Asthmatic Canoist died after capsizing

[gregquinn]

http://www.independent.ie/national-news ... 33089.html

Story in todays Irish Independant.Post edited by: gregquinn, at: 2010/01/27 13:40

[brianmacmahon]

Very sad to read about that poor man today. It begs the question though should you have to produce a medical certificate before you undergo kayak training ?. Canoe clubs are taking the coroner\'s recomendation under advisement. I\'m not sure how practical it is though.....people unfortunately die every year playing sports of every description. You can walk around with a chronic heart condition and still join a football club.....tennis club.....etc... and nonone will ask for a medical certificate.
However to the general public our sport is more often then not percieved as an extreme sport. That you are more likely to die while kayaking then if you played a game of football. I\'m sure that if you examined the statistics the opposite would be the case.

[EWAN]

Managing medical conditions has to be the responsibility of the individual. The leader should be told in case a situation arises that needs specific action (inhalers etc). But how many group leaders are competent to say whether a fellow paddler is medically fit to go on a trip? And would you want to?