Absolutely brutal audio captured by a snowboarder who was wearing a GoPro when he lost his footing on ice and slid off a 10-15 foot cliff. Hard to say if the impact he suffered looked violent from a bystanders perspective but the audio tells the classic tale of a person who got the wind knocked out of them:
If you are unfamiliar, “getting the wind knocked out of you” is a temporary loss of the ability to breathe caused by a sudden impact to the upper abdomen or lower chest. The main structure involved is the diaphragm, the large muscle that controls breathing. A hard blow can force the diaphragm upward and trigger a brief muscle spasm, making it difficult to inhale for several seconds. As the diaphragm relaxes and normal breathing resumes, the sensation typically passes within a short time.
Thankfully the snowboarder was okay after his acute symptoms subsided and was able to ride the rest of the day:
“First off I was completely okay after this and rode the rest of the day after a couple red bulls and a fuck ton of ibuprofen. For context tho I was 15 years old and trying my first cliff jump so I was extremely nervous. I was going up to jump the around 10- 15 ft drop and speed checked myself on ice which caused me to slip and I was so close to the edge I didn’t have time to get up. The noise you hear is me knocking the wind out of myself then passing out. I woke up less than 10 seconds later and got up a minute later to ride. You live and you learn just glad to even walk away from this.”
As someone who has personally gotten their wind knocked out on the mountain, I can attest that it can be quite traumatic for both yourself and anyone witnessing it. While there’s no guaranteed way to prevent diaphragmatic spasm/transient diaphragmatic paralysis (aka wind knocked out) riding within your abilities and doing your best to avoid high-impact falls is always sage advice.
