Conjured Activism

conquering the world one oxymoron at a time

another trip to the ER

July 3, 2006 at 10:01 am · Filed under daily grind

Remember my first trip to the ER? The leg laceration that left me crippled for 2 months? That came just a few days after a sprained ankle.

Last Monday, I once again sprained my ankle, but it was well on its way to recovery when I crashed very badly on my bike yesterday. I think from now on, I will make a mental note whenever I sprain my ankle that it is a sign of worse injuries/accidents to come.

I was out biking with Danilo, Alex, and Jack yesterday when we decided to do a little “race” back to S&P. So I built up to about 25mph going down the straight-away of Albany street, but me being stupid and inexperienced, tried to round the corner onto Pacific while still going full-speed. A combination of not leaning enough and the road not being wide enough, I crashed, head first, into the sidewalk at 25 mph. I saw a big white spark when I felt the top of my head hit the curb.

Reasons I am lucky:

I was wearing a helmet, which absorbed the majority of the impact. You should see the helmet (maybe I’ll take a picture of it and post it). It is f-ing scary. I took it off after I got up from the crash, and I looked at it and shuddered. There is a big dent at the top, and the foam is cracked in multiple places. That would have been my head.
Despite the major head-first impact, I injured no neck vertebrae, spinal cord, anything major that would have left me paralyzed.
Once again, I have some wonderful wonderful friends who stuck by me and made sure I was okay. Eternally grateful to: Danilo, Yoni, Alex, Oaz, and Jack.

The trip to the ER in the ambulance was so that I could get some xrays to make sure I had no major neck injuries, just in case. They also flushed out all of my wounds. I have a few pretty nasty cuts on my left elbow, and ridiculous road rash all up and down my left leg.

Casualties:

My bike. After convincing myself that I am okay, this was the saddest part. Some not-so-pretty scratches on the seat and handlebar, but most of all, a HUGE dent in the top-tube :( It was such a beautiful bike.
My ring. The turtle ring that my dad bought me took some major dentage. I probably have to find a jeweler to get it reshaped :(
Some major skin cells that are now driving my fibroblasts and neutrophils into full-combat mode.

Once again folks, I am okay, and I was so extremely lucky. So how about that luck of the Irish?

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7 Comments »

Katelyn wrote @ July 4th, 2006 at 1:44 am

I’m really glad you’re okay. I hate hills and bikes. Growing up in Mt. Pleasant spoiled me. I like biking on long flat stretches. Sorry about the bike :(

Doris Night wrote @ July 5th, 2006 at 8:29 am

how scary! glad you’re okay and that you were wearing a helmet.

Pandax wrote @ July 5th, 2006 at 11:38 am

OMG, glad to hear you’re not seriously hurt. Hope you still got to enjoy your 4th.

Keltheyounger wrote @ July 5th, 2006 at 5:25 pm

I’m going to be very upset if you get killed before we ever get to meet face to face! Be more careful Kiddo. You’ve got a lot of guts to push a bike past 25 on concrete, but leave the heroics to the test pilots (or become one yourself - at least they have ejection seats!) Glad you’re OK though. Should I send you get well chocolates? :-)

ali wrote @ July 5th, 2006 at 5:50 pm

Shan!!! Be Careful, IM glad you had people there to take care of you

Liang wrote @ July 5th, 2006 at 8:04 pm

Greetings from Kunming, Shan; crikey, you’re at it again! I won’t tell you to take it easy, because I know you won’t. Just promise me you will live to an old age with no severe injuries.

So I’m heading to Hangzhou for three weeks on Saturday; I will certainly contact your grandparents (for a delicious meal, of course :-) if I get the time! Thanks for sending me their contact details mate.

Conjured Activism » the silliness of helmets and other discourse wrote @ January 14th, 2007 at 1:17 am

[…] As luck would have it, the winter I decide to get a season pass is the winter that New England gets no snow. It’s the middle of January, and Killington reported lows in the upper-20s today. The summit was toasty and balmy, and my helmet made me roast, but the important thing is that I wore a helmet. I didn’t wear a helmet last weekend, and I hit my head twice. You would think that me of all people would know the importance of wearing a helmet… But then again, you would think I’d never go near a slope again, but there I was. […]