A kitesurfer in Florida died after strong winds blew him off course at a Fort Lauderdale beach.
According to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, a man identified as 61-year-old Fred Salter was kitesurfing on Wednesday when strong winds flung him into a nearby building. Witnesses called the police immediately after seeing the accident.
“He was windsurfing on the beach, and the wind picked up and threw him against the building, and he went down,” a witness said during a 911 call per Miami’s News 7. “He’s unconscious on the floor. He’s bleeding.”
Salter was described by his friends as a father, grandfather, and cancer survivor.
Surveillance footage shows that Slater was trying to fight the wind and control his kite but the gusts were too powerful. His kite got caught in a burst of wind, dragging him along the sand and sending him into the air. Winds the day of the accident reportedly topped 50 miles per hour.
“He was attempting to kitesurf in the ocean behind the address here, actually, just two doors down, when strong winds came into the area unexpectedly, and he was not able to release from the kite in a timely manner,” Fort Lauderdale Fire Chief Stephen Gollan explained. “So we went from relatively calm conditions to extremely dangerous conditions in a short period of time.”
“I keep thinking I should’ve been there this morning, but I can’t think that because Freddy was a very intelligent waterman,” friend Mike Bradley told WPLG Local 10 News. “And it’s just how fast something can happen on the water. It’s just crazy. … I know that he’s pissed off that he did what he did right now, but he passed doing what he loved. I know he didn’t want this because he loved life.”
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