Accident report and PLEASE be careful out there!

[SS109]

I had a little accident while riding recently. I was cresting a hill and, knowing that part of the trail I probably was in 4th gear (I say probably because I don't actually remember the collision at all) and moving, I had a head on with another rider. It was just a bad timing thing where neither of us could see the other. I was told I was unconscious for over 5 minutes and when I "woke up" I wasn't making sense and even got up and tried walked around for a few seconds. Don't remember much except my friend holding me in her lap and telling me not to move, getting in to a police SUV (remote location), a brief moment in the ambulance, and then parts of my hospital stay. I continued to go in and out over many hours.

The good news is I'll be fine and the other rider suffered no major injuries. I have a fractured C4 vertebrae, my whole upper back is stiff and sore, I have a deep contusion on my right shoulder, a sore spot on my left knee, a pulled right groin, and I jammed my left foot toes. Doc said I will make a full recovery but I'll be off the bike minimum 30 days. My follow up with the doc in 30 days will determine whether I get to ditch this neck brace or have to wear it another 30. Just the thought of another 30, ugh.

I'm told my bike is pretty messed up as well but I haven't been up to looking it over. Told I have bent handlebars, possibly bent forks, and a crushed expansion chamber. So, even if I'm good in 30 days it's going to be a while before I can ride my Gasser again. Thankfully I have my KDX still!

The irony of this whole situation is I just made a video (https://youtu.be/R8DJFAySvFo) about being safe by keeping your eyes up and scanning ahead. Anyway, please be careful out there and wear all your gear all the time!

 

[Jakobi]

Hope you have a quick recovery!

 

[(F5)]

Heal like a starfish dude. Glad things aren't worse.

 

[shawbagga]

Must've been a fair prang if ya got bent forks! Hope all.goes well & ya back riding ASAP.

 

[RBrider]

Thanks for the report SS. It could've happened to any of us .

Hope you heal quickly & completely.

RB

 

[BLD]

Thanks for posting! We ride a lot of 2-way trails and public land, and it?s a good reminder to keep a head up in the blind spots. Hope you heal quick, can ditch the neck brace soon, and you didn?t break anything too expensive or hard to replace on the bike!

 

[nknudsen]

Your very lucky! Have a speedy recovery!!

 

[SS109]

I thought I would just do a little update as it's almost been a year (March 31st) since the accident.

I should have updated this topic a long time ago but I guess my brain let it slip. Par for the course since the accident. Concussions suck! Most of the concussion effects have gone away now. Still having some issues with short term memory loss but it's getting better. I also found out later that I was told wrong at the hospital about the injuries I incurred. I did NOT break my C4 at all. I actually broke C1, C7, and T1 and had a disc bulge between C5 and C6. I spent a total of 10 weeks in the neck brace and another 2 weeks before I was cleared to resume all normal activities. Physically I'm 100% and have been riding like normal. I'm actually riding faster now, I don't understand how, but Strava doesn't lie.

My Gasser is still down as I got behind on a lot financially from the accident. I am finally getting to it though and will hopefully be riding it again before the end of summer. It's still going to take a while as I want to send the suspension to Les (LTR) rebuild the engine, and freshen it up a bit. I'll be looking for help on that as I go along.

 

[Doc Brown]

Glad to hear things got better. Hope you'll fully recover one day my friend!

Always enjoy reading your posts, whether here or on TT.

Cheers Doc