USVI-On-Line

BODY SURFING NOT ADVISED
Well, we saw this sign at Trunk and saw the big yellow flags at the life guard stations, but we (stupidly) let our kids (and ourselves) roll around in the waves anyway...
On Wednesday, our Disney cruise docked in STT. We took the 9am Red Hook ferry over to STJ (our 4th time on the island, first time as part of a cruise), and we were on the beach at trunk by 9:45. Beautiful day! My parents were with us - their first time in the USVI and they were amazed by the beauty of STJ. Our boys (8 & 5) were thrilled that there were some waves to play in - not the "boring ripples" that the STJ beaches usually have. We had a great couple of hours swimming, floating, snorkeling, playing in the sand, etc. At 1pm we started packing up to get a taxi back to Cruz Bay for the 2pm ferry (had to be back at ship at 4pm). As my kids were wading back to shore we heard a huge crash, saw the huge wave wash way up the shore and then my 8 year old stood up and yelled, "Guys, something is wrong with my arm!!" His arm even looked weird- we knew it was bad. Long story short: back to Cruz Bay, called cruise ship port authority (thankfully I had the daily ship schedule with me which had the phone number!), they told us to go to the ER (no x-ray equip on ship), ferry back to STT, taxi dropped husband & son at ER, the rest of us went back to ship, quickly packed up all things and got off ship, Disney and port authority were very helpful, back to ER, totally broken arm - not just cracked, but completely broken and displaced from a wave!, x-ray is unbelievable, bottom line they just said to get home asap and rigged up a sling thing for him, found two rooms at emerald beach for the night, 3:30 flight out Thursday, connection in Atlanta, back in Minneapolis by midnight.
Our son is going to be okay. Quite uncomfortable and helpless at this point, but he is beginning to figure out how to do things with his left hand. Saw the orthopoedist yesterday. He manipulated it and put my son's arm in a new brace contraption and thinks that surgery will not be necessary... he'll evaluate it again in two weeks to see if new bone is patching in properly. He said that our son should have full use of his arm just in time for summer.
All of this from a wave!! We have new respect for the ocean. We always thought that drowning was the reason for concern, not being body slammed by water. We still love STJ, but have learned that we prefer the "boring ripples".
Any of you going soon... enjoy the beauty, but be careful!

oh my goodness. glad he's going to be ok in the long run but sorry he has to go through that. hope he heals quickly.

Wow, what a story and God bless for your family going through that, especially when you're on a cruise!!

I'm really surprised that the doctor manipulated your sons arm, that's usually done in a hospital setting when you're out!!

I'm sorry- perhaps "manipulated" is an actual medical term and I used it incorrectly. He moved my sons arm to fit into the new brace contraption, but from what I could tell he didn't actually try to move the bone around or anything... I didn't mean to misrepresent what was done.

I can't even imagine what that was like. Wishing you mended bones and another more relaxing vacation in the near future.

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poor little guy, poor mom too. its bad enough when they are hurt, nevermind having to worry about missing a ship and all that stuff. hope he's better soon!

WOW! Thank goodness kids are resilient and he will heal! But I can't imagine how scary that was for all of you...sending thoughts and prayers!

That is terrible. Hopefully he is ok.

Bummer Yep gotta respect those waves. I was body surfing last year,and was having a blast. A huge wave came in and I caught it wrong, threw me straight upside down. Lucky I got my arms up and did a flip back up on my feet. I'd had given it a ten if I were a judge No tellin what would have happened if I had came down on my head. Needless to say that was it for body surfing that day.

Guess we should all pay attention to those signs and flags that are posted for a reason!! How sad for the little guy!

I am so sorry that he was hurt! What a way to end a vacation.

WOW, I too hope he will be OK.

Poor little guy! Not fun for anyone.

I remember getting absolutely pounded at Cinnamon in 2005. As someone who was used to Mid-Atlantic/NE beaches and waves, it really took me by surprise.

Later on, I read a link that someone posted that explained why the VI shorebreak/waves are different and more dangerous than mainland/east coast waves. Something to do with the pitch of the sea floor and wave dynamics, a pounding and churning as opposed to a general pushing and rolling that you experience on the east coast.

Anyway, it was very informative and worthwhile reading for anyone going to the beaches during the swells. I might need to search for it.

WOW...poor guy! Glad he will be OK. We were there last week and was surprised at the waves, I have never seen that before but contributed it to NEVER being there in February before. Then someone told me it was not the month...it was unusual conditions at Trunk for the past month.