And the moral is, don't post on STW when stoned on painkillers!
My irational ramblings over Christmas clearley passed for normla then 😛
Good to hear you're healing well. I can really recommend some DX Fauxleys...
Really glad to see youre making a recovery, we all say things sometimes we dont mean to, i think in the circumstances you should be allowed to get away with it.
Oh and im sure a few tins of biscuits to the relevant hospital departments, and obviously the local paramedics would be very nice for them.
Good news. Nice post. Get well soon 8)
Nice to see you back relatively OK. Sounds like you really did a number on yourself, I'd be interested to see more of that brake caliper but one distinct possibility, depending on location, is that you got a branch in it - it's happened to me at lower speeds, but it'd be obvious from the rotor.
Very glad to hear that you are on the mend, hope things continue to go smoothly for you.
get well soon. sounds like you have a fair old path yet to travel, but that your chin is up. 8)
all the best.
Wow that was some read!
Good to hear you are on the mend.
Thanks for the update and sounds as though you're really going through the mill. 🙁
Completely understand how the head reacts to an accident as after mine I became very anxious that it may have been a hit and run - no memory of it at all.
Hang in there, small steps literally, you'll get there. 🙂
Good luck mate. Just read your thread for first time. Healing vibes! I had a bad eye socket fracture in 2004 from a bike crash.. My fault! My teeth are still a bit numb!
The mental shock is as bad as the crash. I think I understand what you went through . After a bad stack the shock makes us desperate to get back to "normal" that I think is why you weren't thinking straight and wanted clothes back etc. it's a massive shock with injuries like yours. Mine certainly took me a few years to get over and rationalise. The worse bit I remember was having the nose packing in.. Good luck and don't rush getting back.
More healing vibes here! Glad to hear you're on the mend.
I'm pleased to hear you're recovering Andy.
Good to hear you're on the mend. It feels like a long time to get back in the saddle, but at least the trails may have dried out a bit!
Get well soon!
Glad to hear you're recovering.
Your drugged rant doesn't beat the guy whose partners life I saved from a severe Asthma attack. I bumped into him a few weeks later and he went into a full rant about how I must have her false breast as the hospital certainly didn't. This was in front of load of his friends, he went a bit red when I asked how she was now that she was out of hospital.
People have funny responses to various stressful and emotional times. This was yours.
Good luck with the rest of the healing.
Thanks all 🙂
Yes, as Project suggests, plan over next week or two is to get out and thanks those who need to be thanked personally. Cheers Drac, I'll remember that one for the paramedics!
[i]he went a bit red when I asked how she was now that she was out of hospital[/i]
I bet he felt a right tit.
Or maybe not, if that's the missing one...
Get you back to work, Andy. The crazy people here make anything you've ever typed appear rational and erudite.
check your caliper bolts kids...
brakes - Membercheck your caliper bolts kids...
Added a mental note to do this when reading Andy's update. Watched Closer to the Edge yesterday and their mechanical failures are proper scary!
TooTall - Member
Get you back to work, Andy.
Daytime tele is enough to drive anyone back to work!
brakes - Member
check your caliper bolts kids...
At the risk of getting "he was on a road bike?!? he deserved it" posts 😉 I should point out I was on a road bike and I'm talking roadie stile brake caliper - the bolt being the one that goes through the top of the fork. It was old and there was a tiny bit of 'play' in it but up until the crash but it was all functioning fine (even pull, not done up too loosely / tightly etc).
check your caliper [u]bolt[/u] kids (and roadies)
Interesting read and whilst I'm didn't agree with his initial sentiments, hes subesquently clarified things and its great news he appears to be on the mend.
I've got to say that this type of post doesn't exactly do my riding confidence much good...that sounds like a nasty nasty crash...
anyhow, I'm off to check my brakes..
hope you're back on the bike soon...
:-)Thought I’d come back to this one. For a few reasons.. It’s been 9 months now. I mentioned above about some of the mental (psychological) issues I’ve had. (Starting this thread being one of them!) It’s only been relatively recently that amongst my other injuries I’ve come to realise the significance of the bang on my head.
For lots of reasons (including the other injuries being more pressing at the time) no-one picked up on the neurological issues and what I now know was the brain injury I suffered.
As a result of breaking my jaw (another thread! http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/broken-jaw-recovery) I was sent to see a Speech Therapist and it was her that realised that my speech was being affected as much by neuro issues as much as my jaw being broken. Cut a long story short that led to me finally being referred for neuro assessments and eventually treatment.
One of the therapists mentioned James Cracknell and his wife Bevs book in which they document his recovery following him being hit by a truck (on Route 66) whilst crossing the US in 2010.
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It’s been tough reading it but at the same time a useful part of the (necessary) healing process. So many “me too” moments; all helping me understand that the effects of the injury are ‘normal’: no memory still of the accident, the days before and weeks afterwards, some memories of things that have been ‘implanted’ (as others have told me since), others that I’m convinced are real but are not, some vivid ‘snippets’ (hearing my wife’s voice for the first time, crying in front of the kids).
Also comforting, but at the same time worrying, reading that my experience is all too common: personality changes, uncharacteristic outbursts, driving recklessly, anxiety, stress and depression. I’m still hoping I won’t be one of the 40,000 of people who have suffered a brain injury end up in prison, or the 75%+ who end up divorced!
..On that note. The good news is that with the support of his wife, family and friends, James Cracknell has made amazing progress. Like many brain injury sufferers he may never ‘recover’ fully but together they’ve done a fantastic job of re-building their lives.
The main reason for coming back to this then is to thank my wonderful wife, family and friends for all their support. I’ve largely been avoiding computers and screens for much of that nine months (again common I now learn) and I’ve not been on the Forum much but, as is the case with so many other things I’ve not been able to enjoy this year (the odd beer and riding with my mates being amongst them) I’m looking forward to being able to getting back as my recovery progresses.
Happy Christmas everyone, here’s looking forward to 2013 🙂
ooooh, just read this (I think for the 1st time)
Really pleased to hear you're doing well, AA
I came off a road bike at the bottom of a hill in exactly your circumstances when I was about 20 (brake detatched from frame and ran along with the wheel until the cable pulled tight). Luckily I seem to have managed most of a somersault before hitting the deck and only got a glancing blow on the side of my head plus a skinned back. I lost about a day of memory, mostly permanently apart from remembering the tetanus jab at the hospital.
I'm a tetchy bugger, and very forgetful - just wish I could blame the crash 😉
You possibly don't remember kindly helping me out with gps routes around Brizzle ages ago AA. I do though. But best of luck for 2013. Hope your recovery continues.
What a story, I feel particularly unqualified to comment, but I will in STW style....good man, great strength and best wishes for 2013.
Rich
Did the Paramedic ever get a thank you for the treatment received?
Head injuries are fascinating things. Good to read that you are healing well. Best of luck for a full recovery.
(I found) Head injuries have a ripple effect through time. I have an erratic short term memory but also still some anger issues.
Keep going on the healing OP 🙂
bren2709 - Member
Did the Paramedic ever get a thank you for the treatment received?
Indeed 🙂 I had lots of people to thank, I made a series of visits and sent a load of cards and emails.
I went back to the A&E ward, was weird speaking to people who obviously remembered me but who I had no memory of.
I think I mentioned above that an off-duty nurse saved my life at the scene(it turns out that I'd stopped breathing). I managed to get a card to her via the newsagents that I crashed outside of but they said she wanted to stay 'anonymous' and was 'just doing her job'. A true 'angel'..
The daughter of the owner of the newsagent was working at the time, heard the crash, came out in the street and dialled 999. She burst into tears when I went in and explained who I was. "I thought you were going to die" she said. In many ways it's that that has been toughest - not dealing with my injuries but trying to get to terms with how the accident affected everyone else - especially my family. Still brings tears to my eyes thinking about poor wife getting that dreaded phone call.. ..physical injuries are now well on the mend, the mental ones are still 'undergoing treatment'!
What a story, I feel particularly unqualified to comment, but I will in STW style....good man, great strength and best wishes for 2013.
+1
hora - Member
(I found) Head injuries have a ripple effect through time. I have an erratic short term memory but also still some anger issues.Keep going on the healing OP
James Cracknell's wife tells the story in the book of the time he lost it and started to strangle her. She was on the verge of passing out when something thankfully 'clicked'.
My best so far was losing it in the main branch of Boots one busy Saturday when the poor phamarcist refused to sell me more than the permitted 2 packs of paracetamol!
Erratic short term memory - know exactly what you mean! Interesting what I manage to forget (where I parked the car, what I went into the shop for etc etc). My wife says I've just become like most other men!
How long ago was yours Hora? They tell me that the brain can continue to recover for 'years' so hopefully your 'ripples' are still subsiding?
I have an erratic short term memory...
Do you find you're always forgetting you only just bought another frame? 😉
AA, hope your recovery continues ok. If it's any consolation I've never knowingly hurt my brain and I forget everything and am not terribly even tempered either...
just a thought... I've got a set of fauxleys... As a paramedic I'm more than happy to post them to you!
It's 2.50 am, and I've just read through this whole thread! I'd forgotten even posting on it at the beginning, but then I'd lost track of it. What a story, I'm so, so glad that you're on the mend, and I send my very best wishes to you and your family for your ongoing recovery, and for a great 2013. 😀
Missed this first time round but reading it takes me back over 30 years to a car accident I was involved in; so many similarities (and hazy memories). I had a gold Dunhill cigarette lighter returned to me some time after the event after it was found at the (rural) scene.
My healed bones still occasionally ache, my memory can still be erratic, but I've enjoyed 36 active and fulfilled years since.
So, all the very best to you for a continued and successful recovery.
Well that's a read!
Hope it all continues to improve!
Speedi recovery dude and all the best for 2013. 😉
meehaja - Member
just a thought... I've got a set of fauxleys... As a paramedic I'm more than happy to post them to you!
Haha, cheers meehaja but I was told that the real Oakleys saved me from almost certain eye injury - unlike Fauxleys they stayed intact and although I broke cheekbones and eye-socket my eyeballs survived. 😆
Thanks too for all the 'be strong' comments and best wishes, they really help 😀 And thanks too for not saying "time to get over it and move on" - I am moving on, slowly, but still have stuff to deal with along the way..
..today my eldest daughter, the beautiful teenager that is Daisy told me about how she found the bravery to hold my hand when she first came to see me in hospital (she never normally does any contact) I was about to well-up again when she kindly added "your face was so bad you looked like Stavros" (the Dr Who character)!
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(On day five and after surgery when I apparently looked "much better"!)
Glad you're on the mend AA, have a great Christmas and New Year!
A bump for the one year anniversary. For lots of reasons it's interesting to come back to this one occasionally 😉
I'm not sure if I mentioned it above but a nurse at the scene saved my life. My wife was told by the police that she ran through the traffic. She sorted out my airway and held my head to keep my kneck stable until the paramedics arrived and collared me, also saving me from potential spinal damage that could have left me paralysed.
Despite trying I never managed to track her down. I was told that she was from the same nearby hospital that I was sent to but that drew a blank.
A few weeks back I thought it would be a good idea to get the local rag (The Bristol Evening Post) to run a story saying "thanks" to everyone who's been in involved somehow in getting me back to where I am now, starting with the driver behind me for not running over me and the nurse who came to my aid:
The phone rang on Tuesday and..
..it was the poor driver of the car that was directly behind me. We had a chat which helped fill in a few gaps for me. She didn't know whether I'd survived and was really pleased to read the story. Clearly shaken by the whole experience I think it helped to be able to talk to me.
Then the following day I got a call from the prison in the same village. They told me that they thought the nurse worked there, she'd mentioned to a colleague about the accident a year ago but was away that day.
I spoke to her on Thursday. Lorraine. She was as lovely as I imagined she might be. The only thing was she has a distinctive accent (soft southern Irish) and my wife recognised her voice immediately which brought back tearful memories of the last time they'd spoken.
She said that she was "just doing her job" and I made it clear to her that she'd done much much more than that. I said that I was told she'd run through the traffic to get to me and she said that she "could see it was bad". She stayed with me until the paramedics arrived. She event sent the (off duty) police inspector who arrived to get a bag to put my kit in. And although the police wanted to phone my wife, she said she wanted to do it as she thought it would be better to hear a woman's voice (which my wife said it was, if there was ever a way to break such news she did it in the kindest way possible).
I told her about my injuries, how I'd got on in hospital and since, and she was really pleased to learn that I was back on the bike. (She rides with her family too).
In so many ways a nice way to mark the anniversary. One circle in time closes..
Did you get your sunglasses back ?
we'll find out in 12 months time 😉
weeksy - Member
Did you get your sunglasses back ?
Sadly not, but.. those fantastic folks at Oakley UK took pity on me and gave me 40% off a new pair - yeah, I know that's still 400% more expensive than a pair of CE ones from Screwfix etc etc but still..;-)