madjackdog
Well-known member
As some of you know, I was involved in a rather catastrophic accident on June 30th. I was riding south on I-5, in the Central Valley, approaching the Grapevine, north of LA when I came upon a construction zone where the two lanes were narrowed down to one. I looked in the rear view, and the nearest vehicle (actually a large Ford truck ambulance, which was out of service and had been purchased by a company in LA that takes old vehicles and restores them for use in the motion picture industry) was at least a quarter/half mile in back, so I eased over and immediately came to a stop, feet on the ground, 20 feet or so behind the car in front of me. Unfortunately, for me, I didn't look in the rear view again until it was too late. All I saw was the driver standing on his brakes with smoke billowing from his rear. I made an effort to get out of the way, but actually wasn't able to move at all before he hit me square. Luckily for me, the hit sent me flying, as the bike ended up unrecognizable, squished under the ambulance (I had just mounted a brand new Shad top box on the most beautiful 2007 ever). He then proceeded to hit and total the car in front of me, which also did major damage to car in front of it (I read the CHP accident report, and they stated that they estimated the truck's speed at 85 MPH before he hit the brakes, and 50 MPH at the time of impact with me). I was actually conscious the entire time. I remember flying through the air, hitting the ground, and tumbling, coming to a stop about 85 ft. from the point of impact. The first thing that immediately came to mind was that I couldn't move my hands or feet, all I could do was lay there. A crowd almost immediately gathered around, and I was advised not to move by a number of people. My spinal chord had only been bruised, however, and movement was restored in about 15 minutes for my hands, and about 30 minutes in my feet (the longest 30 minutes in my life). By that time the CHP had arrived, and about 20 minutes after that, Lifeflight (no matter how hard I try, I cannot comment positively enough about the professionalism of both the CHP and the EMT's). After my short, $11,000 heli flight to Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield, I was pumped full of morphine (sweet, sweet, morphine), and really was out of my mind for at least a week. Come to find out, I had 8 broken bones (T-5 vertebrae, 4 broken fingers, broken left fibula, and two bones broken in my left foot. Two spine Dr's have told me that T-5 fractures are usually paralytic because of the narrow channel through which the spinal cord passes, unlike the lumbar and cervical vertebrae, which because of their flexibility, pass trough a much larger channel. The months since then have been a continuous stream of Dr. and physical therapy appointments. I also went through a bout of depression during which my only desire was to sleep and stay holed up in my room. The spinal injury has left me with super-sensitive skin, for which I'm taking medicine, and hands and feet which are somewhat numb and very cold (the Dr's say that these may stop on their own account, or they may not). I can walk, but you wouldn't use the word "graceful" to describe my gait unless immediately preceded by the phrase "far from", or "definitely not". I am, however, alive to enjoy the company of a wonderful wife and 4 kids, all of whom have informed me that my riding days are over (mindful of the monetary award, I think perhaps a Porsche is in my future - I'm sure they have a forum for it somewhere). I want to thank the many of you that sent good thoughts my way, and a special thanks to Old Michael, whom I have enjoyed pillorying in various threads and posts and who has always remained the consummate good sport. If no one minds, I'll stick around to occasionally offer an opinion or two, as sort of a "member emeritus".
h34r: 
