Crash and injuries discussion (posts moved from another topic)**GORE WARNING**

AndyW "Apparently I was t-boned by a lorry turning right.......at this point I should say, bloody obvious potential risk so why didn't I perceive the danger?? (years of experience, not a youngster [no disrespect but 'young, dumb and....' does apply often;-], 'Ride to Arrive', IAM advanced etc). That's a question that bugged me big time for ages after, obviously my decision to proceed was made on some mis-judgement somewhere along the line but I'll never know (all 'witness' statements were laughable "came out of no-where...." "came past me at speed....")."

You must not let this bug you. I have spent the last 30 years flying professionally and during that time misjudgements / errors have happened and as a professional you question yourself. How did I miss that ? Its a human failing I'm afraid that sometimes our brains just do not work how they should. As an experienced rider you know perfectly well of all the dangers when filtering and so you look for those tell tale signs of danger but if they are not there or the brain has simply ignored the input for some unknown reason, then we proceed because we feel safe. If I had a brain I would be dangerous ! Anyway thanks for the post its a reminder to us all how shit can happen when we least expect it. Glad to see you have not been put off I think you are braver than me.

 

Mark H, not quite sure how your consultant worked out that your break was amputation. Maybe he was anti-biker ( i kid you not).

I had a similar break a few years ago (albeit only the one bone) and despite me being told the break was in a bad place due to being so close to the joint, no consultant ever talked about anything other than a pretty complete recovery. I don't have the x-rays taken on the day before the op but do have these. Is your titanium still there?

 

Hi duke63,

Like I pointed out - I'm no medic but that's exactly what he said and was pretty adamant with it. I was pretty speechless for a moment then quickly went into denial as you can imagine. The thing you can't see in the X-ray was that my hand was almost completely 'clawed' when he did his assessment and I was suffering from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome so everything was a bit more uncomfortable than normal as well. He might well have been anti-biker and wasn't overly impressed when I told him my ambition was to get a race licence when my recovery was complete to be honest! (which I did )

The pins have since been removed but the plate remains and I've had a couple of further ops involving the Carpel Tunnel area trying to sort out the nerve damage.

All the best, Mark H

 

Total admiration for you Andy, I thought I'd had it bad, you make me feel like I'm moaning about nothing.
This thread is one of the best on here IMHO

And MarkH I don't think I could have coped with no hands, I'm guessing you found out who your friends really are.

And just for the record bikers spidy sense is awesome especially if you've ridden for along time, but it cant compensate for what other people are going to do. Don't dwell on it just learn from it and move on.

 

jcmental,

You've hit the nail on the head there - pain is one thing but the absolute helplessness (and at times humiliating) feeling is sometimes the worse thing in the world to try and cope with.

Mark H

 

Yep, people don't seem to realise, the pain and injury is what you see, it's the effect it has on very body around you that hurts the most. My son and wife were brilliant with me, I almost died because of a reaction to the intravenous antibiotics, 4 hours after that picture was taken with me reading the MCN, it broke me when I saw my wife face and the panic in my sons eyes. I'll never get over that it kills me just to type it here and it was over 4 years ago.

 

In full agreement with all that you say. (Another pilot - of 40 years military and civil- now retired). I feel very lucky to have not injured anyone or killed myself through errors I have made. I still make mistakes on the bike and feel lucky to have survived unscathed. So far - touch wood..........!!!

But as they say ' If you're not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!'

Safe riding to all bikers!

 

Flippin mental. Hope you guys make some sort of recovery as they are not the sort of injuries you will ever be without.

A good mate of mine commuted by bike and went out on a frosty morning back in 2008 I think.

He lost it on the exit of a small roundabout round the back of Warwick Uni which is literally down the rd from his house. He hit a bus stop pole and smashed his pelvis to bits and nearly died.

Here are a couple of pics....

 

I owe them big time, and I'll never forget that.

 

Blimey guys, no pictures of me but my beloved 916 was written off 14 years ago today. Andy's pictures have made me realise how lightly I got away once more from a 60mph impact speed

 

The before pic.
I was lucky enough to be in decent kit, I only shattered my right shoulder blade, dislocated a finger, twisted/did something weird to my right ankle/foot (nothing broken) & banged my head, knees & gentlemans vegetables very very hard, which resulted in various internal injuries including the loss of sight in the majority of my right eye.
I was back at work & riding my other bike (R1) in 4 months, although having to drive an auto with a steering wheel ball as I was rather sore

 

This picture was taken the day my spacial frame was removed. Didn't want to wait an extra 2 weeks for theatre so they suggested a couple of swigs of Brandy!! Worked though.

This was the result of an Enduro accident.

 

And these 2 were end of last year, result of playing on a BMX bike with the kids....