Last Sunday, Tahiti-based photographer Tim McKenna, known among other things for his Waterman Tahiti Tour underwater work, explained to his Facebook followers the blurry circumstances of the accident he had in Paris last Wednesday.
“Last wednesday evening just before my flight back to Tahiti from France I decided to go into Paris to cruise around the city. Next thing I know I am waking up 12 hours later in a intensive care unit in a Paris hospital with multiple concussions to the head, broken nose, orbital fracture and bruising all over my body. It’s unclear what actually happened but I either blacked out and fell or was pushed down on to the railway tracks and hit my face with full force. I apparently managed to crawl back to the side where people helped me to get back up before I was handled by a ER unit. I handed them my phone asking them to warn my wife and family. Despite not remembering anything I obviously had some conscious moments. Make sure you have a family member number entered under the name I.C.E in your phone. It could save your family some stressful hours during an emergency where you loose consciousness.
I have always considered myself more at risk walking around big cities than shooting in big waves, mountains ranges or helicopters. I guess this last episode will only reinforce that feeling.
The second photo is a mugshot after 4 days in Hospital. The swelling has gone down quit a bit but it’s still to early for me to fly.
Can’t wait to get back home and jump in the water. Crazy how life can change in a split second.
Thank you to all those who helped me get out of trouble down on the tracks and all the French public health care people that have been taking care of me and making sure I get back on my feet as soon as possible so I can head home. I can only imagine if this happened to me in the US : on top of the ordeal I would have to deal with a massive healthcare bill.
I will be back very soon with some fresh pix 🤙🏻”
We wish Tim a speedy recovery and a safe return to his home in Tahiti !
There are many words I could use to describe Tahitian Water-woman Puatea Ellis. As a decorated French Polyensian swimming, SUP, Bodysurf, and Waterman Tahiti Tour Champion Puatea is one of the most accomplished ocean athletes in French Polynesia. The only words I can use to emphasize how remarkable Pua is… is that she is truly […]
From December 25 to December 1, 2019 the 20th edition of Watermana will take place on Huahine, French Polynesia. This event is more than a competition. It is a personal challenge taken up by watermen and waterwomen who will push themselves to their limits each day in a series of undisclosed events, of which you […]
This website uses cookies in order to make it easier to use and to support the provision of relevant information and functionality to you.
Necessary Cookies
Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.
3rd Party Cookies
We use a set of third party tools to provide information on how our users engage with our website so that we can improve the experience of the website for our users. For example, we collect information about which of our pages are most frequently visited, and by which types of users. Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.
Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!