Posted on 02/06/2004 10:09:42 AM PST by jjm2111
New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com Wicked wipeout on 'Letterman' By KERRY BURKE and BILL HUTCHINSON DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS Friday, February 6th, 2004
A soaring stunt on "The Late Show with David Letterman" turned into a horror show yesterday when a champion snowboarder wiped out and fell from a ramp nearly two stories high. The audience at the Ed Sullivan Theater gasped in disbelief as Tara Dakides slipped and plummeted 15 feet to the pavement on W. 53rd St., opening a cut on the back of her head.
Dakides, who was not wearing a helmet or pads, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where doctors stitched up the gash.
The chilling accident left Letterman, who had just told Dakides to "be careful," stunned. He immediately canceled the remainder of the show's taping, and a repeat was broadcast on CBS last night.
The talk-show host, who was watching the stunt on a monitor inside the theater, took off his jacket and ran out to the street to Dakides' side.
After she was taken away in an ambulance, Letterman returned to the theater.
"He [Letterman] came back about 12 minutes later and said, 'She was moving and talking and in an ambulance,'" said Bill Edwards, 59, from Loveland, Colo., who was in the theater audience when the accident happened. "He said she was all right, she was okay."
The 28-year-old Dakides was in stable condition at Bellevue, where she was admitted overnight for observation. She was even joking with friends, and with Letterman, who visited her at the hospital.
"The only thing I'm upset about is that the French judge only gave me a 5.6," quipped Dakides, referring to the Olympic ice-skating judging scandal of 2002.
Dakides, a gold-medal-winning star on the ESPN Winter X Games circuit, was attempting to jump from a U-shaped ramp to another slope set up on the street, catching air in between. The ramps were covered in man-made snow.
The 5-foot-5 Californian had successfully completed a practice run, but her main event called for a 360-degree midair turn between the ramps.
"Be careful," Letterman told her before she tipped her board forward and headed down the first ramp. "I'm surprised you're doing this without a helmet."
Dakides, who never wears a helmet, even in competition, responded, "Me, too."
As she sped down the ramp, Dakides suddenly lost her balance and tumbled off the side, yelling, "Oh, s---!"
"There was a big dig in the ice and she lost her footing," said Rob Lightfoot, 20, of Australia, who was in the audience. "She went off to the side. She fell on her back. She wasn't moving. Everyone was shocked."
Steve Adams, 47, of Fort Collins, Colo., who also was in the audience, said the studio monitors all went black afterward.
"I'm still trying to figure out what happened," Adams said. "She went up in the air, but she was at a bad angle. She hit part of the side of the ramp.
"We were stunned," Adams said. "The whole place went silent. We didn't know what was going to happen next."
Dakides' spokeswoman, Jaymee Messler, said the snowboarder was attempting a routine stunt she has successfully completed numerous times.
"It was a freak accident," Messler said. "Now that she's received her stitches and a visit from Dave, she's ready to get back on the slopes."
Sources said Dakides was already discussing a return to Letterman's show, perhaps as early as next week.
In addition to Dakides, last night's scheduled guests were Drew Barrymore and the pop band Fountains of Wayne.
You just know Dave gave her that line.
I'm glad she seems to be OK this time. But, of course, it's only a matter of time before she's brain-damaged and/or in a wheelchair. You can see it coming like a train on a track.
Thats your opinion. This tattooed and pierced FReeper thinks differently. As I am sure the many other FReepers with tattoos would disagree with you as well.
Seems akin to those who counter that wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle is an infringement on their personal freedom. Why should I wear a helmet, I don't plan on crashing. Years of riding with a helmet have taught me two things: One, it's not if you're going to crash, but when. And two, relative to the What, me worry? contingent, why spend $200 to protect a $5 head anyway...
Well, the Bible does specifically address tattoos.
Lev. 19:28
Discuss.
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