Riding a bicycle is one of the most fun ways to get healthy - Wrecking a bicycle is one of the least fun ways to get hospitalized

For those of you who've known me long enough - I'd like to thank you for being my friends throughout the ordeal I suffered on this very date (at 6:30 p.m. local time). For those of you who haven't known me long enough:

I was an avid BMX rider and frequently took my son and several of the neighborhood kids on rides all around town. Our favorite spot was the local university as the traffic was minimal, the hills steep and the police either friendly or half asleep. On this date a year ago, my son and I packed up our bikes, invited two younger friends over with their bikes and we took a jaunt to the university.

On the way up a very large hill, my son stopped to complain that the bike he was riding (we have several - this was a Hoffman EP - a flatland bike) had a "funny noise" coming from the front wheel. We switched bikes (I was riding my Trek, Vert II) and caught up with the group. I didn't think any more of the noise (I'm also pretty deaf). On our way down the hill (going as fast as we possibly could as it wasn't crowded at the university at all, it being between semesters), we were on a raised walkway when some drunken (I found out later) pedestrians stepped in front of us. My son and another kid jumped off the walkway in front of me (a small drop of about three feet) and I followed. What happened next was only evident after the crash and I don't remember ANY of the actual accident.

Apparently, my front wheel collapsed, throwing me over the handlebars, where I slid until I hit a concrete parking block (I guess I hit it with my shoulder). I don't remember a thing, but became conscious when an ambulance attendant was shining a light in my eyes saying, "we're going to have to cut off your shirt." The only humor in the whole incident was also somewhat ironic as my t-shirt read: Keep Staring, Maybe I'll Do a Trick!

To make a long story short - I ended up with a compound fracture of my collarbone (it was sticking out of my shoulder, lots of blood), broke two ribs, shattered my right wrist and punctured a lung (probably with one of the broken ribs). Of course there were the various cuts and abrasions that go along with this type of accident. Because of my punctured lung, the doctors in my local hospital refused to operate and sent me to a Level I Trauma Center in a large city nearby. I spent a week in the hospital there, and returned home to the absolutely WORST part of the whole ordeal. After my first visit to the orthopedic doctor, I caught MRSA (otherwise known as the flesh-eating bacteria). It was pure hell and made the accident feel like an ice cream social. I became severely feverish, diseased and irritable until the infection was somewhat under control.

It eventually required an extra FOUR surgeries to get the infection under control and get my wrist to heal somewhat better (I have no range of motion). The MRSA softened the bones so my wrist had to be immobilized for six weeks (oddly the same amount of time I had IV antibiotics) with an "external fixater" while the bones bused.

Here are some pics (most of you have already seen them) of my ordeal:


The staples in my shoulder
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My spongy, infected wrist complete with external fixater
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The close-up of my hand (those spikes holding the fixater in my hand were pounded into my middle metatarsal - the ones at the opposite end were stuck into the bone in my forearm)
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One of my first attempts at painting after I could move a little better
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My first SERIOUS attempt at painting, done and donated as a thank you to the Infusion Therapy nurses who administered my daily IV antibiotics
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And a surreal portrait of one of the doctors who cared for me while I was in the hospital (BEFORE I got MRSA)
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For a good/funny look into some BMX accidents:
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When it goes well, it's beautiful! This rider is awesome!
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This is Flatland riding - the most misunderstood, under-represented style of BMX - it's like doing ballet with 20-30 pounds of metal (note: most freestyle BMX bikes ARE NOT lightweight - they are 25-30 pounds as they are built to withstand the stresses of crashes and hard landings):
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“The sick soon come to understand that they live in a different world from that of the well and that the two cannot communicate”

Jessamyn West