Bay Area Sailor Sustains Traumatic Brain Injury While Wing Foiling During Vacation

Bay Area sailor, windsurfer and wing foiler Dave Berntsen suffered a traumatic brain injury and broken pelvis in early March, after being hit by a powerboat while wing foiling during a charter in the Grenadines. Fellow sailor and wing foiler Alan Prussia called to let us know. Dave was responsible for bringing the Weta sailboats to the West Coast, then racing them on the Bay.

We’ve paraphrased a report written by his daughter Milla on a GoFundMe page:

Directly following the crash, Dave was rescued from the water and spoke briefly before losing consciousness while being brought directly to shore. He was resuscitated with CPR on the beach and was flown from Union Island to St. Vincent, the closest island with hospital facilities, where he spent three days intubated and in a medically induced coma.

A medical evacuation flight was arranged to transport Dave and his wife Tracey to New Orleans, where he was admitted to the Trauma ICU at University Medical Center LCMC. He was placed on a ventilator and received CT scans to assess his brain bleeding and pelvic fracture.

Since then, he has received two brain surgeries to correct his hematoma and surgery to address his pelvic fracture, and his condition has been rapidly improving. He has been able to speak, crack jokes, smile, and throw shakas to the thrilled nursing staff and doctors.

Following discharge from UMC in NOLA, he has begun in-patient neuro rehab for traumatic brain injury at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago.

Such a traumatic accident raises the topics of helmets and sailing. Unfortunately, Dave, who often wears a helmet, was not wearing one at the time of the accident. The St. Francis Yacht Club now requires them for their summer evening foil board racing, and many junior programs are requiring helmets for general sailing. We noticed a helmet on a crew member during our recent Friday night race. Though most people wouldn’t think of skiing or biking without a helmet, their use remains very limited in sailing. Foiling has brought higher speeds to sailing, increasing the risk of more serious injury during crashes.

We’re wishing the best for Dave’s ongoing recovery.

You can help Dave and his family on their GoFundMe page here.