By Clifton Kelly
The only certified kiteboarding instructor in the state of Utah is coming out of the coma he has been in as the result of a kiteboarding accident weeks ago.
Derik Sayers, 32, was kiteboarding May 5 when a gust of wind whipped him into the ground as he prepared to launch from the south point of Utah Lake. He was not wearing a helmet.
Kiteboarding, also known as kitesurfing, is a mix between surfing, windsurfing, wakeboarding and kiteing. The rider harnesses the wind for power. With a board on his feet and the kite as a power source the rider can do extreme aerials, or just simply navigate the water.
Sayers'' mother, Gillian Sayers, said he opened his eyes briefly on Saturday and had them open for 45 minutes on Sunday.
Sayers'' wife, Jenny, remains optimistic. She said his improvement is incredible.
'The swelling in his brain has gone down,' she said. 'Everything looks so much better.'
She said her husband is able to answer yes and no questions by shaking his head and wiggling his fingers and toes.
'He knows what we are saying,' she said. 'It is the oddest thing I have ever experienced to have him where he can respond but can''t wake up.'
Doctors told Jenny Sayers that coming back from a coma is 'like rebooting a computer.'
'We are going to start bringing in Derik''s high school buddies and more family ... one at a time to talk to him about memories ... to get his brain booted back up,' she said.
Sayers, a music lover, is also a part-time disc jockey, his wife said. They have started what she called 'music therapy.'
'I brought all his CDs up here ,' Jenny Sayers said. 'I started out with music from when we were dating, ... and he started moving his hand with my hand in it to the beat, and I just thought, ''Oh, good.'''
His mother is also with him at the hospital and said he could wake up at any moment. Gillian Sayers said she knows he is going to be OK because of the answers they have received through prayer.
Ryan Allen, Sayers'' friend, said he was helping Sayers launch his kite when the gust of wind took them both up in the air.
Allen said he saw Sayers was having trouble with the power of the kite, so he grabbed onto the back of Sayers''s harness and helped him walk over to the edge of the water.
'When we got to the water''s edge, a gust picked us both up, and then we came back down, knocking me off,' Allen said. 'The wind picked him back up again, and that''s when it threw him into the ground.'
Allen said this incident has changed the way he and his friends see the safety equipment involved.
'He was not wearing a helmet,' Allen said. 'That was a big problem. We are all wearing helmets now. I think if he was wearing a helmet, he wouldn''t be as hurt as he was.'
Dean Davis, a windrider, expressed his concern for Sayers and his family during this difficult time. He posted a message on Sayers'' Web site, asking for help from the kiteboarding community.
'Derik is self-employed,' Davis said. 'As a result, there is no financial support at this time. If times are tight, I think that $20 will still help and would mean a tremendous amount to his family.'
Support can be sent to an account set up in Sayers''s name at America First Credit Union.