Well it’s like this… Here I was riding home from work on my 3 day Old Cervelo R3
When all of a sudden this steel bollard
Jumps out in front of me!! Well when I say jumped out in front of me I mean it wasn’t there the day before it was down in the ground it’s the type that disappears into the ground.
I was on my ay home from work on Tuesday the 19th of September at about 4.30pm, I was about halfway through my ride when I hit the Bollard! It was a simple case of Head Down Bum Up looking at my Speedometer on the Bike I looked up just in-time for the HIT and that’s all she wrote!
The next thing I knew I was flat on my back grasping my leg and my back moaning in pain. As luck would have it there was an off-duty Fireman (Steve!) going for his afternoon run he came to my immediate rescue. He said that he needed an excuse not to go for his run and that this was as good as any! Steve, I thank you and my wife and kids thank you for stopping and helping me. The next guy I’d like to thank was the guy that rang the Ambulance for me obviously without him I would have been a lot worse off, also for making an effort to flag them down when they arrived. Whilst We/I was waiting for the Ambo’s to arrive I made the Call that all Wives or Partners dread to get! I called my Wife to tell her that I’d had an Accident and “Not to Worry” and that I would let her know were I was being taken when the Ambo’s arrived, Thirdly the Ambulance Guys were great too. I asked them what I was to do with my Cervelo R3 and at first they said that it would have to be taken to Scarborough Police Station and Get picked up from there, which you can imagine I wasn't too thrilled about not having a lock with me to actually lock it up with and the fact that it was only three days old!! But after some gentle Persuasion (Telling them that you are not getting in the Ambulance unless the Bike goes with us) they agreed to take my Bike too and for that I’m grateful their only stipulation was that I didn’t go into arrest! As it would make it very difficult for them to work on me with the bike in the back too………
On arrival to the Emergency Department of Sir Charles Gardiner Hospital
I was wheeled in from the back of the Meet Wagon (Ambulance) into the ER as I watched the Ambo’s get my Bike out of the Ambulance. Another male Nurse ran out the Ambulance to take a closer look at my Bike, It turned out that this nurse was a keen cyclist too, once my Bike was Safely inside the ER I was looked at by one of the Nurses and asked all the usual questions Name, Age and was I allergic to anything? Once all the “Nitty Gritty” was sorted out I was wheeled into the Corridor of the ER as they needed the examination room as you will find out later. I waited in the corridor for a while until my wife and Parents arrived with the gravest looks on their faces as you could imagine. They were understandably concerned for me and my health.
The Next stop for me was to have X-ray’s taken of my Damaged Bits….. so let the wait begin………we waited in the corridor of the ER for what seemed to be hours but eventually I was wheeled into the X-ray room and had X-rays of my back and my right leg to assess the Damage. I was wheeled back out into my favorite corridor!
When you have a spare few hours to hang around in an ER you get to experience some strange People to say the least, their was this lady in the cubicle next to me before I was moved that did not stop winging about anything & everything it seemed that the nursing staff couldn’t do anything right for her down to turning all the lights off in the ER so that she could get some sleep!! How inconsiderate!
Upon return to my corridor the Doctor came and went then they came back again to discuss “My Options” now that we had an idea of my Injuries which were:- A broken Right Leg which had a Butterfly or Wedge Fracture about 10cm Below my Knee Cap and a Broken Back (L1) this was classed as a Stable Break therefore their would /will be no permanent damage to my back thank god as I was a little concerned when he first told me.
The next problem was the right leg from speaking to the first doctor it seemed that it was a forgone conclusion that I would have to have a steel plate fixed to the outside of my shin bone with screws. Now as you can imagine I wasn’t too thrilled with that prognosis because their were too many what if’s like what if there was an infection and what if the plate Snapped! That’s what the doctor told me could happen!! The other option was to just to manage the Beak with a Cast but that too was fraught with complications of not knitting back together properly and it taking over 6 months to heal properly. So that night I didn’t sleep awfully well! They told me that I had to sign the consent form for whatever surgery they were deciding on doing the next day!
The next day came and I was prepped for theatre all my piercings were covered with tape coz none of them can come out without Pliers other than my Tongue Stud which I took out just before I went under the General Anesthetic. The Surgeon and I discussed the “Revised” Plan of attack being that they were now going to put a Titanium Rod down the centre of my Bone so that I would pull the Butterfly Break back into alignment complete with a couple of Titanium Screws top and Bottom to apparently stop the Bone from splitting!! Ouch!
So in I go for the Operation at 8.30am on the 20th of September for what was supposed to be a 2 hour operation it was 2.30pm when I was back up on the ward but I believe that I would have been in recovery for an hour or so. I looked down at my right leg and saw that it was all bandaged up complete with a heavy duty cast and I couldn’t feel a thing it was great the Synthetic Morphine really did the Job of stopping the Pain it may have also been the Nerve Block (kind of Like an Epidural) that was stuck in my Groin from the op that was still wearing off.
The family members started arriving to see how I was after the operation; it was a little difficult to stay with it when you have all the good stuff in you. My eyes were rolling back and I was a little out of it to say the least.
They took the cast off on Friday, now if I said that it was easy is an understatement! Firstly the Physio tried to unwrap the cast with no success then he tried these Scissors that looked like you would cut chicken wings and bones with again to no avail so the last resort was to break out the big boys toys the Grinder! Yes the Grinder well this was a special type of grinder the type that doesn’t cut you!! If that makes sense. Now that the cast was off the leg was feeling a whole lot lighter and better the next thing they had to do was change the dressings where they cut me open to put the Titanium Rod and Screws in and to close up the cuts I got from hitting the Bollard, this is what I saw when the dressings were taken off. Now I’ll warn you coz it aint the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen………
Here she is in all her beauty I have 28 staples in and around my knee and 4 down at my ankle 32 of charley Gardiners best all up and their due to be taken out tomorrow the 3rd of October which I’m not really looking forward too. But they say that they don’t hurt when they come out but I’ll be the judge of that one tomorrow!!
So as I type this Latest entry into my Blog I sit here on a Jason Recliner with my right elevated watching Day time Television (Oprah)….. I never thought I’d say these words but I can’t wait to get back to work………….
Here she is in all her beauty I have 28 staples in and around my knee and 4 down at my ankle 32 of charley Gardiners best all up and their due to be taken out tomorrow the 3rd of October which I’m not really looking forward too. But they say that they don’t hurt when they come out but I’ll be the judge of that one tomorrow!!
So as I type this Latest entry into my Blog I sit here on a Jason Recliner with my right elevated watching Day time Television (Oprah)….. I never thought I’d say these words but I can’t wait to get back to work………….
