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Always Wear you HELMET!! (nasty picture)

308K views 201 replies 171 participants last post by  lvdukerider  
#1 ·
I had an unfortunate accident on my bike Monday night: I was talking my Labrodor out for his evening run and it was fairly dark, no moon that I could see. I've done this most every night for about 4 years. Normally I take my wife's cruiser, but this night I was on my commuter bike. I never put on a helmet as there are no cars out and we live in quiet tucked away neighborhood.

The neighborhood I live in has just recently been repaved. In my neighborhood we have open ditches that carry irrigation water to our properties. Well, my Lab was lagging behind and I looked back over my left shoulder to see why. I "guess" I drifted to the right. Next thing I know I am being slammed face first into the ground and my riding glasses were ripped off my face and my feet were touching the ground in front of my head. My body snapped back like a sausage and I concentrated on not passing out. I wiggled my fingers: good, not a quadrapeligic, I wiggled my toes. Whew no broken back.

I crawled across some poor fellow's lawn and banged on his door and yelled for help. I had to convince him to open the door by telling him I was laying on the ground as he could not see me through his peep hole. When he opened the door he screamed and wanted to call 911. I asked him to call my wife instead. He threw me a towel and dialed my wife who had me in the Emergency Room about 8 minutes later.

6 hours and 90 stitches later they let me go:

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The laceration on my forehead is in the shape of an "M" and is 33 cm in length.

Yesterday I went back to look at where I crashed. The ditch goes into a culvert under the street and the shoulder between the road and the ditch is less than 4" wide. I've riden past ditch hundreds of times.....

Oh well always wear your helmet.
 
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#5 ·
Sliceback said:
snip, snip, snip

about 8 minutes later.

6 hours and 90 stitches later they let me go:
darned emergency rooms taking forever to fix someone :D :D :D

my friend just about cut off his thumb skiing a few years ago and we sat in the ER for about 4 hours waiting for the physician to come in to stitch his thumb back together
 
#6 ·
The ER was great. They worked on me the whole time. I had zero wait. Here are some follow up pictures:

This is this morning June 30:

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This is this is 1/2 an hour ago.

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Notice how the swelling is migrating down my face and growing into a double chin. The Dr.s are a little worried about that because some of that is air. They did 3 CT Scans and 2 x-rays today. They are worried the air is either creeping up from my lungs (which they just about ruled out) or from my sinus passages. The CT Scans revealed 4 fractures in my skull. One in my nasal passageway and 3 in my right orbital socket. The fractures do not at this time need surgery.

In all likelyhood the air in my swollen area came in through the tube that was removed today. All the scans were just to rule out other reasons.
 
#8 ·
Your accident just changed.........

....the fact that I don't wear a helmet rolling around the neighborhood. Riding trails on my MTB I always wear a helmet. Riding my road bike I always wear a helmet. But tooling around the neighborhood on my single speed I never wear a helmet. I always figured tooling around the neighborhood wasn't extreme enough to require a helmet (slow speed, no traffic). Never again. Good luck with your recovery.
 
#9 ·
Nice Post

Thanks for the gratuitous facial wound pics, but more seriously thanks for posting the as a warning to all those who think they should not wear helmets for various reasons. There have been tons of studies to show that you should wear a helemt every time / all the time otherwise you will end up badly injured, or worse dead - like the poster above who mentioned the freak accident. Actually that type of thing is not so freaky or uncommon. I cant say I absolutely where my helmet every single time I get on my bike (runs up to CircleK come to mind) but I know I should...
 
#11 ·
A helmet a day keeps the doctor away!

Good public service message! Last night I took a head-into-the-rocks endo while descending a rock garden. Broke my helmet on impact, but I came away with only a couple of modest scratches on my chin (and a zinger on my right knee). Without the helmet, I shudder to think about it.
 
#12 ·
More pictures and a quick update.

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Well the good news is I am healing up. The bad news is that with the fractured skull I have been ordered to not lift anything heavier than my pair of shoes....I even asked about riding and my Dr. said "No Way".

Ahh hell, at least I will live. I am getting my ACL repaired in the mean time since I will have maxed my Medical Insurance Out of Pocket deductible and that way the recovery times can overlap so can get back to the trails, back country, and whitewater ASAP.

ALWAYS WEAR YOUR HELMET (for all you endevers)!

-Mike
 
#16 ·
wow. Thank You! My thoughts are with you as you heal And although I do not know you i am glad to see the marked improvement of the status of your injuries.
But again, thankyou, Im not sure if I would be able to put my ego aside aside for long enough to get a message as important as this out there.
you have done a great service for all of us and for that I am greatful. Heal up soon!
 
#21 ·
Wow, I gotta ask what did you hit? You mentioned a culvert at one point. Did your forehead hit that? I am guessing you hit something metal to get a cut like that.

Also, what was the distance from where your fall started and the culvert--was the culvert several feet below the road?

Bottom line, glad you are on the mend. Thanks for putting some perspective on those simple rides that all too often it is easy to leave the lid at home.
 
#25 ·
Dang dude, glad you're healing up welll!

I can't tell you how many times I take off for a spin around town on my road bike in the summer without a helmet cuz it's too hot. My wife and some friends b!tch at me about it and I joke that I like to feel the wind in my hair...and the concrete on my skull :rolleyes: .

I think I'l print up that first pic of you and hang it in the garage next to my roadie...that'l be a good incentive to put the skid lid on!
 
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