Well a funny thing happened on my bike ride yesterday. I was coming home from Alpine and turning the corner by the old Highland city building (across from Heritage Park) when the tires on my bike lost traction and I started to slide. I apparently over-corrected because the next thing I knew I was headed for the curb which I hit, sending me over the handlebars. After that everything is a little fuzzy, but apparently their was a sign post that I struck which protected me from hitting the dangerously soft grass right next to it. The first person on the scene was an emergency room nurse who prevented me from getting up until they could determine the extent of my injuries (no real danger of my getting up--the extent of my injuries were doing a nice job of keeping me flat on my back). One of the bystanders called Susan to let her know what had happened and someone else called 911. The EMT's, ambulance and three police cars--all with lights flashing--soon arrived. (Susan said she could see the flashing lights from over a mile away.) At this point everythng got even more fuzzy. I remember people asking me my name and the day of the week over and over again, so I suspect I was giving the wrong answer some of the time. Someone asked me the current month and all I could remember was that it was summer. I don't remember them putting on the neck brace or putting me in the ambulance or the trip to the hospital but I remember the emergency room, the x-rays and the debate over whether they should put stitches in the gouge next to my eye.
When all was said and done, they put 10 stitches in my forehead, left the gouge under my eye alone (if they tried to stitch it would have left a dimple because there was too much skin missing). I had a severe cervical strain, other scrapes on my face, a very sore shoulder, a bruise on my knee, a jammed finger and a bicycle helmet that is now unusable but undoubtedly prevented much more serious injuries, and, thanks to the well-placed sign post, no hard to clean grass stains on my clothes.
So now I'll take it easy, take my pain meds and try to recover.
Here I am at the hospital before they did all the cleaning, sewing and bandaging.
5 comments:
Well at least you're smiling. I'd say the sign post had it coming.
Oh, Dad, I am SO glad that you are all right! I hope the pain meds do their job, and that you get better really soon. LOVE YOU!
P.S. Seriously, grass strains are a PAIN! :D
Dad's a true baller. Love you Dad!
Good grief. I have stress angina all over again just reading this. I'll try not to make it into a macabre family two-fer by staying upright on my bike this weekend.
Man, that does not look fun! We hope your recovery is speedy.
Side note: you're the fourth, yes fourth person related to me that has been in a bad bike accident within the past few months. Jon, Tami, and Michael each had pretty good falls lately. Michael actually broke his hand, collarbone, and messed up some other things as well. I don't think I'll be on a bike anytime soon.
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