Dr. Bones
Well-known member
I got to CFO late Thursday night about 10:30pm and didn't get a chance to check in. After wandering around I found Bust and a friend outside and talked to them for 20 minutes. Eventually we went our ways and I went to bed to get ready for the rally, my first.
I checked in at 7:30am as required and got to talk to pathfinder for awhile about his travels. After being released at 8:00am I led the group out of the parking lot and the rally was ON!
I got a good laugh out of the rally "towel", but already had the right stuff to adapt to it. During the rally I enjoyed seeing the sights Rick had offered and was getting the hang of following the GPS route I had made (a first for me). After leaving Trinity Cemetery I was on my way to the next point when it happened.
I don't have any details as I am writing this from the hospital, which i haven't left yet.
I was entering a corner on a rural road sweeping left. I had checked my odometer just prior to the curve at 40mph, I remember 35mph was posted. As I leaned the bike into the curve the back end broke loose on some wetness remaining on the road. Instinctively I got the bike upright and saved the fall only to run out of real estate as I drove thru the corner. I rode the bike off the road and into the farmers field 15-20 ft below. I remember bracing for impact as I approached the electric fence and the culvert became more vertical. I remember picking myself up off the ground after, and taking my hemet off because I couldn't breathe and seemed disoriented. I stumbled over to the bike and knealt beside it wondering how I could right it with the mangled front wheel and the pain I was starting to notice. I thought I should turn the bike off incase of a gas leak, and might as well take my phone off the mount. I heard a farmer talking to his wife as they got ready to drive away shopping. Noticing I was in the middle of nowhere with some severe difficulties breathing I carefully drew my breath and yelled ,"hey!!". The farmer heard me ( god bless those 2 hearing me) and told the wife to call 911 immediately. He wandered over to me and prevented me from getting up. By now I was collapsing sideways from the pain and gingerly laid down.
EMS was quick and I was onto the board and hospital in Mauston WI. 4CT's determined that I had a fractured left scapula, and T1,2,3,4,7,8,9 ribs on the left were broken, all in multiple places and some were nasty. Those in turn punctured my left lung and collapsed it. I also had a grade 4 spleen laceration and was bleeding profusely internally. A flight for life was needed but it was poor weather and the copter couldn't go. I got a 1 hourish ride into Madison WI to the UW-Madison TLC center also known as a level 1 ICU. I remained on watch for spleen removal for several days until being moved last night up to the normal trauma surgery floor.
I found out today that I have a torn rotator left cuff and a compound separation of the A/C joint.
I don't know when I'll be released but here's some details, more to come later.
I was wearing full gear head to toe, it saved my life they say.
I left the bike highside and probable landed on my head then shoulder then scapula, then each rib as I splayed down into the ground, causing me to crush th bones and organs.
I was not driving wrecklessly.
I was not drunk.
I did not engage in excessive speed.
I saved the initial accident.
I have driven 10,000 miles on that bike since I bought it in10/09.
I have driven to South Dakota and Tennessee on weekend trips with no problems, I consider myself to be travel proficient.
My initial thoughts are that accidents can happen to anyone, at any time. I never got to meet anyone from the forum, which was my whole desire for months. I wanted to talk to airboss about his big trip and meet a darksider!
More to come later!
I checked in at 7:30am as required and got to talk to pathfinder for awhile about his travels. After being released at 8:00am I led the group out of the parking lot and the rally was ON!
I got a good laugh out of the rally "towel", but already had the right stuff to adapt to it. During the rally I enjoyed seeing the sights Rick had offered and was getting the hang of following the GPS route I had made (a first for me). After leaving Trinity Cemetery I was on my way to the next point when it happened.
I don't have any details as I am writing this from the hospital, which i haven't left yet.
I was entering a corner on a rural road sweeping left. I had checked my odometer just prior to the curve at 40mph, I remember 35mph was posted. As I leaned the bike into the curve the back end broke loose on some wetness remaining on the road. Instinctively I got the bike upright and saved the fall only to run out of real estate as I drove thru the corner. I rode the bike off the road and into the farmers field 15-20 ft below. I remember bracing for impact as I approached the electric fence and the culvert became more vertical. I remember picking myself up off the ground after, and taking my hemet off because I couldn't breathe and seemed disoriented. I stumbled over to the bike and knealt beside it wondering how I could right it with the mangled front wheel and the pain I was starting to notice. I thought I should turn the bike off incase of a gas leak, and might as well take my phone off the mount. I heard a farmer talking to his wife as they got ready to drive away shopping. Noticing I was in the middle of nowhere with some severe difficulties breathing I carefully drew my breath and yelled ,"hey!!". The farmer heard me ( god bless those 2 hearing me) and told the wife to call 911 immediately. He wandered over to me and prevented me from getting up. By now I was collapsing sideways from the pain and gingerly laid down.
EMS was quick and I was onto the board and hospital in Mauston WI. 4CT's determined that I had a fractured left scapula, and T1,2,3,4,7,8,9 ribs on the left were broken, all in multiple places and some were nasty. Those in turn punctured my left lung and collapsed it. I also had a grade 4 spleen laceration and was bleeding profusely internally. A flight for life was needed but it was poor weather and the copter couldn't go. I got a 1 hourish ride into Madison WI to the UW-Madison TLC center also known as a level 1 ICU. I remained on watch for spleen removal for several days until being moved last night up to the normal trauma surgery floor.
I found out today that I have a torn rotator left cuff and a compound separation of the A/C joint.
I don't know when I'll be released but here's some details, more to come later.
I was wearing full gear head to toe, it saved my life they say.
I left the bike highside and probable landed on my head then shoulder then scapula, then each rib as I splayed down into the ground, causing me to crush th bones and organs.
I was not driving wrecklessly.
I was not drunk.
I did not engage in excessive speed.
I saved the initial accident.
I have driven 10,000 miles on that bike since I bought it in10/09.
I have driven to South Dakota and Tennessee on weekend trips with no problems, I consider myself to be travel proficient.
My initial thoughts are that accidents can happen to anyone, at any time. I never got to meet anyone from the forum, which was my whole desire for months. I wanted to talk to airboss about his big trip and meet a darksider!
More to come later!