wow.......just read through all this. i dont get on this forum too often. but i made a couple posts today and i always check out this section.
personaly, i've been down four times in two years. i got my F4i and i didnt do ANYTHING but RIIIIDE. i racked up 30k miles in 10 months on that thing, then i ''totaled'' it in a highside, dragging knee under the Solomons Bridge, and got my '08 RR. i totaled that bike in Feb. in Prince Fred. w/ a very stupid early morning mistake on my way to work (target fixation). i lowsided and slid into a tree, striking it w/ my back and basically bending backwards around it. i remember the bike going down, sliding through the grass......but i ''blacked out'' and dont remember hitting the tree. i came to, and i was lying on my back at the edge of the woods at 5:30am on a side road w/ little morning traffic. not once did a car drive by. i realized i couldnt move my left arm, and i tried to sit up but couldnt (broken tailbone, broken hip socket, fractured middle/lower vertibrae). i wiggled my toes and figured ''ok, i dont think im paralyzed'', and i got my phone out of my pocket. i called 911 but at the time i was unsure of what the name of the road was, that i was on. the phone cut out/died before i could explain where i was and i knew it was no use to try again (my phone was a p.o.s.). i FREAKED OUT........i was screaming, ball'in, yelling.....no cars, no one to hear me and i couldnt get up. I blacked out, came to again and didnt know how much time had passed, but i knew obviously that there was STILL no one around me. i stopped the tears, looked up and the stars and figured ''well this is it''. i didnt know the extent of my injuries but i knew it was the worst pain i've ever felt in my entire life. i blacked out again, and when i woke back up there were flashing lights and people all around me. they were cutting off everything i had on, asking me questions, and getting me ready for a backboard and neck brace. i was put into the medivac and it took everything in me to remain calm. i layed at the edge of the woods for almost two hours before they found me. they tracked where i had made the phone call from through gps on my phone.
i got to PG shock trauma and found out i had broken my left arm, fractured some middle and lower vertibrae, cracked my right hip socket, broke my tailbone, and almost bit completely through my tounge. my family and friends were there and i told them this was it, the pain wasnt worth it and i'd stay off two wheels. well, spent a week at UMMC and had surgery (now have a titanium rod/ten screws in my left arm and a screw in my right hip), spent a week at Kernan treatment facility doing therapy, spent a couple months in a back brace, and almost three months on crutches. the pain is still there, the thoughts of what happened are still there, i bought a back protector, and as soon as i was released to go home i would ride my F4i out of my garage, down my driveway, do a circle in the culdisac, then back in the garage. honestly the worst part is hearing my family talk about it. going to doctor appointments at UMMC and hearing my mom or my g/f talk about their time there not knowing what was going on w/ me or my condition. i've had accidents before.......1st one struck a deer in May of '08 (ambulance, chipped bone in my thumb), highsided in July '08 (medivac, no injuries other than concusion...dont remember ANYTHING from the accident), lowsided my RR in Oct. '08...rear tire caught something slick (rode it home, no injuries), then my last accident 2/16/09 that i spoke about above. i had 14k miles on that RR in five months. riding has been my life for the past couple years and i since have gotten back out there on my F4i. i ride much different, i have alot more in the back of my mind as to what can happen. My family and friends were actually supportive of me getting back out there. they said they woudlnt want to tell me to stop doing something i love so much, but to remember that they want me around.
Von's right when he said you dont always die on these things, but your life CAN still change drastically and you can be paralyzed. all the paramedics, doctors, and therapists were amazed that i wasnt paralyzed. being in the back brace and using the crutches was enough for me. i was in a wheelchair my week at Kernan and i dont think i could live my life so restricted and DEpendent. i wake up in the morning w/ back pains, my left arm has occasional pains......all reminders to me.
to the fallen, my you rest in peace. to the newbs.....GEAR UP, to everyone else, stay safe out there, but have fun.