Free Republic

Zyla St. Onge is one young water skier. She took a recent run in Florida last Friday. With a boost from several adults,

JACKSON'S GAP, Ala. — Army Pfc. Joshua Stein grew up in the water, swimming, diving and spearfishing at his native island of Saipan in the Pacific Ocean. Now, however, Stein is learning to water-ski without his legs, which were blown off when a roadside bomb hit the Bradley fighting vehicle he was driving. With help, Stein straps his scarred body into a cradle fitted on a single, wide ski. Then, he grasps the tow rope with a right arm covered with skin grafts and rises out of the water, grinning and giving a thumbs-up with his mangled left arm, as...

DULUTH, MN (AP) -- It's been a month since Travis Kladivo last rode a kite tube. And doctors say the 20-year-old's body has almost healed. On June 25, Kladivo, whose family owns a resort on Lake Vermilion, joined a growing number of thrill-seekers seriously injured while riding a kite tube, a huge, inflatable toy designed to float in the air with a rider aboard. The day after Kladivo's accident, a 42-year-old man was killed in a kite tube accident on Little St. Germain Lake in Wisconsin. Since then, the bestselling version of the device, the Sportsstuff Inc.-brand Wego kite tube,...

TULSA, Okla. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Tulsa today announced a restriction on kite tubing on all Corps lakes in the Tulsa District. Col. Miroslav Kurka, commander of the Tulsa District, imposed the ban because of the potential for serious injuries caused by uncontrolled flight of these devices. Kite tubes are a relatively new derivative of large inner tubes towed behind speedboats that become airborne. One person died as the result of a kite tube accident this past week in Texas. Many kite tubing injuries are the direct result of the tubes reaching heights of 20...

Waterskiing on a six-foot stepladder is no different than riding a bike: Even after 10 years, Wicklund said, he still has the knack ...and the balance. He hadn’t put the ladder in the water for years because the ladder he used to use was no longer fit for duty, and because he didn’t have a boat driver he trusted enough to drive for him. But this summer Wicklund decided to try the ladder trick once again, this time with his son behind the wheel of the boat and with a new oak ladder he’d crafted himself beneath his feet. “I...

Twiggy is pulled by a remote-controlled boat A special celebrity is making a splash at the New York National Boat Show - Twiggy the water-skiing squirrel. Twiggy - a Florida grey squirrel - is turning heads among those who have flocked to the Jacob K Javits Center to admire the millions of dollars worth of luxury boats. Twiggy always wears a life- jacket while performing Standing on a miniature pair of water skis in a custom-made pool, the timid little creature is towed behind a remote- controlled toy powerboat operated by her trainer, Lou Ann Best of Sanford, Florida....