FW: NEW INFO ON EASTERN INJURY

[dennis guy grace]

Greetings, Cosyns,
\
I just picked this up off the Aethelmearc list, where I've been lurking of
late. I know fencer injuries are of interest to some.  I've deleted the
forwarding data.  


>Good gentles:
>
>As most of you already 
> know, on Saturday, December 8, 1996, an injury
>occured in the 
> Principality of Aethelmearc in the East Kingdom
>involving a broken 
> epee penetrating the armor and the arm of a woman
>fencer.  I have now 
> spoken with most of the people directly involved
>in this incident.   I 
> now present the second official public statement
>on this injury:
>
>For 
> the moment, I am keeping the names of the people involved 
> 
>confidential until the final reports are finished.  I ask those 
> who
>know the names of the people involved please to respect their 
> privacy
>during a very trying time.
>
>I have been able to reconstruct 
> the sequence of events which led to
>the injury as follows:
>
>1.  Fencer 
> presents blade for inspection to the marshals.  Four 
>different 
> marshals end up looking at the epee blade because it looks
>peculiar.  
> It is an older blade, and has a single gradual curve. 
>However, the 
> blade showed _no_  obvious evidence of defect when it 
> was
>inspected.
>
>2.  Although the blade bent easily, it did not keep a 
> bend.  It did
>not have an "S" bend.  It showed none of the tell-tale 
> signs of metal
>fatigue.  There was one point on the blade which 
> appeared to bend more
>readily than the rest of the blade, but that 
> point did not hold a bend
>or kink.  In the experience of the 
> inspecting marshals, they had seen
>blades like this which held up to 
> regular use for years.  
>
>3.  Just to be sure, one of the marshals 
> fenced the Fencer with the
>blade.  After that practice bout, she was 
> satisfied with the blade's
>safety and passed it for the day.
>
>4.  The 
> fencers were playing a melee scenario.  The breakage occured
>in the 
> the first or second melee of the day.  The Fencer had been
>using the 
> blade for no more than 45 minutes that day when the 
> breakage
>occured.
>
>5.  The blow which resulted in the broken blade was 
> not hard or 
>excessive or otherwise in violation of East Kingdom 
> rules.  
>Apparently, the Fencer was firing a shot for his opponent's 
> body as
>she extended her arm.  The shot aimed for her body therefore 
> hit her
>arm.
>
>6.  The Opponent's arm was moving towards the Fencer's 
> blade as the
>Fencer's blade was moving towards her body.  In the 
> resulting hit, the
>Fencer's blade broke approximately 3 inches from 
> the tip.
>
>7.  The blade struck the Opponent's forearm and penetrated 
> her armor. 
> Her armor in this area was in excess of what is required 
> by East
>Kingdom rules.  EK rules require only one layer of 
> tight-weave
>material on the forearm.  She was wearing a layer of 
> tight-weave
>cotton and a layer of heavy denim.  I believe, but have 
> not confirmed,
>that this part of her armor had passed a punch 
> test.
>
>8.  The blade was moving parallel to the Opponent's arm when it 
> 
>broke.  It continued moving more or less parallel to the bone of 
> her
>arm as it penetrated her armor and then penetrated her body.  
> The
>blade entered her arm approximately 4 inches below the wrist 
> and
>travelled down the length of her arm, towards the elbow, beneath 
> the
>skin.  The blade never contacted the bone of her arm.  The 
> blade
>travelled about 6-8 inches inside of her arm.
>
>9.  According to 
> what the doctors in the emergency room told her, the
>blade missed the 
> major veins and nerves in the arm.  She was told that
>she should 
> suffer no permanent loss of function as a result of this
>injury.  
> Although she was still in some pain and could not use the arm
>or her 
> hand when I spoke to her, she was already recovering 
> some
>mobility.
>
>10.  The Fencer realized after the hit that his blade 
> had broken.  He
>asked his Opponent whether she were okay, and she 
> responded that she
>had taken only a hard hit.  She believed that the 
> hit had only been
>hard, and was unaware at that point that she had 
> been more seriously
>injured.
>
>11.  The melee ended almost immediately 
> after the breakage.  The
>Fencer recovered the pieces of his blade and 
> the Opponent was
>convinced to take off her armor.  At that time, the 
> injury was
>discovered.
>
>12.  A chiurgen was summoned to attend the 
> wound.  The Opponent was
>taken to the local emergency room, where she 
> was treated.  X-rays were
>taken to make sure that no metal had been 
> left in her arm.  The wound
>was a clean puncture, with no metal pieces 
> left in the arm.
>
>There is no evidence of misconduct or wrongdoing on 
> the part of the
>fencers or the marshals involved in this incident.  To 
> all
>appearances, this break and injury was a one-in-a-million 
> freak
>accident.
>
>The response from the fencers and marshals involved 
> has been superb. 
>I commend the Principality Marshal of Aethelmearc 
> and all the people
>involved in this incident for their prompt and 
> efficient reaction, and
>their attention to detail in what must have 
> been a stressful and
>frightening situation.  They have more than lived 
> up to the best that
>could be expected of marshals in an 
> emergency.
>
>The Eastern marshallate has both the broken blade and the 
> punctured
>armor.  Tests will be run on the blade, the results of which 
> will be
>disseminated to the public.  Anyone wishing to volunteer to 
> assist
>with these tests should contact Don Thomas de Castellan.
>
>I 
> also anticipate that I will have pictures of the injured arm, 
> the
>blade and the armor.  I will make these available as well.
>
>Some 
> time shortly after Christmas I will have a 
>complete report, including 
> photographs and some technical results. I
>will make this report 
> available to the other Kingdom Rapier Marshals
>for their use and 
> information.
>
>Again, if there are any questions about this incident, 
> please direct
>them to me or to Don Ivan ap Myrddin, the Aethelmearc 
> Principality
>Marshal.  Keeping rumor and speculation about this 
> incident to a
>minimum will allow us to do our jobs better and reach a 
> fully informed
>opinion abot the incident.
>
>In service to the East and 
> the Art of Defence,
>Dona Ailis Catriona Mac an Toisich, CGR CSC
>East 
> Kingdom Marshal of 'Fence
>

Yours in Virtual Service,

Sir Lyonel Oliver Grace
Dennis G. Grace
Postmodern Medievalist
Division of Rhetoric and Composition
University of Texas at Austin
amazing at mail.utexas.edu
_____________________________________________

Si hoc legere scis, nimium eruditionis habes.