Flo Update

We catch up with Florian Jung to get the latest scoop on the leg injury he sustained during the PWA Cabo Verde World Cup.

It’s been six weeks since Florian Jung (RRD / Gun / Dakine) suffered a nasty leg injury while in Cabo Verde for the PWA World Cup. We thought it was about time to get in touch with him and get the latest update on how his recovery’s going, and more importantly, when he’s going to be back on a board.

PWA: You sustained a pretty serious injury sailing in Cabo Verde, for those who don't know the details, can you explain what happened ?

“After my heat, i had to go out over the razor sharp reef of Curral Joul. There was no wind at all so i was waiting for a set to get in. By the time the set arrived i found myself out of the competition area, far downwind and out of sight of the crowd at the beach. I was inbetween hundreds of sea urchins and standing on a little rock when the next set hit the reef.
Unfortunately just in this moment, I slid down off the slippery rock and lost my balance. My sail was between me and the coming wave and i knew that i have to get away as soon as possible. I tried to step beside, but it was too late.  I got worked by the wave with my sail.  My leg got stuck under it and it got dragged over the reef for a few meters. it felt like somebody was cutting off the skin from my leg.
I received some first aid and some guys drove me to the hospital where they diagnosed two bone fractures and multiple dislocations of my ankle.  After a 20 hour trip back to Germany, l went straight to the hospital. They told me that they might have to operate the leg because my leg was feeling numb after all that traveling and they were worried about a nerve.
After 5 days in the hospital i got released. The final diagnoses showed no bone fractures, just a cartilage damage, some ligament rupture and a lot of deep cuts. So i was kind of lucky to get away without an operation.”

PWA: How long will it take for you to be fully fit again?

“The last 6 weeks, i have been pretty busy with doing rehab everyday. That helped a lot, i finally can walk again without crutches and the cuts are almost closed. One thing is for sure, i try to be back in  the water as soon as i can, because it kind of sucks to spend  the winter in cold germany.”

PWA: Do you think the injury will effect your competitive windsurfing?

“As far as I see it now, it won't effect my windsurfing. I have been training pretty hard to get back the right stability, but for sure I will need some time to be back 100%.”

PWA: Do you think this incident will knock your confidence at all, or will it be business as usual when you're back on the water?

“I guess once in a while everybody gets injured. Sometimes it is just a little scratch, sometimes it is worse, but It definitely sucks. Shit happens and on the other side,  I had time to think about life and to appreciate what i got.”

PWA: Do you have any trips planned for when you're back sailing?

“I'll try to recover as fast as  possible and once i feel alright, i am going to South Africa."