Fifty Plus (50+) - Please don't try this at home. Seriously.

Yesterday I saw a cyclist get hit by a car and almost get killed, save for the cyclist's youth, athleticism, and probably an ample dose of Providential protection.

The cyclist was my 19 year old son.

Tom is leaving for his sophomore year of college this Sunday and we wanted to get a ride in before he left. We took what should have been a perfectly safe route along the river and then back up to the car, which involved cycling through Seneca Park.

With 26 miles under our belts and one more to go, we had a Fred blast by us. I don't care abut that sort of thing, but it offended my son and he took chase.

We approached a busy three-way intersection that has a convergence of bike lanes, a golf cart path, and lots of motorists who try to cut five minutes off their commute by cutting through a park teeming in mid-afternoon with joggers and cyclists.

Tom went through the intersection, but a driver did not see him and T-boned him, with me about 20 yards back. He first bounced off the hood and then slammed into the windshield.

I looked on in horror as he was tossed about five feet in the air. The impact ripped the bike from under his pedals (he uses SPD's, as I do).

Much to everyone's amazement, he landed on his feet. It was one of the most incredible moves I've ever seen. He was able to get on the side of the road, with a huge gash on his forearm that was bleeding fairly vigorously. I compressed it and it stopped. Frankly it reminded me of Saving Private Ryan, my son asking me how bad it was and me saying "Just don't look at it".

We were instantly surrounded by onlookers who helped by getting extra towels, water, calling 911etc. Within five or ten minutes the police and an ambulance were there. They put him on the body board and off they went.

The offending driver was badly shaken and sobbing hysterically for about ten minutes but calmed down when we assured her that he would be fine. Her car was undriveable as the windshield was destroyed.

Tom was in the ER for about six hours. A hand surgeon was called in because to gash was low on the forearm and pretty deep. Fortunately there was no tendon injury and no broken bones.

I had bought Tom a BD Motobecane steel single speed. As best as I can tell, the frame is intact. The front wheel is beyond repair, and the rear wheel is either going to need to be rebuilt or replaced. I'll probably just replace it.


Now, if this isn't surreal enough, the commotion tossed my oldest daughter into labor and at 4:30 AM today she delivered a healthy little baby girl.

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x40/TWLBA/a1595e82.jpg

So in a very weird way it was worth it.

Sorry, no blood and guts photos.

Life IS a glorious crapshoot, aint it?

Glad your son came out alright. Cheers for that.
Lets hope he decides against chasing Fred, next time.

****!

I am glad he's OK!

And Congratulations on the GB!

That is a wonderful picture to conclude your story with.
Glad things turned out as well as they did. Is college delayed a few days?

Wow! So glad he is okay and not the worst case. That must have been so hard to watch. I think about this excat case when I ride with my brother, which is seldom to be honest, but to watch something like happen in front of you, wow!

Congrats on the newborn too! Cute little thing.

This is sort of weird because I was going to post about where have you been, have not seen you around lately.

Sorry to hear about your son's accident, but glad he will be OK. As far as the bike, it is repairable/replaceable. Sons, however....

What a story. I really do not like riding with my wife cause I worry, from time to time, about seeing a collision. Much rather it be me than her. Anyway, congrats on the grandbaby.

What a day you've had TWL. Almost loosing one family member then getting a new one. I hope you son heals up quickly and daughter and new born come home soon.

That must have been an incredibly terrifying thing to see. I'm glad it turned out as well as it did.
Congratulations on the new granddaughter!

Glad your back from the bout with the moved thread. No harm - no fowl.

Now to the post - man I am soo happy you son survived intact.

Now for the new grandchild - congrats!

Man what a few days!

Dang, TWL, talk about a roller coaster day. Wow!

Thankfully, Tom wasn't hurt too badly; and you have a beautiful new granddaughter. Congratulations.

I'm glad Tom made it through with no more severe injuries than he had, and I hope he recovers quickly. If one were going to have a crash, one could do worse than having a practicing physician 20 yards away. I'm glad you posted this, as it is a good reminder to us all.

Congratulations on your latest upgrade in grand-pappy status. What a cutie!

Get some rest and kick back a little.

This is an incredible story! Congratulations on such a fortuitous turn of events! I'm happy to hear your son is okay and see your beautiful granddaughter. Mommy is beautiful, too! I'll bet you'll lie in bed tonight giving thanks! :) Again, Congratulations!

Holy smokes. B-Dawg, your son - the dangers of this sport seem to be hitting a bit close to home around here.

Be sure he talks to a lawyer. With the settlement he'll be able to buy a bike with a few more gears. Maybe 3 or even 5.

Holy cow, I know that would have scared the crap out of me too. I glad everything turned out well.
Maybe some lessons were learned from this accident. Everybody is driving like they have 5 minutes left to live.
Better take him to church Sunday.

I wasn't expecting that ending at all!

Nickname for the new ground-pounder: T-Bone. She's already got a story to tell her grandkids one day.

Actually surviving an experience like this, and it becoming a "life lesson" - yeah, that's the definition of Providence. Prayers for a full and speedy recovery, and let's hope the car driver finds some peace. It may actually bring her some comfort to contact her and let her know about the granddaughter-iferous epilogue.

Wow. I feel obligated to say something but there is no way I (or, I suspect, any of us) could really know how you felt. A life spared and a new one introduced to the world in one day. It is too bad that it required so much anxiety for you and pain for you son. May he recover quickly. May you recover quickly. Be thankful. I don't know you personally but I feel thankful that it worked out as well as it did for you both.

What Jimmuller said.

[QUOTE=The Weak Link;11325968]
my oldest daughter into labor and at 4:30 AM today she delivered a healthy little baby girl.
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x40/TWLBA/a1595e82.jpg

/QUOTE]

That is One Nice Photo......

Wow what a day!

Dude!

The horror you went through witnessing that impact! I wouldn't wish a moment like that on anyone!

Thank goodness, and your medical expertise of course, that he's as well off as he is.

Congrats on the new addition to your fortunate and blessed family!

Wishing your son a speedy and complete recovery.

I am glad your son is going to be OK. Hope he mends well. Very nice picture of your granddaughter. Today on the way home i almost t-boned a fred on a cruiser. 4 way stop, i stopped then the car to my right stopped after i did, i started through after a few feet this guy comes from the right rear of the stopped car and blows right through the stop sign and cuts right in front of me. I managed to stop inches from him and he gets all upset! I could have had him in my wind shield or under my bumper. It kind of shook me up. After reading what happened to your son i could only imagine the distress you felt seeing him in the air. Ride safe.

You mentioned saving Private Ryan, landing on his feet and a new baby. I feel , I feel , a country western song in this some where.



Hi I am the owner of a circus we are always looking for new tallent.



My son had a engine failure in the glider tow plane he was flying. He landed safely in a field dead stick ( he was in a ag wagon )

Any Who I get a email about the landing and then the email cocludes with Then we went to see Saving Private Ryan.

Congratulations on the granddaughter and your son escaping more serious injury. Scary that it happened at all.

Were both son and daughter at the same hospital?

It is hard for me to respond as this brings back terrible memories, having a son, who, on his 21st birthday, was permanently paralyzed from the shoulders down in a sporting accident, except to say I am SO happy it did not happen one more time.

Congrats on the grandchild, and I wish you, your son and family well.

Beautiful picture. Take care.

Wow. Glad all ended well.


Now, if this isn't surreal enough, the commotion tossed my oldest daughter into labor and at 4:30 AM today she delivered a healthy little baby girl.
Congrats. Lovely daughter and granddaughter.

What a horror story!
I'm glad that your son wasn't more seriously injured.
All my best to him for a speedy recovery and congratulations on your brand new granddaughter.

I saw a near catastrophe this morning. Fortunately it didn't happen.

I was in a group ride that included a mid-40s man and his teenaged son. For the last part of the ride the son was in front of me by a good distance and the dad was behind me. I noticed that the teen would ride in the middle or to the left of his lane even when there was no one to his right. One pickup passed the group all in a hurry (I guess we slowed the driver down by 30 seconds) and almost didn't see the teen rider. Came within about a foot and swerved away at the last second. When the ride was done I went up to the two and, in my best conversational voice, said to the teen "I really want you to see your next birthday, so I would suggest you ride on the right side of the lane." I wasn't alone either. There were one or two other folks on the ride that said basically the same thing, as well as the dad. Hopefully he got the message.

Well this is a just a guess, but I am guessing that is a day you won't ever forget. :) Glad all involved made it through the day.

Congrats on the grandchild.

Mark

Wow. I mean, really WOW! What a day. So glad your son is okay, and can imagine what it was like seeing that. And I can't believe your daughter looks that great having just gone through labor!

Congratulations!

Thank God everything seems to be OK with your son and that sure is a beautiful baby girl. That had to be a horrifying experience.

Man! I can't imagine what it must have been like for you for those few seconds while that transpired. Glad he's going to be OK.
Congratulations on the grandbaby. Grandkids are our reward for all the grief our kids put us through.

Grandkids are our reward for all the grief our kids put us through.
That'll preach, bro.

Thank you for all the kind words, and condolences for all those who experience acid-flashbacks. As my clinical sang-froid wears off, the scarier the incident gets. It was a close call.

The creepiest part of all of this was that after the ambulance left, a camera truck from one of the TV stations arrived. They didn't stay as there wasn't enough gore to make a good report, but had Tom's arm had been severed and lying in the middle of the road, it would have aired on the 6 o'clock news.

On the A&S side of things, I'm in the camp of "we have a right to the road like any other vehicle, but we should remember that we're invisible and for all intents and purposes assume all drivers are psychotics". I've preached this to Tom and he just forgot. It's a lesson that will stay with him now.

Tom is one of the finest individuals to ever walk the planet. In the immediate aftermath he was concerned for the driver and deeply apologized for the inconvenience the incident was causing. As a result, perhaps, everyone who was there was super nice. The police even appreciated that I produced my drivers license to them which made their report all the easier.

We're getting ready to head over to the hand surgeon's house and have him take another look, so more later, especially baby pictures maybe.

WL - sincerely glad things are working out, very happy for you on both fronts - no snark, just fact.

Incredible story TWL, I'm sure glad it turned out like it did. Is this your first grandchild? Congratulations.

That's a great outcome for something that could have been terrible.


Just a thought. You might want to thank the Man Upstairs cause you certainly have a lot to be thankful for.

Best of luck to Tom........I hope this doesn't inconvenience his start at school. Your simply going to have to go and hump all the stuff up into the dorm room for him.

Holy cow!

This takes 1st prize in the "Bad News/Good News" dept.

So glad your son's OK, and congrats on the new grandbaby.

Life's never boring, is it?

Link, all I can say is "Thank God." What a day all around.

Sooooo, Tom leaves for college tomorrow. In another twist of fate, I had been intended to take the week-end off to drive him to Chicago, but there was a dorm fire requiring them to arrive late, and as I'm on call beginning Monday, I can't go.

Sadly, it was not a good day to try to repair the bicycle so it will be staying behind.

My daughter delivered at the rival hospital of where my son was. The little one is fine. I've been running a day care center for my other grandchildren today and am enjoying the quiet now that one has gone home and the other is upstairs asleep.

My wife is closest to melt-down now because of the stress that all the children are causing. Bicycling is definitely not a good topic of conversion just yet.

A couple of more things. I've been calling tom T-bone and he thinks it's a cool name. He thinks that, as long as he wasn't killed or dismembered, he rates right up there with the boys of Nitro Circus. He's also dedicating his life to Christian ministry, so he appreciates the advice to "thank the Man upstairs".

wow.

Congrats on the grandchild, happy your son was not hurt worse. Must have been a terrible thing to witness.