Recall Aaron Fotheringham, the kid from Vegas who did back salto in a wheelchair at Woodward?
I was scared for him that time, back in 2006.
Now … terrified
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
… On August 26, Aaron “Wheelz” Fotheringham became the first person in a wheelchair to land a double backflip. …
… I’ve also been working on a front flip. I’m gonna have to say that one’s scarier than the back flip. In the front flip, you’re trying to get around without your head digging into the ground. …
If Aaron keeps upping the difficulty, he’s going to get badly hurt. That’s obvious.
22 comments ↓
OMG, I thought he topped it with the first backflip.
never guessed he was planing on a double – that is absolutely crazy.
very inspiring – never seen such motivation
he’s going to end up being a quad! Too dangerous!
That’s… wow.
Inspiring, but those crashes scared the hell out of me.
Why does Woodward allow this?
Good question. That video could be used in a court of law against Woodward.
As a coach, do you feel he was ready for those attempts?
Not even close to ready
Going for a double back of any kind is one thing–going for a double back without a spotter is not something I expect to see happening in a gym.
Well, at least he’s wearing a helmet. It didn’t scare me that badly. I’m sure there is some kind of waiver/agreement to let him do that.
You generally can’t waive gross negligence, TP.
Liability releases are not ironclad protections. They are, in general, disfavored by courts, and courts will often ask themselves several questions before enforcing one:
1. Is the waiver clear and unambiguous?
2. Does the waiver contain clear, explicit language waiving a person or entity’s liability?
3. Is the waiver language conspicuous within the document or hidden in fine print?
4. Is the parties’ intent to “waive negligence” clearly and expressly stated in the agreement?
5. Were the parties sufficiently informed about the potential risks in order to permit a “knowing” waiver of those risks and attendant liabilities?
Let’s just say for simplicity’s sake that Woodward’s liability release is strong and meets all those requirements. That STILL doesn’t protect them against gross negligence. Example:
Let’s say you bring me your kid, and I hand you a waiver that reads something like all the mats: “I understand that any activity that involves motion or height carries a risk of serious injury and even death, and I hold harmless Coach X and Gym X against any and all liability.” Blah blah, such and such.
You sign it, and then give me your kid. Do I now have free license to do anything I want with your child? Can I pick her up, climb on top of the men’s high bar, swing her around my head, and throw her as far as I can hammer-throw a 6 year old? Of course not. I still have a duty and a standard of care, and if I breach that, I’m toast.
But you’re saying, that would be an intentional tort. And yes, you’re right. However, that’s a spectrum, a range between intentional torts and negligence, and that spectrum is what will get litigated, because what sits in between the obviously sue-able intentional tort and the possibly protected ordinary negligence is gross negligence, or willful and wanton negligence (“I knew it was wrong, but I didn’t care”).
See, you can waive some foreseeable risks, but it won’t be foreseeable if you’re actively encouraging kids to do things that are reckless.
Now, would this specific instance qualify as gross negligence had he been injured? Who knows. We could line up experts all day long to say yes/no. But, whoever edited this video made a very deliberate effort to show the kid was informing his mother of what he was doing (did he inform her beforehand? We don’t know). This was interesting on Woodward’s part because it further demonstrated the kid and parent’s assumption of the risk. Of course, including those bits in the video is also an indication that Woodward knew it might be wrong or was possibly too dangerous. It cuts both ways.
Is it enough? Well, that depends on which side you are and how good your lawyer is, and the mood of the judge.
As for “why” they would do it? Well that’s obvious. You don’t get kids to come to your camp unless you’re cool and exciting. Which means you have to do things the normal, boring, back-home coach won’t let you do. No excitement, no kids. No kids, no money.
Let me add a little qualifier to that:
There’s no doubt, as a person, I have a lot of respect for this kid. He’s insane, and brave, and it absolutely is inspiring. But as a coach, this was wrong.
If it really is the world’s first double back on a wheelchair, than that adds even more to the gross negligence, because these are not the guys who would be teaching ground-breaking moves, and this kid isn’t a professional wheelchair athlete. If we’re talking something that grown adults haven’t done yet, then this is out of the league of crazy.
As an adult (I assume he is of legal age) it is not the same as using an analogy with my kid. Anyways, it’s none of my business what he chooses to do and what Woodward allows him to do.
“Anyways, it’s none of my business what he chooses to do and what Woodward allows him to do.”
Nothing on this blog is any of your business. Are you going to stop commenting?
Good point, TP.
There’s a difference for sure once he’s of “legal age” to make decisions, even if encouraged by Woodward employees.
This site is called “Gymnastics Coaching”. It weighs in on issues of best practice and ethics. People add their opinions in the comments.
Of 100 expert coaches over 90 would agree that this athlete is not “ready” for this skill.
If a judge one day brings in an expert witness, that will be the evidence.
JNO outlines many/most of the potential issues here clearly and i agree….that said, with respect to this general discussion and topic,
are you guys friggin’ kiddin’ me?
with respect to “dreaming impossible dreams’, there is a “reasonable man” limit…..even if it’s been done,
blind people shouldn’t climb Everest
one-legged people shouldn’t climb Everest
there is no friggin’ way in hell some wheelchair athlete should be trying to do a 720 in a wheelchair….
put another way….
do you want the liability if you are a gym owner or coach?
I don’t want to sound disrespectful or anything, but I’d like to address this small issue to all the coaches here who claim he “wasn’t ready” or “he shouldn’t have done this”. You all might have trained athletes for various double flips, but… I would go ahead and assume that you’ve never trained anyone in a wheel chair to do this sort of things, nor have you ever thought possible the idea of pulling even 1 backflip on a wheel chair untill this kid showed up – I’m just saying :/.
besides, none of us has the right to judge this kid or criticise him in any way.
Only once have I been an “expert witness” in court, TrampGuy.
I was required to give my opinion on a gymnastics injury that resulted in partial paralysis.
In the case of Fotheringham, if he was badly injured, the same thing would happen. This video would be shown in court.
… Likely the expert witness would be a BMX bike coach, though. Not gymnastics, nor trampoline.
I have coached guys flipping bikes at Woodward once or twice. They are far less safe than the athletes in the gymnastics gym.
You’re right, TrampGuy. I haven’t ever coached this. And likely not many other people have either. That’s the point of my second comment. No one, no one, is judging the kid. As I mentioned, I admire this kid. He’s got a lot of heart…which is part of the problem when you have overly zealous coaches and EXACTLY how kids get hurt.
I’m judging the coaching staff who was clearly (in the video) letting the kid influence their judgment rather than following their own judgment which was telling them to stop. In this case, the coaches NEED to be in control of the situation and not let themselves get carried away with excitement and so forth.
If this is truly the “first time ever” then that pretty much illustrates the liability if something went wrong.
Say the kid got hurt. Broke his neck. As the plaintiff’s attorney, never mind the expert witnesses (they’re just icing on the cake) I’d put each one of those coaches on the stand and ask the following questions:
Q: Have you ever successfully coached an athlete, by yourself, to perform a double flipping back tuck in a wheelchair?
A: no.
Q: To the best of your knowledge, of the people coaching with you, have any of them ever, by themselves, successfully coached an athlete to perform a double flipping back tuck in a wheelchair?
A: no.
Q: Have you ever coached an athlete, in conjunction with another coach, to successfully perform a double flipping back tuck in a wheelchair?
A: no.
Q: To the best of your knowledge, of the people coaching with you, have any of them ever, in conjunction with other coaches, successfully coached an athlete to perform a double flipping back tuck in a wheelchair?
A: no.
Q. Have you ever seen anyone successfully coach an athlete to perform a double flipping back tuck in a wheelchair?
A: no.
Q. To the best of your knowledge, of the people coaching with you, have any of them ever seen anyone successfully coach an athlete to perform a double flipping back tuck in a wheelchair?
A: no.
Q: To the best of your knowledge, has anyone in the world ever coached an athlete to successfully perform a double flipping back tuck in a wheelchair?
A: no.
Q:. To the best of you knowledge, has anyone in the world ever successfully performed a double flipping back tuck in a wheelchair?
A: no.
Q: When you gave the liability release form to the mother to sign, did you inform her that you have never successfully coached an athlete to perform a double flipping back tuck in a wheelchair?
A: no.
Q. Did you inform her that no one coaching with you has ever successfully coached an athlete to perform a double flipping back tuck in a wheelchair?
A: no.
Q. Did you inform her that you would be teaching her son a skill you have never successfully taught before?
A: no.
Q. Did you inform her that you would be teaching her son a skill no one has ever successfully taught before?
A: no.
Q. Did you inform her that you would be teaching her son a skill no one has ever successfully performed before?
A: no.
Q. Did you inform her that you would be teaching her son a skill which has never been completed by a professional athlete?
A: no.
Q: Is the plaintiff a professional wheelchair athlete?
A: no.
Q: Are you a professional coach?
A: yes.
Q: And as a professional coach, you must be safety certified?
A: yes.
Q: And this safety certification must be renewed regularly?
A: yes.
Q: And in this safety certification, did you receive training on how to safely coach a double flipping back tuck in a wheelchair?
A: no.
Q: Did you inform the mother that you were not safety certified to teach the skill that you would be teaching her son?
A: no.
And I’d carry that on for a while until the jury just stops us and hands us a check for our millions and millions of dollars.
I think he’s kind of bad*** honestly.
No way I’m qualified to teach that skill. No way I’d want it happening in my gym (at least not until the appropriate qualifications are available, I’d be all over teaching safe wheelchair gymnastics), but talk about living life like you mean it.
I guess my point is – I got a lot of respect for the kid and his brass cajones. That doesn’t mean I’d let it happen in MY gym.
Watching that made me want to throw up. All I can see is someone on the way to breaking his neck. It would probably look the same to quite a few people sitting on a jury.
All it takes is one fall the wrong way…and there is no going back.
I’m not criticizing the kid. Kids that age (especially boys) think they are immortal. It’s up to the adults that know otherwise to prevent the kids from hurting themselves.
Coach Rick – I don’t even think a BMX bike coach could be an “expert witness” in this case nor approve, train or even spot this skill.
I got to say I’m slightly surprised at how most commenters here have completely missed the point of this video, turning it into a legal discussion and being more amazed with the sheer fact it was allowed then the landed skill itself.
IMO this type of thinking might sprout from the same place where badly restricting judging manner is so acceptable in gymnastics today.
There will always be extremely dangerous things that would be looked down on in disapproval – but it’s for these things, that we got extreme, fearless athletes that are willing to put themselves at risk for the sake of shaking, and breaking, human boundaries.
Just saw him interviewed on this morning’s NBC Today Show.
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