[MR] Follow up report on the combat arrow that hit Istvan Toth (Fwd)

[Sharon Gordon]

July 23, 2003

            Greetings all.

            This is a follow up report on the combat arrow that hit Sgt.
Istvan Toth on June 7th, 2003 at North Oaken War Maneuvers.   I know a lot
about this since I am Istvan Toth.

            To sum up...I was standing in the backfield of a bridge battle
at the latter part of the day.  My best guess is that I was 40 to 50 feet
from one end of the bridge, at about 45° from one corner.   I am not sure
how long the bridge was...by the way...if anybody has a different idea of
these distances please step forward, I was not measuring distance - I was
watching somebody pull victims off of the bridge with a great axe.

            I was not wearing my helm as I was in the process of quitting
the field and thought I was at a safe distance.

            According to Eric Ericson the Scout, the arrow that hit me
missed all intervening participants and struck me square in the right eye.
I was checked by Eric Ericson (who is also an EMT basic) on site.  Then I
was taken to the Cleveland Medical Center where a CAT scan showed a
fracture to the right orbit floor (below the eye, also called a "blowout")
and of the maxillary sinus with much nasty swelling and soft tissue
damage.

            On June 12, 2003 I saw an ENT (Dr. Agostino) the delay being
that the swelling had to go down to a point where an examination could be
done.   Other than the bones healing perhaps 1/8" off things looked good and
I could have had surgery for that had I wished but I preferred not to if it
was not absolutely necessary.    Dr. Agostino and later Dr. Gabrielle,
Ophthalmologist, (seen on June 24th)  both said that if any blurring of
vision or other vision irregularities showed up, to immediately have myself
seen.   They said the bones should heal in about 6 weeks.  The
ophthalmologist saw no obvious retinal damage at the time.

            On July 12 I attended Warriors & Warlords.  The concern was an
aggravation of the fractures.   I experienced no ill effects and fought very
well.

            On July 14, while driving to the dentist, the vision in my
right eye went blurry.  I made an appointment the next day for Wed. July
16th.  The ophthalmologist said he thought it was retinal detachment and
immediately made an appt. with Dr. Lee, a retina & vitreous specialist.
On Thursday morning Dr. Lee did a special examination to determine the
extent of the injury etc. and scheduled surgery for Friday.  The retinal
detachment was 50%.  I was rushed into surgery (look it up and cringe -
you have to be awake for this folks!).  The surgery was actually three
procedures, a Vitrectomy, Pneumatic Retinopexy, and the application of a
Scleral Buckle. In layman's terms the eye was drained and a gas bubble put
in, a silicon "scleral buckle" was placed around the eyeball to remain
there permanently, and using lasers etc. the scar tissue and tears were
repaired.

            At this time, 5 days post-op, there is no way of telling how
things will go but generally they look good.  However, the Dr. was clear in
letting me know that my sight in the eye will not be what it was and there
is no knowing how much sight I will get back.  There is a chance of
re-detachment among other things.

            I am off work for a month and have to maintain a face-down
position for two weeks post-op.  It will be 3 to 6 months before anything
can be determined as to what amount of sight I'll have, etc.  It has been
mentioned that I may not be able to fight again...I'll cross that bridge
when I come to it.

            Did my fighting at Warriors and Warlords cause this?  I think
that, at most, it accelerated it.   Apparently a little bleeding in the eye
from an injury can be absorbed by the eye, but a lot of bleeding causes
problems that can eventually lead to retinal detachment.  After the injury
I had a lot of blood in my eye.   Whether I fought at Warriors and Warlords
or two weeks later at Simple Day, or at Pennsic, the retinal detachment
would have happened sooner or later as a result of the original impact
injury.

            The power and construction of combat arrows has increased
greatly to get people to acknowledge them, but they are blunts and it will
always be a problem - that is why real arrows have points!  Arrows were used
in real war to really kill - not in the tournament style melee that we do.
This could have happened to any marshal or non-combatant near the field
(non-combatant could be a royal observer, you know).

            If I can fight again I will steer clear of the melee field for a
long time - and nothing at the size or level of Pennsic, and never with
combat archery.   It adds nothing to the game for me and may cost me a lot.

Istvan Toth (Doug Toth)

P.S.   Please feel free to forward this to anyone you wish.