out of proportion and attack our country rather than defend it. Our press here makes me sick :(

I honestly do not believe that lowering FPS to 280 or any other level is the answer. Some sort of head protection may be. Even a basic cap or headscarf helps.

manike

[Prezents]

It is great to see that his wife defending the sport that he enjoyed.

[Muzikman]

Hmm...this must have been what Tom was talking about late Friday night (Saturday Morning). It's a shame...

[Webmaster]

bizzare... my condolences...

I dont think this is really a direct result of paintball - it appear paintball agitated a problem that was already there. Similar to one person who died playing of a heart attack.

[pumpamatic]

You guys ever see those precautionary signs on rollercoaster and waterslide rides? It's like that. It kind of sounds like this guy was running a risk of stroke or something of the sort. If you aren't in good condition to be on the field, maybe you should sit out.
Still feel sorry for anyone who dies doing something they love.

[mitch]

paint filled missles at each other?
for one they are noe filled with paint and for two they are missles...
man the press sucks and make up to much bs about our sport with no evidence of it being true.
damn i hate the news people and their prejudice acts.

[manike]

Erm Mitch paintballs are filled with paint... and missiles is how we in England spell err missiles... :)

That is one of the better reports on the incident, there were worse ones :(

manike