1 year later, KDKA reporter still recovering from regatta injury

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

This time last year at the EQT Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta, longtime KDKA reporter Dave Crawley was kneeling on a makeshift yellow rig for an assignment on the Red Bull Flugtag, in which competitors launch homemade flying contraptions off a pier. He was thrown from the flying craft as it descended 22 feet, landing in the water in what he described on air as “an ungracious belly flop.” And while he held two thumbs up when he surfaced in the water, he says he was anything but fine.

His attorney, Ari Wilkenfeld of Washington, D.C., said in February that Mr. Crawley had been “severely injured.” He has been off the air since last August.

Mr. Crawley is still recovering from those injuries, he said in a statement Friday, though he hopes eventually to return to work. “It’s been a tough year,” he said. “Unfortunately, I’m not yet able to return to work, though I hope to. I miss telling positive stories about the great people of Western Pennsylvania – and connecting with so many inspiring people during my 30 years at KDKA.”

His lawyer told the PostGazette in February that Mr. Crawley had ruptured his spleen in the stunt. “Guided by my medical team, I am making some progress,” said Mr. Crawley, of Squirrel Hill, in the statement. “Thank you everyone for your prayers and good wishes. They mean a lot to me.”

The Red Bull Flugtag is not part of the Pittsburgh Regatta this year.