feethanddooth

this is my blog entry.


CRASH! thats how march ended this year for riding. no broken bones and am not bed ridden though thank fully. how it happened doesnt make sense to me but here goes. heading down orange ave i just went right into the back of a parked minivan. yeah, how many cyclists do you know who ride into cars? well it happened to me. dont know if the wind blew hard which made me lose control, if there was a groove in the rode that i hit, if i car going by came too close which made me swirve into the car, or if i just had a light headed spell that made me lose control. however it happened the back of the minivans window was taken out and the scott was cracked in half at the fork.

so here is what i remember....

seeing the minivan at the last second i applied the brakes and turned to roll into the car shoulder first. the brunt of the impact was taken by my helmet above my right temple. then i was on the ground rolling around trying to get up but having no sense of where i was, how i got there, and what was happening. stumbled onto someones lawn and think i knocked on their door. man came out and asked me who to call and i gave them staceys number. then the ambulance arrived and began care for me. was put on a back board and stabilized as a precaution since my head and neck had been jerked so hard from the impact. in the ambulance my clothes were cut open to allow access to a cut in my knee and minor cuts here and there. was questioned and started to get nauseas then was given oxygen which helped.

in the hospital was taken into the emergency room and then the drew blood, took an x-ray of my neck, chest, pelvis, and a cat scan of my head. also was given an ekg to make sure my heart was ok. after the x-rays i was allowed to be unstrapped from the neck stabilizer and was then able to stand. wow! i was destroyed! dizzy and weak and shaking. felt like ran into a car! up to this point i was nervous about any possible paralysis that may happen due to neck injury. but since i walked around and could wiggle my toes and fingers i figured it wasnt very likely. but in the moment, i did get very nervous. and the next nervousness was waiting for the cat scan. it came back fine but thinking of possibly getting brain surgery due to swelling or bleeding in the brain just sucked.

after being cleared of all the major injuries they took care of the cuts and stitched me up. 12 in the knee and two in the lips. this is where the most pain took place. taking off the tape for the i.v. they had in my arm sucked. i hate those things with a passion. every movement of my arm was accompanied by the feeling of a large piece of plastic under my skin scratching from the inside. yuck. and they gave me two for some reason! one in each arm. but that wasnt as bad as the numbing agent they put in my lip to stitch there. burn burn burn. but at least i walked out of there.

they put a knee stabalizer on me to prevent any bending in the leg that would cause the stiches to pop or tear out. and sent me on my way. sitting here now most of the pain and discomfort is in my leg. feels as though the handle bars went right into my quads even though there is no bruise there. but any movement is painfull there. the stiches in my lips arent so bad except while open my mouth wide to eat or laugh. but thankfully thats the most that bothering me.

this is another true testament to wearing a helmet. with all the research i still see riders who are racing around without one on. had i not been wearing one who knows what would have happened. but thankfully i was.

after recovering i promised my dad i will take my first ride with him. hopefully that soon!

ps- the staff at overlook hospital in nj was really good. everyone was nice and i got really good care.

go here to see pics

waterrockets 

Man, lucky for you Stacey drives an ambulance!

Sucks, just a moment of inattention. We've all been there at some level. Heal up fast!

Sorry about the bike too. Hopefully you can just get a new frame and be rocking.

Pharmr

that sucks...hope you get feeling better!

Porter20

Heal quickly. I think it can happen to any of us. I have a bad a habit of glancing down at my gears (to see what is left, where I am, or just check out how smooth my spinning is - as I am a big masher) and there are several times, I have caught myself looking to long & had some silly near misses like that.

thank goodness it wasn't any worse.

feethanddooth

can someone come over and get me my advil? its hurts too much to get up and get it.

thanks for letting me know im not 100% idiot for hitting a parked car. im not ruling out a seizure. i have epilepsy and dont remember the 200-300 feet before the impact.

LanceFanBoy

I'm glad you are (for the most part) ok, holy crap. I hate crash stories.

the beef

Glad to hear you're ok, and that you were wearing a helmet.

waterrockets 

FWIW: I got hit by a car and never recovered the memories from 15 minutes before the crash. The last thing I remember was a co-worker saying "Ride safe. Don't get hit by a car!!"

feethanddooth

here is my knee. had to change the dressings tonight and figured i should take a pic!

MadCowMoo

Man that poor bike think it will be ok?

yak

That sucks man.

Have a beer, crank up the Radiohead, and take it easy for a few days.

Idioteque

oh wow i think i was at that hospital two weeks ago after my crash in a race... is it by any chance somewhat near princeton? and damn man, heal up, is there bad bruising to the knee or just the nasty cut?

feethanddooth

i think there is bad bruising but it isnt visible yet. very deep tissue maybe? i was an ice hockey goalie years ago and bruises appeared days later after the puck had hit me in weird spots. this is probably going to be the same deal.

any idead what i can do or where i can go to get the frame checked for strength? i dont want to spend the $ on anything until i know it is safe to ride again. already emailed scott and called the bike place i got it at but you are all my experts.

feethanddooth

probably not. you may have been in princeton medical center. another good place. my neurologist is out of princeton medical and every time im there its as good as cat scans and eeg's can get

how are you feeling? and how did you crash?

lesdunham

Yes it sucks, but also it sounds like you are some what lucky too. It could have been so much worse. Heal quickly and get back on the bike.

Idioteque

ah, hm, maybe.

I'm feeling okay, took out the stitches and my knee is back in action. took two weeks to recover. details here

https://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=398255

hope you feel better, keep us updated on the knee, a real injury would suck

feethanddooth

your crash sounds crazy! landing on your head?!?! wow. we are both lucky.

got some good advice on knees in your thread. did you get an answer to your question about insurance coverage for the ER? let me know and good luck with your health and your races!

james_robert

man i know how you feel, i got hit head on by a car and it broke my knee cap into multiple pieces, now i have a big huge zipper across the front of my knee thanks to the wires now residing there, and still cant run. but doesnt it feel good to be alive haha!

feethanddooth

yes it does! man, we cyclists have been F'd up! crazy we will endure so much pain for this sport. when i was in the ambulance all i could think was, "when can i ride again?"

scotch

man that sucks. hope you heal fast. that pic gives me the willies.

gr@sshopper

Man, I'll tell you, I've run into parked cars running. I just get into the motion of what I'm doing, and forget the rest of the world.