Bennington Triumph Bash

Hey all.

Some of you know this from other sources, many of you don't, but there's a good reason I've been mostly absent around here lately. On August 10, I got hit by an SUV while riding my dad's old '83 Kawasaki home from work (I'd ridden it to work to show it to my boss, who was interested in picking up a beginner bike, and this one would have been ideal).

Long story short, my right femur was broken in three places and my head got slammed to the ground -- thank god I was wearing an excellent Shark helmet, which prevented me from sustaining a major head injury (I just ended up forgetful for a few days). The day after the accident, my femur was bolted back together with an internal rod (no cast, thank god!). I was in the hospital for a week, then in a rehab facility for about a week and a half; now I'm staying at my friend Keith's house, since my apartment is not at all handicapped-friendly. I'm doing well overall, and the leg is improving on a daily basis. Mobility is excellent, and strength is gradually returning, though I'm still not allowed to put any weight on it. I'm getting around, though, with the use of a walker, crutches, or wheelchair, depending on the situation.

My busted femur:




Repaired, proximal end:




Repaired, distal end:




I can't wait to be able to start putting weight on my leg.

--mark

Geeze Mark, sorry to hear what you've been through. Glad you are recovering, hopefully to better than ever. Man, it hurts like hell just looking at those pictures. I just came back from a cross country ride, and saw more than my share of A-hole drivers and A-hole deer. But unlike in your case, none of them left a lasting impression luckily. Speedy recovery buddy.

Martin

OUCH! Hope you recover quickly Mark.

Those are some interesting pictures. I am glad you are getting better. I caught a comment you made about a broken leg on another post and asked Robin if that was something we were supposed to know about. You should be well healed by the time the next bash rolls around.

LoVel wrote:I caught a comment you made about a broken leg on another post and asked Robin if that was something we were supposed to know about.

Haha, yeah, unfortunately notifications were entirely random. I was surprised to find that some people who are just passing acquaintances knew all about the accident, while good friends of mine had no idea. Seemed to be based mostly on geographic proximity.

--mark

Robin and I would like to send you a get well gift. Email me your current mailing address.

paulw4064@gmail.com

ps from robin....
jeeezzzzzz......that sucks...i see peeps like that every day. how long are you non wt bearing on the leg?
good thing your head didn't take a beating and you only had the fuzzies for a few days.
are you doing any rehab now or are you waiting til you can stand on it?
where did you go for rehab?
curiosities from my line of work.
robin

LoVel wrote:Robin and I would like to send you a get well gift. Email me your current mailing address.

Thanks! I've emailed you with the address.

LoVel wrote:ps from robin....
jeeezzzzzz......that sucks...i see peeps like that every day. how long are you non wt bearing on the leg?

Not sure yet... I have a followup ortho appointment tomorrow at which I expect they'll tell me when I can start putting a little weight on it.

LoVel wrote:good thing your head didn't take a beating and you only had the fuzzies for a few days.
are you doing any rehab now or are you waiting til you can stand on it?
where did you go for rehab?
curiosities from my line of work.
robin

Yeah, I got lucky with my head -- I did have a bit of bleeding on the brain, but not too bad. My Shark helmet took the brunt of the abuse -- liner definitely got compressed. Saved my life. At this point I'm all back to normal.

As for rehab, I spent a week and a half at Fanny Allen, and they prescribed some home PT for me after release, but the second time the guy showed up I had made so much progress that he told me he couldn't really do anything else for me and I should wait till I was prescribed outpatient PT at tomorrow's followup appointment.

So everything is going as well as can be expected, and I'm expected to make a full recovery. It'll just take some time, unfortunately cutting out the best part of the riding season.

--mark

Holy shit Mark! I ran into Marty last night and he told me what happened to you. But I admit I wasn't prepared for that "break"! Jesus, snapped in two! But more important, no lasting head injuries. Glad you're on the mending path now. Man, as bad as it was, it could have been so much worse. (I'm sure you've heard that several time by now.) Hey, you're a big, strong German. You'll be fine soon!
I take it you were broadsided. Damn.

Damn, I haven't signed in for a few weeks I then I see this! Glad you're ok & mending. Like I always say, that that doesn't kill me only makes me stronger.

Contrats on the house, too.

Alan

Aw man, what a bad tale to tell. That must have really hurt.
But glad you didn't get killed and that you have a cool new house in which to mend.

Mark,
I'm sorry to hear about this & hope that you're back on your feet in short order.
Sounds like you had no chance to avoid this guy/gal & I hope your bills are covered, too.
Met you in passing @ the last 2 BTBs & it's folks like you who make it what it is.
Speedy recovery to you...

Forgot to post this earlier, but I stopped by my apartment on Sunday and found the helmet and boots I'd been wearing at the time of the crash. Behold.

Hard hit to the back of the head:


Strange random hit to the side of the head:


Internal padding is compressed in the back of the helmet:


Something tore a hole in the side of my right boot big enough for the toe cap to protrude:


Scuffing on the outside of both boots, well up past the ankle:


The helmet is a Shark RSI, and the boots are Matterhorn Model 102494.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Shark saved me from a severe head injury or possibly death. I'm not at all convinced that most other helmets would have done as good a job protecting my head -- the Shark is DOT and ECE 22.05 approved, a combination that many argue results in lower G-forces transmitted to the brain than a Snell rating (Motorcyclist magazine did a long, detailed report on helmet standards and testing a few years back; if you haven't read it, you should).

It also seems pretty obvious that if I'd been wearing sneakers, my feet would be mangled. It took a lot of force to tear open the toe box of the right boot, and all the scuffing on the outsides of both boots would have equalled serious road rash and possibly major ankle injuries without that thick layer of leather in the way. On longer rides I wear motorcycle-specific boots, but for going to work I wear the Matterhorns because they make more sense to wear around the office all day long.

My jacket is rashed in a number of places as well, but it's a Fox Creek Leather jacket made of extremely thick naked leather. As such, there's no damage to speak of, and the scuffing will be invisible after the next time I condition the jacket with leather dressing.

End result: I sustained no road rash whatsoever anywhere on my body. Only injuries I sustained were the broken femur, a lot of bruises, and some very minor bleeding on the brain caused by the sudden deceleration of my head.

ATGATT, boys and girls! Even if you're just riding three miles home from work.

--mark

I only ride two miles home from work but it is right through the heart of downtown. I usually wear my harness boots if I don't wear my motorcycle boots. I never wear sneakers.
I must say I do usually just wear jeans but I always wear my jacket. Not always leather as I currently don't have one that fits.

I was actually not wearing motorcycle pants either, but rather a pair of double-knee Carhartts. Not sure what shape they ended up in from the crash; they got shredded afterwards when the paramedics cut them off me, and they were thrown out before I could see them. But considering that the skin on my legs was intact, the Carhartts must have held up okay!

--mark

Ran into Mark this past Saturday in Burlington. He is healing fast! Wow! He hast lot a lot of weight too, he was in great spirits.



Tito


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