While vacationing this week, poker pro Phil “The Unabomber” Laak has been injured in an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) accident in Oregon.
News of the incident was passed along not only by Laak, but also by his best friend Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari via their Twitter accounts. Earlier this week, the duo teamed up with a group of friends for fun and adventure in the wilds of Oregon. According to a Tweet from Esfandiari on August 1st, “Leaving Tahoe to meet the boys in Oregon for a 1wk outdoors extravaganza!! @RealPhilLaak @AllAmericanDave (friend David Swanson) @AlecTorelli + more !! CAN’T wait!”
Over the past few days, the crew enjoyed the Oregon woods, delving into rafting and camping. Laak passed along a Twitpic of the entourage preparing for the rafting portion of the journey, jovially Tweeting, “Hmmm… My crew. Going rafting.” Esfandiari seemed to be enjoying the trip just as much as Laak, Tweeting on August 4th, “Words cannot describe the day we had yesterday. Packed our gear headed upstream on foot and had the most unbelievable adventures 1 can have.”
The trip seems to have taken a turn late yesterday, when the group decided to head out in the wilderness on ATVs. At approximately 8:00pm last night, the first Tweet was sent reporting the incident on the trails and Laak’s injuries. Esfandiari was at the hospital in Oregon, Tweeting, “At hospital with poor @RealPhilLaak in Oregon. We went a little 2 crazy atv’ing in the doons. Broke 7bones. Ouch,” and including a Twitpic of an injured Laak in his hospital bed.
From the photo – which Laak also included on his Twitter account – the accident was fairly serious. “The Unabomber” has severe lacerations around his right eye, with a significant amount of swelling and some bruising. His right arm is immobilized in a temporary cast and the fractures appear to be internal and not compound, which bode well for recovery. In the photos, Laak appears to be in good shape overall, but could also be under some medication to alleviate any pain issues.
For his part, Laak was in good spirits during the ordeal, Tweeting throughout the event. “ATV accident, massive arm injury and lacerations to eye in Oregon. Life is good,” Laak stated around the same time as Esfandiari. He kept a good spirit up throughout the evening, Tweeting about an hour after the incident, “Stitches forthcoming. Could have been worse… I’m lucky to be in one piece.” There have been hundreds of replies to his Twitter account wishing him well and several threads on poker message boards passing along good wishes.
ATVs, in the hands of inexperienced riders, can be quite dangerous. Most common accidents on an ATV are tip-overs (where the ATV flips after getting off balance) or bouncing accidents (where the ATV bounces on hard ground and becomes uncontrollable). There are no details from either Laak or Esfandiari as to what happened to cause the accident.
The web safety group ATVSafety.org reports some startling statistics when it comes to ATV safety. The group has information on ATV deaths and hospitalized injuries that date back to 1985, when there were a reported 251 deaths and 105,700 hospitalizations from ATV accidents. 2008 was the most recent year of compiled statistics, with an estimated 410 deaths and 135,100 injuries. In a period from July 20th to August 2nd of this year, ATVSafety.org compiled news reports of 18 deaths from ATV accidents, with five of those fatalities being children under the age of 16.