pallen

wow! great day!

KonAaron Snake 

Good gravy...best wishes. Wow - terrifying.

MMACH 5

Thank you all for the well-wishes and prayers.
Today was, far and away, my favorite day in therapy, EVER!! I'm pretty sure it's about as happy as I'll ever be to ride a woman's hybrid bike!

WPeabody 

Glad to hear such good news, MMACH 5.

K'Tesh

Welcome Back!

EKW in DC

Awesome! Great news!

jsharr

Great to hear all the good news, esp. the womens hybrid bike!

Big Lebowski

Glad you are on the mend. Welcome back.

I'm curious about the details of the accident if you care to share.

MMACH 5

My wife and I tend to not go into the accident, itself mostly because I have no memory of it. We preface every telling of it with, "From what we can gather…" and end every telling with "…but, this could be incorrect."
Another reason we don't discuss it too much is that this was by far the darkest, scariest time in our lives and sometimes when we start talking about it, we start sounding a bit pitiful. So, please read on with the knowledge that we do not feel sorry for ourselves over this. We do revel in how lucky and blessed we are. Life is good!

With all that said, I'll share what I can starting around 11:25am, May 15, 2012.

It was my day off and I was returning home from running some errands within a few miles of the house. I was turning left from a neighborhood side street onto a fairly major roadway (six lanes, 35mph speed limit). This intersection is 1.5 miles from my house and I go through it multiple times a week. It does have a traffic light. The corner house has a wooden fence that goes to the sidewalk and then a row of red tip photinias beyond that, all but obscuring a view from the side street.

The driver who hit me told the police that he was racing to beat a yellow light and that I approached the intersection, stopped and then ran the red light, crossing in front of him. As I mentioned, I go through this intersection on a very regular basis and it would be rather unusual for me to run that light. Apparently, the driver disagreed with the police report that indicated I was at fault. He called his insurance company a few days later and told them that his light was, in fact red, he ran it and they should pay me. So, it depends on who you ask to determine who was responsible for the accident. He also called every day for the first several weeks of my time in the hospital to check on my status. We are going to contact him just to let him know that I will have a nearly full recovery and that we hold no grudge over this horrific accident.

As for the mechanics of what happened, and I'll again preface this with, from what we can gather… I was crossing from right to left in front of him so my left side took the brunt of the impact. My bicycle went under the car and I skipped off his hood and into his windshield. I then slid off the driver side of the hood and onto the pavement. He stopped about 80 feet later (which indicates that he was either going 40mph or was going 35mph and was slow to hit his brakes).

The list of injuries is long and I can tell you that the bicycle helmet saved my life. It was shattered and I came away with a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Here's the list:
All vertebrae fractured
All ribs on the left side broken
Three ribs on the right side broken
Left femur broken just above the lesser tronchanter
Pelvis broken in about five places
Tailbone shattered
Spleen lacerated
Both scapulas broken
Left clavicle broken
Head laceration
Bleeding in the frontal lobe of the brain

These injuries, while serious were not what kept me in ICU for 38 days and in the hospital for 67 days. While in ICU I contracted MRSA (medically resistant staph) in my lungs and blood, yeast in my lungs and fungal pneumonia. So, for more than a month, I was in a medically-induced coma with a respirator attached.

They were able to repair my spleen through the femoral artery and reattach the head of the femur with screws. My left ribcage was collapsed to the point that removal of my left lung would have probably been needed at some point. However, my heroic wife told the doctors that our goal was to have me back on a bicycle at 150-200 miles a week, so anything they could do to avoid loss of the lung or reduction of lung capacity would be preferable. So the doctor opted to perform a rib repair, which they didn't even do on patients until three years ago. This involved pealing me open, putting the ribs back in place with titanium bands attached to support them (my kids say I have Wolverine ribs, now).

I had to use a wheelchair and wear a neck brace for three months after the accident. They wanted to give the bones extra time to heal before I started putting weight on my hip. I'm up and about, now; walking with a cane, but back at work since last Thursday. I asked my physical therapist when I could ditch the cane and she said as soon as I quit walking around like a little old man.

I've been cleared to drive again, (had to go be re-tested) but they discourage cycling for patients who've had a brain injury for six months. My therapist put me on a bike last Friday, just to make sure my body's mechanics are working correctly. So, mid-November cannot get here soon enough.

Dahon.Steve

I had a horrendous bicycle accident last summer that nearly killed me. A branch got stuck between the fender and front fork and tossed over the handle bars destroying my elbow. After reading your list of injuries, my accident seems so insignificant. I still have far less confidence than ever to be on the road and I'm riding far less. My thinking is that I want to bicycle for the rest of my life, but I can't afford any more accidents like last year. Therefore, I limit my exposure hoping to keep the odds in my favor.

Also, since I don't have a car, public transit and the bicycle are my method of transportation. Not having the bike seriously effects my mobility since trains and buses don't go everywhere.

After the accident, I told everyone that I was never going to ride again and my bikes were all going to be sold. It wasn't until 6 months after the accident that I had the courage to get back on the bike and take a ride around the corner. I'm a middle age man but I wanted to cry! Today, the bike that I had the accident on is now my favorite ride! I don't want to suggest that you should get back on a bike again. If that's what you want to do fine, but if you decide to quit and never get back on, I'll totally respect that. Don't let anyone make that decision for you.

Best wishes.

kookaburra1701

How scary, Mmach5! I'm a paramedic, and I have to tell you, if I was the one who rolled up on that scene I'd have been thinking you weren't going to survive to be discharged from the hospital. I'm so glad you're such a tough cookie.

Big Lebowski

Thanks for sharing. I try to learn what I can when reading about accidents. You have reinforced my belief that I and my children must wear helmets every time.

I-Like-To-Bike

You should rename yourself Mr. Timex. You certainly can take a lickin' and keep on tickin.' Good luck on your rehab!

rumrunn6

welcome back to the forums. thank you for sharing. if anyone ever doubts the reason to share accident details let them read this thread. we all need to be aware of the risks as well as information about potential risks on our routes. I've had 2nd thoughts about certain routes or certain ways in which I ride them. this thread may give me pause before I ride certain areas or intersections, or in what manner I do it. it's also a good lesson to us all to never let our guard down and get complacent about regular routes. I trust you did the correct thing and that the driver did not. lot's of bikers are not doing the right thing such as runnign lights and stop sign etc. and they should be aware of the potential risks. I'd say "may God bless you" but I believe he already has!

EKW in DC

So glad you're on the mend. Frankly I'm amazed you're going to be back on the bike in a couple months given the severity of the injuries you suffered. Quite a story.

Best wishes!

no motor?

Glad to hear you're on the mend! A positive attitude really helps with recoveries, and you've got that and then some.

WPeabody 

Amazing what they can do nowadays. I hope you will be cleared to get back on your bike in mid-November, that will be a reason to celebrate!

bergerandfries

Kooka, one thing Mike left out is that his iPhone GPS was still on and on him when they took him to the ER. Not only did it confirm a lot of what Mike just said, but also a detail of those like you that protect and serve. The driver hit 83mph getting him to the ER, and probably one of those key players that saved his life. If I ever get to meet that guy/gal, they are getting a hug and a beer from me...

MMACH 5

That is no joke, B&F. I have a whole new respect for paramedics!

BikinPotter

Hi Mach5. Nice to finally read your posts. When reading about your accident back in May, and then for the next few weeks I felt so sad & so discouraged to believe you could make a such a recovery. I remember thinking, "Oooo..that doesn't sound good...". But, like so many others on this list who are strangers to you, yet still friends because we all ride bicycles, we just all got to wishin' and hopin' and definitely prayin' for you & your family. Reading your wife's blog posts told me from the get-go you wouldn't dare croak on that woman because she'd never let you hear the end of it. Glad you're a man of good sense.

MMACH 5

Very true! I couldn't have had a better partner and co-pilot to help me through this journey!

Doohickie

I got a little different perspective on Mike's accident last night. We do a Sunday night pub crawl in Fort Worth, and a friend (Sharon, I believe) of Mike and his wife mentioned him. After dancing around the subject a little, she mentioned Mike's name and I knew right away who she was talking about.

Anyway, she said that when things were touch & go and they weren't even sure if Mike would survive, Mrs. Mike was telling the doctors that their goal was to get him riding 300 miles a week again. I'm glad Mike has such good support on the home front.

I hope your recovery is continuing smoothly, Mike.

joshuatrio

Wow... glad you're doing better. Sounds like it's been a pretty hectic road for you !

MMACH 5

Yes, Doohickie! My wife never lost hope.
I've said it before and I'll feel this way for the rest of my days. My wife is nothing less than a hero.

AdamDZ

I'm so glad to see you're recovering so well. I can't even begin to imagine what you and your family have gone through. I had a bad gallbladder surgery last Fall and I was in a hospital for 5 days then in bed for nearly two weeks. It was the most miserable time in my life. There was a guy in the hospital who was recovering from some accident too and I was told he was in the hospital for several moths. So I often though what you were going through and it was just unimaginable. So happy this is mostly over for you. I am not religious or anything, but it looks like it was almost a miracle that you were able to recover. So big thanks to everyone involved in saving your life and leading you to recovery.

Your experience made me extra careful, almost paranoid when riding.