bass boss
Registered
On July 25 of this year I was hit by a van who's driver ran a red light. The light was red for many seconds when he struck me on my left side. I had stopped at a light and proceeded to cross the intersection when the light turned green. I always leave the intersection slowly after I look both ways. This time was no exception. I looked both ways and saw nobody near me that could be a threat. He must have been coming down the road from a long way away. He must have been going very fast when he hit me. He knocked me off my bike--I landed on another car with my head and bounced off, and then landed on the street (according to witnesses). He hit me so hard, that I went completely out and did not wake up until I was at the hospital.
The damages: Both legs broken. The left foot was crushed severely and the bottom of my foot was ripped off, leaving exposed bone. The left arm was broken at the elbow with a compound fracture (exposed bones). The left hip was crushed. The long bone of my leg was jammed into the joint and created a crushing fracture of my pelvis. My right leg had a tibial plateau fracture. The end of the tibia was crushed when my foot was jammed into the pavement. I was in intensive care for about 12 days. They operated on me 9 times to put me all back together again. I have plates, screws and pins in my left foot, hip and left elbow. A plastic surgeon did a special graft to cover the exposed bone on my foot by taking a big part of my left shoulder muscle out for the graft. He took skin off my left thigh to cover the muscle. So far, it is healing ok. It looks like I will be able to keep my foot. For a while they were telling me that they might have to amputate my foot. I got out of the hospital Sept 5 th after 6 very long weeks in the hospital and it is great to be home. I go to rehab 5 days a week now and hope to be able to walk again someday. I will be months before I can work again.
What happened to the driver of the van? He got a ticket for going through the red light. Oh, boy.
The bike was a total loss.
So what can I tell you guys? Expect the totally unexpected to happen. I was a pessimist rider and expected every car on the highway to be a threat and they (cagers) still got me. You can't be too careful!
The damages: Both legs broken. The left foot was crushed severely and the bottom of my foot was ripped off, leaving exposed bone. The left arm was broken at the elbow with a compound fracture (exposed bones). The left hip was crushed. The long bone of my leg was jammed into the joint and created a crushing fracture of my pelvis. My right leg had a tibial plateau fracture. The end of the tibia was crushed when my foot was jammed into the pavement. I was in intensive care for about 12 days. They operated on me 9 times to put me all back together again. I have plates, screws and pins in my left foot, hip and left elbow. A plastic surgeon did a special graft to cover the exposed bone on my foot by taking a big part of my left shoulder muscle out for the graft. He took skin off my left thigh to cover the muscle. So far, it is healing ok. It looks like I will be able to keep my foot. For a while they were telling me that they might have to amputate my foot. I got out of the hospital Sept 5 th after 6 very long weeks in the hospital and it is great to be home. I go to rehab 5 days a week now and hope to be able to walk again someday. I will be months before I can work again.
What happened to the driver of the van? He got a ticket for going through the red light. Oh, boy.
The bike was a total loss.
So what can I tell you guys? Expect the totally unexpected to happen. I was a pessimist rider and expected every car on the highway to be a threat and they (cagers) still got me. You can't be too careful!