Flyfunston

To All....Dan Murphy and Kurt are @ San Francisco General Hospital..Dan is in 4E..condition is grim....Kurt seems to be doing better he's in 5R..Pls visit Dan while you can..Pls be patient w/ the hospital staff...they won't give info over the phone..but will allow you to visit a couple at time...i'll post more info as i get it.....

Here are a map and directions: http://tinyurl.com/pyc3a .

Daniel

Please, as soon as you know . . . Has Dan Murphy's condition been upgraded from critical? This could have been any one of us and I'm pretty upset, as I'm sure you all are. I just would like to know if everybody is going to survive. Thank you.

This is Tyler one of the RC pilots, I recently saw Dan at Albertsons of Sloat, I just saw him! I cant believe this. I was on my way to fly RC that night and I was told to go away! I really hope both make it ok.. Im not religious really but I prey that Dan and Kurt come out ok...espiecally Dan.. I just need t o say that. Im just so sorry...

I went to SF General this evening to see Dan and Kurt.

Kurt is doing well, though he still had a bullet lodged between his spine and windpipe after bouncing along his shoulder blade. They will do exploratory surgery to figure out how to deal with it. The other bullet only grazed his skull. He seemed like himself and feels very lucky to be alive and relatively unhurt. He will recover and have his own stories to tell about this so I'll skip the details.

The bad news is that Dan is unconscious and on life support. The prognosis is not good. Please keep him in your thoughts and hearts.

Steve

So in case everyone hasn't picked up on it, the two pilots were Dan Murphy and Kurt Schmitz (affectionately, one of the "weird brothers"). I saw Dan and Kurt at the hospital this evening.

The news reports have it pretty much right. Someone just walked up to Dan, Kurt and Larry, pulled out a gun and started shooting. Dan was hit first, point blank to the face. Kurt was hit next, and twice. The shooter let off one additional shot then killed himself. Many of the Funston regulars were close by, including Raffy, Marcos and others on the ground and Bob and at least one other person in the air. None of the pilots had ever seen the shooter before.

Kurt was in relatively good spirits this evening. He has an amazing story to tell about how he very narrowly averted being killed. I'll do him the honor of letting him tell you himself when he's up and around. His condition is pretty serious, in that he still has a bullet lodged in his neck near his spine and another fragment in the back of his head where he was shot the second time. As of about 7 pm he was being prepared for surgery to explore and possibly remove the bullet. He spoke to his dad in New York while we were there explaining how positive the prognosis is - which is true. He has full feeling and movement. He'll be out of surgery by sometime tomorrow but will still be groggy for much of the day at least. I don't know if he's going back into the same room, so if you go, just confirm with the desk clerk as you enter the hospital.

Dan is not doing well. "Grim" is right. He had just arrived and was sitting on his motorcycle, so he couldn't duck or otherwise get out of the way. He's in the ICU, and it's not looking good.

This is all so surreal and tragic. Dan was the responsible for me getting into my first shear. He looked at the air and said I should take off right then, head straight for the north end as quickly as possible, and just hang out there going straight up. He was right on. I'm glad I took the opportunity to thank him, newbie that I was.

Daniel

If your not sure who these guys are...

Dan doing what he loves...

http://www.dievhart.com/movies/dan.mov

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qA6pN1aeZ4

I'll get more and find some of Kurt also....

Thinking about you and holding you in a high place Dan "the man" Murphy, come on and pull through, you've been through more shit than most of us and made it out ok. To have this happen to you is just wrong

My heart goes out to you both!

Dan - I wish there was something I can say something I can do. You will be forever in our thoughts.

Kurt - Get well soon! Will see you soon.

This is a senseless, selfish and greedy act by someone where many have to suffer.


Carm

I want to put this out here as it is in the works and people viewing this thread will want to come out.

PLEASE check back here for more details....

Meet at Fort Funston Saturday Aug 26th in the late afternoon.

As of now (8/23/06@11:15am) this is JUST a gathering of friends getting together to send good wishes/vibes to our brother Dan, and we hope Kurt will be better and able to come join us.

Please come out if you can.
diev

Here's a good landing photo of Dan taken by Liu Lijian: http://lijian.smugmug.com/gallery/248910/6/9728125 .

the current status is no change in Dan's condition. the damage to his brain was instantaneous and is judged to be non-repairable/non-survivable. he's on a respirator. his dad has been located and is flying into town. the hospital is being overwhelmed by phone calls asking about him.

I'm told there will be a gathering at Funston on Saturday at sundown.

Make sure Dan's father knows that he has the backing of his HG/RC family. If there is ANYTHING we do please let us know.

We will plan to be there Sat. to help spread the love to Dan and Kurt.

BIG HUG TO ALL!!

Carm

Thank you for the updates. Dan and Kurt, their families and loved ones have been in my prayers. I am glad Dan's father is on the way...

We call upon the spirits of the Wind
We call upon the spirits of the Sea
We call upon the spirits of Friends
Who cherish a pilot's Journey...

Just an update...i wrk @sfgh. i've just come from Kurts room. they were removing his trach.. this is real good new His procedure went well last night also......

Phone calls for Dan and Kurt are overwhelming the nursing and medical staff for his neurology/trauma team. Gordon Pollock has agreed to be the primary spokesperson and liaison with the hospital staff. You are welcome to visit, but if you're interested in information by phone please call Gordon at (415) 310-6602. If he's unavailable, please call his girlfriend, Renee, at (510) 847-7805. The nursing team will keep Gordon and Renee up to date.

Also from Renee: Kurt asked me to correct the news of his condition. A police officer had assumed Kurt was shot in the legs. This is incorrect. He was shot in the back and the head. The bullets travelled - his lung was perforated, and the bullet from his back lodged in his neck. The nick in his head fortunately did not cause terrible damage to his brain. Kurt is able to joke, write and feel great pain, which is somehow encouraging to his doctors.

The dog walkers at Fort Funston want to sent their wishes for speedy recovery to Kurt, and especially Dan. We are all part of the FF community, and this tragic event affects everyone.

Several of us sent a card to Dan and Kurt, c/o [the address on the site]... I hope you will be kind enough to forward the cards to the wounded hang gliders.

Sincerely,
Karin Hu

I think the pilot in these photos is Dan Murhpy:
http://ihanggliding.com/album/Dan/DanMurphy.html

I heard yesterday that Kurt's operation went well and they removed the bullet from his neck. He will still have a few fragments in his neck and head left over to give the airport security a run for their money.
Kurt has a good attitude and he want's to be back flying in a couple of weeks!
Yea!

A video of dan's famous accident at Telluride: http://www.thoughtequity.com/video/clip ... do?flash=8

Here's an updated story that focuses on Dan: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... FSHOOT.TMP

I'm sending my prayers from North Dakota. I worked at Mission Soaring for awhile, some time ago. I know what a bunch of terrific people are in the Hang Gliding community.

Dan and Kurt are lucky to have such support.


Regards,

Joni

i went to visit Kurt last night, only to be turned away by the security gards, because i forgot his room number and - although i know his full name, could not produce the "AKA" (alias) apparently needed for gunshot victims...

will try again, with the room number this time. thanks for keeping us updated on this.

Steve Rodrigues wrote:I heard yesterday that Kurt's operation went well and they removed the bullet from his neck. He will still have a few fragments in his neck and head left over to give the airport security a run for their money.
Kurt has a good attitude and he want's to be back flying in a couple of weeks!
Yea!

Got the news about Dan the other day- so sad and senseless. Dan and the Stratus were around when I showed up at Funston in the late 70's. During my formative years I watched Dan, as well as others on the Stratus( Glen, Tami, Hope, Rac, the Bowens,Chavez, Ruiz, and others). It seemed the pilot's pilots all flew them. Last time I visited, Murphy was still at it. He said I could fly it sometime, but then it started to rain. I'm visiting again on Saturday. Hope to see some of my old flying friends. Will be thinking of Dan too.

Chris Bolfing

I am praying hard for Dan!
Dan is a very good friend of mine, he taught me to hang glide and I taught him to scuba dive in as much Dan needs to be taught anything. He is a talented and gifted person. I cant belive this has happened to him. I am currently in Santa fe NM and live in the Keys. I will continue to monitor this board to learn as much as I can regarding Dan's condition. I know he has always been a survivor and if any one can come through this Dan can.
My prayers and thoughts are with you dan.
Rick Dumiak
305 393 6805

I still can't believe Dan's body is no longer with us--his spirit will be with us always.

I am very fortunate to call him a close friend and his loss is tragic for the hang gliding community and the world. In addition to being an amazing--make that superhuman hang glider pilot he was an amazing sailplane pilot and fantastic sailplane instructor--I know because he got me through the solo stage. He also pulled me asside in my early hang gliding aerobatic "attempts" and helped me avoid killing myself.

Dan was also a fantastic scuba diver, in his younger days he played guitar in a rock band--doing Frank Zappa covers. He said "Yeah, I just picked up the guitar one day and figured if I pushed my fingers on the strings and plucked they would make the sounds I wanted, and taught myself to play.
That was Dan, talented at everything from rebuilding an engine to looping a sailplane.

It is incredible how low key he was about everything--I never remember him "bragging" about anything. He was kind, and didn't talk smack behind somebody's back unless it was something that would bring a huge belly laugh. He had a great, dry wit and sense of humor. Somebody else said that he had doged the bullet when he walked away from his broken glider and two failed parachutes in Telluride, they then quickly said they felt bad by accidentally making a bad pun. I think Dan would have laughed and enjoyed the sick humor an irony of the statement.

I understand--from the Social Worker at the hospital-- that Dan filled out an organ a donor card. I wouldn't be surprised if a new pilot shows up at Funston with an "unexplained desire" to fly--after receiving his heart transplant--and starts doing incredible precision wingovers in an old stratus...

I do take comfort in knowing that Dan was doing exactly what he loved to do--he lived for today and didn't look forward to growing old, he got all his living, and friendships in each and every day. He never took friendships for granted and many of us have been see first hand that he would drop everything to help a friend in any way he could.

I'm going to miss him. He is probably up there buzzing clouds with Dan Rac. at this very moment.

All the best to all of you, the spirit of the hang gliding community is a unique treasure.

Bob Vogel
(916)768-4802