The Fall Came in Summer!

Following the 24-ft RV vacation through the Rockies with my girls in June/July I declared I wanted to return to do the region again on a motorcycle (I’ve been riding since I was 19).

So, in mid-August I had a 2007 Harley Davidson 1600 Electra Glide Classic rented online and ready for pick-up in Kelowna, British Columbia (3000kms/2000 miles from where I live in Toronto). I flew in, stayed with friends and then took off solo early the next morning en route to Vancouver (5 ½ hour ride).

I arrived and stayed with an old radio pal from my mid-80’s Calgary days before gearing up for my southerly stop-over in Olympia, Washington, to have lunch with more friends. That was another wonderful, albeit short, visit. I then turned around to head north via the Cascade Mountains. The weather was beautiful. I owned the road through the mountains. There was nobody around and I was in my element.

Unfortunately, everything came crashing down, literally, as I was leaving Fernie, BC, heading to Alberta.

I had already been riding for 12 hours and was going to call it a day at the next stop. The next stop came much earlier and in more of an abrupt fashion than I had planned. A German tourist on a bicycle thought it might be wise to cross the 2-lane highway as I was approaching. It wouldn’t have been a stupid move if she didn’t decide to stop half-way, get off her bike, pull a 180 and head back to the shoulder from whence she came. I had no time to do anything in that nanosecond she decided to turn around. I clipped her front wheel and went into the ditch at 80 kph/50mph!

I screamed out “NOOOOOOO!” as the bike went down hard and fast. I thought it was game over. I remember riding out the fall and subsequent slide, looking at my gloved hand as I was bouncing furiously on my left side. I realized, thank God, I was surviving this whole ordeal. I have thanked God every day since.

So there I was, lying flat on my back in the ditch looking up at the sky. In mere moments I was surrounded by passersby who all declared it was a miracle I was in one piece. I was also lucky I was wearing my full leathers when it happened. As I was loaded into the ambulance I took away six broken ribs. The cyclist also had some fractured ribs and a broken leg. Her husband said they were on a 5-month bicycle trip of western Canada and had been avoiding the highways until that day. They’re back in Germany now.

I stayed at the Elk Valley Hospital in Fernie for eight days andcelebrated my 45th b-day there. Friends I was to visit in Calgary and Red Deer drove all the way to see me (3-4 hour trip).

Oh yeah, here’s another kick in the head. The industrial strength painkillers I was taking frequently made me nauseous. On one specific occasion I reached for the nearby stainless steel bowl and got sick. However, I started choking on my own vomit. The pain from the coughing and choking was so intense it caused me to pass out. In doing so I landed face first on the floor via the edge of a table that opened up my forehead. I needed 14 stitches above my left eye. My front tooth had cut my lip and it was moving slightly. It has since returned to a solid state. I cursed that whole twist of fate because if it weren’t for that specific mishap you’d never have known I was in any accident whatsoever!

After eight long days my Calgary friends picked me up to bring me back to their place where they nursed me for two days before I got on a plane home. They were tremendous….even throwing a little post-birthday celebration!

Upon arriving home in Toronto the hardest part of the journey was the 30-minute car ride from the airport to our house. It was extremely agonizing. The moving and braking and every little bump and pothole reverberating through my left rack of broken, and I mean BROKEN, ribs!

Sleeping was next to impossible. Marlene arranged to have her brother’s LAZY-Boy chair transported to our place so I could sleep in the behemoth contraption at night in the living room. I have to tell you, my gal was nothing short of amazing through this whole event, nursing me and visiting me in the hospital, all the while pregnant and looking after Teaghan…and still working Mon-Fri!

Following the weekend of convalescing at home I had my first family physician’s appointment. After my blood results came through, my doc called me in a panic to say that my hemoglobin was 69! Literally half of what it should be. This meant nothing until he elaborated I had lost half of my blood inside. I had been bleeding internally for 2 weeks and didn’t realize it!

He insisted I get to any emergency room immediately. I did. With memories of my waiting room debacle for my appendix nightmare only months earlier (previous blog post), I waited hours, as I discovered is par for the course. It was determined using CAT scan results that my spleen had been badly ruptured in the accident. That’s where I was losing blood. Doctors wanted to let the issue resolve itself instead of operating and removing it.

However, I had to return to the hospital the following weekend to have a litre-and-a-half of blood suctioned out of my left lung. This was a pleasant procedure. I was tapped like a keg and admitted for another three days.

Only 48 hours after being discharged I was suddenly back in hospital with excruciating pain due to an inflamed section of my bowel that made my burst appendix from this past March seem like a hang nail. I was in hospital for another four days until they confirmed what exactly the problem was: trauma from the accident. Antibiotics settled that situation.

Since August 14^th I have been back and forth to my doctor’s office and the hospital for CAT scans, ultrasounds, X-rays, blood tests, ECGs, etc. But get this. A recent visit to my doctor unveiled that I didn’t break six ribs….the magic number was indeed SEVEN! I also have whiplash in my neck and shoulders and….wait for it…..I have a hernia that needs to be operated on. This was a result from my appendix operation from March. That surgery is still stalking me!!

All in all I’m lucky to be alive.

Eventually I’ll go back and finish the ride I started. I had already done 2300 km in just 3 days. It really was a fantastic summer trip. Until the fall arrived.

Some pre-spill pics here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22194&l=5f518&id=601745288

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 1:50 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.