Mountain Biking - bad Mountain bike accident

I was out mountain biking with two friends today and had a pretty serious accident. I have some major cuts and bruises, 3 cracked ribs, tons of stitches, broke my arm in 2 places and a concussion (despite the fact I was wearing my helmet) :-(

My bike is pretty much trashed. Both disk brakes are bent, one crank is broken right off, the other is bent right into the frame, the rear rim looks like a taco and the gear assembly on the left handlebar is completely smashed. There is also some pretty nasty paint damage. And that is just at first glance. I will be getting help in taking it to the bike shop in the next couple of weeks.

My helmet is badly dented too so before I get back on my bike again, I'll be getting a new one.

Anyway, my pain meds are kicking in again now so I am off to have a little siesta and some more pretty funky dreams.

Take it easy out there everybody !

Justen

PS..Yes, I was wearing a helmet - thank god !!

What happened? I've had some wicked crashes, but never destroyed a bike quite that badly...

Originally posted by Justen
I was out mountain biking with two friends today and had a pretty serious accident.

Ouch!

Care to share the details of the mishap?

Hmmm... a lot of bad things have been happening to you as of late. I remember the dehydration from a few weeks back. And I seem to recall you had another bad accident just recently. Anyways, here's to hoping you heal up soon and your bike comes back all fixed up by the time you're ready to ride again. :beer:

That sounds nasty. I can't believe you could type out your message given the extent of your injuries. April of last year I broke a rib and they are very slow to heal. Sometimes I still get some discomfort in the area, not really pain though. Hope your recovery is short and sweet.

Ouch... sounds terrible! Hope you recover soon..

Pics of bike???

WOW! what did you do? fall off a clif?

Hope they can fix the bike... I mean I hope you get well :p

Lay off people! With 3 cracked ribs and a broken arm, not to mention a concussion, I'm sure it's hard to type or post pictures to please you. Justen, hope you get well! Don't worry about the bike now and let your body heal. After all, the bike is replaceable.

No-one was getting nasty, just inquisitive :)

Crap, I forgot to add the smiley, again..... Well, here it is>>>>>>>>>>>:D
It goes straight after "Lay off people ( smiley ) !

Good grief! I hope those meds are potent indeed, Justen. Rest up and mend.

Are the dreams cycling-related? Or is your psyche currently in 'avoidance' mode? Mine sure as Hell would be!

Lay off people! With 3 cracked ribs and a broken arm, not to mention a concussion, I'm sure it's hard to type or post pictures to please you. Justen, hope you get well! Don't worry about the bike now and let your body heal. After all, the bike is replaceable.

Of course we all wish him well and I know what hes going through (well not to the same extent) after breaking my wrist 2 months ago and not being able to ride all summer. With that said, how could anyone not be curious what actually happened that resulted in such a terrifying crash that broke a person in many places and destroyed a bike. We dont hear about that kind of stuff everyday so we become very intriqued and curious regarding details when we do.

Get better justen.

Best of luck with the recovery. Hopefully it didn't happen in your first experience on the shore...

again good healing :D

Originally posted by Justen
I was out mountain biking with two friends today and had a pretty serious accident. I have some major cuts and bruises, 3 cracked ribs, tons of stitches, broke my arm in 2 places and a concussion.

Ugh! Get well soon, and let us know the whole story when you get the chance! :)

Wow Justen, sounds more like you were hit by a bus!

Hope you have a speedy recovery!

L8R

Originally posted by a2psyklnut
Wow Justen, sounds more like you were hit by a bus!

Hope you have a speedy recovery!

L8R

I feel like I was hit by a bus ! :-(

Thanks for your note. I am feeling pretty rough today. Difficult night last night.

Justen

blood!!! we want to see the blood!!!

Wow! Dude, wishing you a speedy recovery.

In case you guys don't know, that's Dudette!

L8R

I really hope you recover quickly Justen! Best of luck...

Originally posted by TimB
blood!!! we want to see the blood!!!

Hi,
I am one of Justen's friends. I am doing some of her typing for her today.

So...you want to see blood ?
Sorry. She was in pretty bad shape immediately after the accident. She took quite a bad fall and we were not sure if she had sustained serious injuries at the time it happened. We were too busy calling the paramedics and assisting Justen to take any pictures. At the hospital, we weren't allowed into the Trauma unit until they had finished assessing and treating her and by the time we did see her, they had cleaned up most of the blood that had been all over her face, arms, etc etc so no pics.

So..again, sorry to disappoint you.
I am sure you were probably just kidding but this was a pretty bad accident for her. She is still very shaken up and in alot of pain.

Jessica

Hey Jessica,

Don't need to see blood, I've seen plenty of my own. But, how did the accident happen? Down a rock garden? Off the side of a mtn? Endo at speed?...etc.

Wish her our best. We really are concerned!

L8R

i hope you gaet better and your accident doesn't discourage you from ridding again

Alright, we all understand that there was a crash. What went down though? Trail riding? Riding on the road? How did the crash happen? It must have involved a vechicle, seeing how badly the bike is damaged. Sounds really bad, hope you feel better soon (even though that broken arm will keep you off the bike for awhile).

Originally posted by Justen
Hi,
I am one of Justen's friends. I am doing some of her typing for her today.

So...you want to see blood ?
Sorry. She was in pretty bad shape immediately after the accident. She took quite a bad fall and we were not sure if she had sustained serious injuries at the time it happened. We were too busy calling the paramedics and assisting Justen to take any pictures. At the hospital, we weren't allowed into the Trauma unit until they had finished assessing and treating her and by the time we did see her, they had cleaned up most of the blood that had been all over her face, arms, etc etc so no pics.

So..again, sorry to disappoint you.
I am sure you were probably just kidding but this was a pretty bad accident for her. She is still very shaken up and in alot of pain.

Jessica


Dear Jessica,

Yes I was just kidding, sort of black humour to lift the mood.
It is not a nice thing to have an accident. The trauma, fear, shock etc etc. I've been there done that, got the scars to show.
I did not mean to offend her or you but I think the fact that she is going to be ok is something to be celebrated, not mourned.
I understand your concern for your friend and it's touching that you wish to share this event with us. We need to be mindful ofthe dangers all the time.
Our thoughts go out to you at this time and I do wish her a speedy recovery. (Hospital food sucks and that alone is the greatest healer)

Perhaps if you post her hospital address (city state details woul be great) etc then some of us could send her some flowers to lift her day.

Once again I am sorry to have offended you.

Justen is alive, she's going to be ok. Be happy for that.

Now can i see a smile. A picture of the smiling, recovering Justen would be appreciated. Hope yo have yor camera for that;)

I think many of us are interested in the details of the accident because [1] we share concern and [2] we would like to come away with some sort of lesson from it. Once again, get well soon, Justen.

Prayers for a complete and speedy recovery.

See, I think this is a guy thing.

The reason everybody here wants to know the details is because the first thing one of the guys here would do is post the gnarly details of his horrific crash (he may even do this before receiving treatment or going to the hospital :)). To come on here and say 'I got in a big crash and got banged up pretty bad' and just leave it at that is unheard of. In fact, most posts in the MTB forum which mention some sort of accident are written with the expressed purpose of revealing gritty details and to possibly show off the resulting scars/badges of honour.

Nobody here has any bloodlust, we just wanna hear the crash details because these are things that we, as MTBers, can all relate to.

Dang, sorry to hear about the crash.

Sorry to hear abou the crash.I know what you're going through,heck i've got 3 screws in my leg to remind me(although my crash wasn't near as bad as yours sounds!).Anyway i know you're in a lot of pain now so i hope you get to feeling better soon and back on the bike asap.

Hi,
Jessica here again.

Thank you for all your kind words and support for Justen. She is having a really rough go of it and needs all the support she can get. She had to return to hospital for complications arising from the original accident and underwent surgery to re-set her arm. They were also concerned about her concussion as she has been having recurring bouts of dizziness and blurred vision. They were suspecting she might have had a blod clot on her brain (yes, she was wearing a helmet but it did get badly damaged in the accident). She had a CT scan and then a spinal tap to rule this out. So they have concluded now that it is just a bad concussion.

So...she will be returning home again later today and wanted me to pass on a thanks to you guys. I took your messages into her and we read them for her.

It does not look like she will be able to do any biking for at least 2 months so she's pretty unhappy about that. Can you believe this ??? - after all she has been through and she wants to get back on her bike....! Well..I guess most of you probably can !

Anyway, thanks again for your support for her !

Jessica

Jessica, Sorry to hear about her accident and setback..I'll keep her in my prayers and hope she has a speedy recovery. She and you will both have to take one day at a time as she will have some bad days and hopefully many more good days as she recovers. And yes she will want back on the bike asap, but she better listen to the dr.'s and wait til they say she's ready.

Again my best to her on a full & speedy recovery!

Wow, quite the crash, Get better soon! I am finally riding again (although don't tell my ortho surgeon!), with a fancy new metal plate in my left wrist (feels kinda funny)! Accidents suck, and yours sounded bad! I am starting to build up my confidence again, but it will be a while before i go all out like i did (perhaps thats better!).

Get well soon!

So what the heck happened? How do you break a crank clean off???
You must have been doing some serious speed when you crashed or like someone else said, went off a cliff... :(
It's good to hear you're alive, broken bones suck but they do heal in time.
Take care and get well soon. :)

Originally posted by Justen
Hi,
Jessica here again.

Thank you for all your kind words and support for Justen. She is having a really rough go of it and needs all the support she can get. She had to return to hospital for complications arising from the original accident and underwent surgery to re-set her arm. They were also concerned about her concussion as she has been having recurring bouts of dizziness and blurred vision. They were suspecting she might have had a blod clot on her brain (yes, she was wearing a helmet but it did get badly damaged in the accident). She had a CT scan and then a spinal tap to rule this out. So they have concluded now that it is just a bad concussion.

So...she will be returning home again later today and wanted me to pass on a thanks to you guys. I took your messages into her and we read them for her.

It does not look like she will be able to do any biking for at least 2 months so she's pretty unhappy about that. Can you believe this ??? - after all she has been through and she wants to get back on her bike....! Well..I guess most of you probably can !

Anyway, thanks again for your support for her !

Jessica

Oh my, must have been some crash, I really hope she is alright. Witnessing my friend go down was terrorizing. I'm really surprised and am very lucky with all the hits I've taken, I haven't seriously messed myself up. One injury 5 years ago put me on the sidelines for almost a year. In that case I broke my left knee cap. Wasn't a fun time during the time off the saddle, it seemed like an entire lifetime away from riding, had some very good times when I got back on the bike, still haven't lost it. It will seem like an eternity, but as soon as you are cleared to get back on the bike, it is a great feeling. You will feel like you have alot of catching up to do. Remember you will still be weak, take it easy for a few weeks, don't be a world beater at first when you get back on the bike, you will only wind up back in this situation. But first you have to heal up. Now promise me, don't go doing this hospital stint again. :D :p Ever need to talk, let me know.

Justen,
Our prayers go out to you.
Jessica,
Could you describe what happened, after reading all this I would also like to know what Justen was doing that the bike ended up that way. Also was she on a road bike or a MTB?

I remember i was going trails down my local hill and i went straight over the handle bars and the bike hit and rock and mashed up the cranks... that really hurt and youres sounds way worse Hope u get well soon m8... hopefully ull be riding again soon :D