What a week (slightly graphic photos)

Early Sunday morning I ended up in a motorcycle accident.  As painful as it is, I'm very lucky.  

I'm diligent about my gear.  I was wearing jeans, a t-shirt, a 2 piece Aerostich Roadcrafter, a Shoei RF-1200 helmet, BMW touring boots, and some Klim gloves.

I'm unsure what caused the front wheel to wobble, but it ended up in a tank slapper.  I ended up sliding feet first.

I managed to pick the bike up (2015 KTM Super Adventure) and ride to a gastation (was starting to show low fuel - but it may have been accident related) after filling up the tank, the bike wouldn't start.

So I pushed it up to a parking spot and called an Uber to take me home.

I went and laid down, I think the adrenelin dump caused me to crash out.   

I woke up a few hours later to find myself stuck to all the sheets.


 

I did not think I needed care, but my daughter and my friend forced me to go to the ER around 1:30pm.

At the ER they gave me some IV pain. medicine, did CTscans of my head and abdomen, and Xrays of my chest and right leg/knee.  Everything internal looked fine.

They sent me home with a prescription for 8 Tylenol 3, some 2% lidocaine liquid, and neosporin.  With instructions to put the lidocaine on, wait 30 mins, then take a shower and clean the abrasions.

We went to pharmacy to fill the scripts and they said 30-40 mins.  Asked for the lidocaine immediately, so we could put it on in the car.  Started with my legs and arm and it was pure torture.  I got nauseous and broke out in a sweat.   I decided we could not put it on my abdomen until I had some of the Tylenol3.

We go to my friends house and I take 2 of the Tylenol3 (as prescribed) as I try to prepare myself for the burn of the lidocaine.  Finally survive that and get in the shower while my friend tries scrubbing my wounds - I allowed as much as I could stand, but barely made a dent in anything.  We then smeared neosporin on everything.

My friend brought me back home and I went to bed, after telling my team I was in a minor motorcycle accident and I'd likely be late in the AM.  The discharge instructions said to leave it uncovered.  But during the night, I of course pulled sheets and blanket over me.  So, as expected, I was stuck to the bedding Monday morning.  It wasn't until about noon that I managed to get the lidocaine everywhere and a little after 1pm when I finally made it out of the shower after washing with dial gold.

I wasn't able to work at all Monday.  

Early Monday evening, I started getting very cold.  Initially I turned on the heat (it was 72F) and then realized, oh, I should check for a fever...  berkeley!  101.  And the wounds were looking TERRIBLE.

I called the ER back and they said to come in and let them look at it.  I called my friend and asked for a ride.  We arrived around 1030pm.  The doctor (different from the night before) immediately told me to go lay down on a bed.  They quickly hooked up an IV, pulled some blood to test for an internal infection, and started me on dilauded and a bunch of antibiotics.  The doctor was very nice, she said we need to debride the wounds.  Of course, that terrified me.  But she assured me, she would make sure I was ok.

They gave me another dose of dilauded and prepared to clean the wounds.  It hurt like hell and they gave me another 1/2 (dose or whatever) of the dilauded again.  It was still incredibly painful, but we managed to get through it.

I ended up being the ER for about 27 hours the 2nd time around.  They made sure my white blood cell count came down, but my red blood count was dropping, too,

Eventually they figured it out it wasn't because of internal bleeding, but due to the multitude of bags of antibiotics they pushed in my system.  2 more CT scans and I was sent on my way, with my wounds dressed.  They sent us home with everything to re-dress the wounds again on Thursday and then told me to make an appointment for wound care for Friday.

Injuries to my right hand, elbow, hip, knee, and calf - along with the abdomen.  Bruised all over, of course, but so very lucky.

Wound care was absolutely excruciating on Friday though.  It was one of the most horrific experiances of my life.  I go back next Friday, dressing wounds at home every 2 days before then.

My gear sacrificed itself to save me.

Those jeans were on under the Aerostich.  Even my wallet, which was in front right pocket has abrasions and ruined a credit card.


But...  I know I'm super lucky.  Ridicously lucky.   I slid on the pavement, didn't impact anything, or tumble too much.  


Now for the big UP of the week!!!

I turn 43 on Monday.  I've wanted to be able to purchase a home my entire life.  But having kids at an early age caused everlasting financial issues.

My youngest (19 years old)is currently apartment shopping with her soon to be roommate (they both work production at Tesla's Gigatexas) and so I'll live, happily, alone for the first time since October 2000 - and that was only a 3 month period.   

I signed the contract about 6 weeks after I broke off an engagement for a relationship that had become very unhealthy, for both of us.

Also - I knew of my realtor through Autocross circles (SPOKES in Austin - even though I haven't been active in forever)

I am lucky, my friend was amazing to me, and life is good.  

I had a 2x9" strip of skin removed from my left forearm about 9 months ago. They had to debride that twice, but they had me heavily sedated and it still hurt like hell when I woke up. Your wounds are far larger. You must be one tough mother. Hope you heal up quickly.

Glad you are ok.

I have been in that situation 4 times and it sucks. Two I don't remember as I was unconscious, but the other ones I had to have all clothes cut off and peeled of my skin. 

Keep those wounds clean! 

Regarding the bike. Some motorcycles have a main fuse that pops when the bike falls like that and it will not let it restart. Also batteries sometimes die. I would make sure all fuses are ok. 

Yikes. Glad you're well enough to post. GWS!

None of the wound pics are showing up for me; just the house and gear pics. 

Glad to hear you're well and the gear did the thing. I ride regularly too, and always ATGATT. 

Big congrats on the house. That's very exciting and I hope your wounds heal with little trace. 

It's stories like this that come along every time I started thinking about buying a bike.   My wife thanks you.  

In reply to spitfirebill :

Me too. 
 

@OP: glad to hear you're in the road to recovery!

Ouch. Congrats on your wise decision to gear up. Still- ouch. Best wishes on a speedy recovery. Congrats on the house as well.

I don't ride MC but I have aspirations to do so. But I probably won't in reality. Posts like this make me wonder how all those goofballs ride wearing flip flops and shorts. This should be required reading for a bike license. 

I'm glad you were able to slide out of this one Matthew. Get well.

I had a friend get into a bad accident this year as well. Made a couple other friends sell their bikes.

I rode as a kid and raced BMX. At 11 I knocked out all of my top teeth and more falling off my BMX bike, had to have the teeth wired back in to the bone and lost my front 4. It was then that I decided 2 wheels were not enough for me and stuck with cars.

I am very glad you are recovering and congrats on the house purchase.

You got lucky there sir - stuff happens - the right gear is a real life saver.  Congratulations on the new house.  Take a minute to heal up and enjoy the new place.

I fixed the images.  I'd copied some from google photos - but didnt realise it didn't paste the image, but just the link.

Thanks everyone, yes, I'm super lucky.   Hopefully recovery goes pretty well, I can't believe its been a week already and I'm still in so much pain.  But way better than dead, broken bones, or internal injuries.

Glad to hear that you had the gear on, and glad to see you on the road to recovery! Congratulations on the house, too!

As a fellow motorcyclist with similar gear (One piece Aerostitch Roadcrafter, often with jeans and t-shirt underneath, Schuberth E1 helmet, Alpinestars Touring boots, Held gloves) I'm curious if there is anything you'd do differently in hindsight? Any idea of the approximate speed of the crash? Zero judgment from me regarding any of your personal decisions, just trying to update my individual risk file. Wishing you a speedy recovery, and a happy return to two wheels! 

Glad to hear that you're healing up, and that's great news on the new house - Congrats!

In reply to ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) :

In hindsight, I'd have a 1 piece suit.  

I can't place any fault on the Aerostich - it absolutely did way better than it should have.  

I was moving at a brisk pace. 

In reply to m4ff3w :

Thank you for the validation. Wishing you a speedy recovery, a joyful move-in to your new home, and a happy return to two wheels when you are ready!

Yikes! I get shivers throughout my entire body every time I look at those abrasions.

I fell on a bicycle once and took all of the skin off of the top of my wrist. I went to the ER after a few days after my wipe out and it had started scabbing over and started oozing. They said I had to soak my hand in strong Dawn dish soap solution and rip the scab off. It really hurt a couple of days later when I finally got up the nerve to pull it off.

Hope every thing goes well for you. 

Thanks for sharing including the graphic pics. It's a good reminder for me to quit 'window shopping' safety gear and to actually get it and use it.

Thankfully I've never wiped out on asphalt.  My Dad and uncle do cross country trips with a group of friends every few years.  They were riding in a line passing a car when another car approached in the opposing lane.  The first few made it.  My uncle and the guy in front of him were making the pass, doing 90MPH, when the front guy decided he couldn't make it and grabbed the brakes panic-stop style.  Uncle Joe, not wanting to rear end him, also now had to brake hard, but unlike the front guy, he had no ABS.  He went down hard and skidded a long way on the pavement.  Ground through his gear, through the plating inserts, and halfway though his wallet.  He was 72 at the time, got up, collected the few parts that fell off the bike, and they carried on with the trip.  Both Dad, who was following them and saw the crash, and Uncle Joe bought new and better gear at their next stop.

I caught my finger tip in a bench grinder once and in an instant, I had a V notch ground clear through to the fingernail on the other side.  I can't imagine what the guys I see riding in shorts and a tee shirt look like after high siding on the interstate.  Gear makes a difference!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Glad you were in the right gear and that some stuff is going right.

Yeah, thanks for fixing the pics. That got infected FAST and looked nasty. 

The worst thing about buying gear is that you don't actually know how well it will perform. I ride with a Vanson leather jacket, some good armored gloves (Held? Not sure), and in the winter either leather pants or some heavy insulated pants. All motorcycle specific stuff with pads, armor, etc. In the summer, I will ride in some kevlar jeans with build in knee and hip pads. 

Is it enough? There's only one way to know, and we want to avoid that. 

VolvoHeretic said:

Yikes! I get shivers throughout my entire body every time I look at those abrasions.

I fell on a bicycle once and took all of the skin off of the top of my wrist. I went to the ER after a few days after my wipe out and it had started scabbing over and started oozing. They said I had to soak my hand in strong Dawn dish soap solution and rip the scab off. It really hurt a couple of days later when I finally got up the nerve to pull it off.

Hope every thing goes well for you.

Oh jeez, I can't count how many times as a kid I'd have a big patch of scab that I could push on and make thick green slime ooze out.

Or the time I ripped a chunk of skin off my leg down to the fat layer.  Very little blood.  It was a long time before I could eat a pizza after the cheese layer slipped off, because the dough is exactly what it looked like.  I didn't tell my mom about it because 11 year old kids are stupid.  That took a LONG time to heal.

Wow dude, that's a heck of a story. Congratulations also!

I took a fall on gravel once when I was wearing two layers of jeans. Might as well have been paper mache the way they tore off my body.

Ain't motorcycles fun?!

11 years ago I ran out of talent and traction simultaneously and went for a slide.  I left the comfort of my Concours 1000 at around 50-60 (had been going faster) and slid/tumbled for maybe 100 yards of asphalt before making it to the blessed comfort of a glass and gravel lined ditch.  Your knees and hands look REMARKABLY similar to what mine did.  

Somehow I stayed in my lane and didn't meet any solid objects during my deceleration but my bike went into oncoming traffic and was destroyed by a Caddy driven  by a not-very-amused gentleman who wanted to know what I was going to do about it before I even got my helmet off.  I remember making those little kid who hurt himself noises and thinking "I'm 41 years old I should be more in control than this" but when it hurts....

It was about this time in my life I decided that Miatas beat motorcycles every way possible and I was REALLY glad my girlfriend hadn't been on the bike with me when I went down.  As bad as I felt, the thought of doing that to her haunted me for a while.

Congratulations on the house, that's very cool.

Glad you're on the mend! Every time I think about getting something with 2 wheels, I then think about ATGATT, and then I think about how hot I'd get and my thoughts get back to convertibles. And that is before my wife gets on her high horse about having worked in an ER before. That and I kind of need a trunk.