Why I've been MIA

I'm not sure how many of my readers also know me in the real world, but I'm thinkin.. not to many.

So with that in mind summ'a yawl mite be wudnerin where I've been.

I was in a pretty bad motorcycle accident, which left me in ICU for a lil over a week, then I was healing in "Kindred Hospital"

In case you, like I, don't or didn't know what kind of hospital "Kindred" is...    it's a long term acute care hospital.

Well, it kinda went something like this... One minuite I was riding my bike with 25ish other people (see pic above- that was an hour or so before my accident), which I don't remember.. then the next thing I'm aware of is someone or something cutting threw my jeans... (see pic below)

 I found out days later, that was them cutting my cloths off in or before or when, (shrug) I was put into the helecopter.

I arrived at Cumiunity Medical Center in P.A.  (the closest trauma hospital) via helecopter, with a smashed femur, a cracked skull & a broken eye socket..

En if that wuzzent enuff, I also had a head injury.

There was blood on my brain, what wasn't known was if the blood was from my skull fracture or if my brain was bleeding!

As it turned out... the blood was from my skull fracture-which I rcieved dispite my wearing a DOT helmet.

The first responders at the sceen told my riding buddies that the only reason they were having me airlifted to a hosp. with some chance of survival was due to my wearing my helmet! 

I have a google alert for any of the phrases that would bring me the article about my crash from the news paper and today I recieved the article below..

He also survived cuz he was wearing his helmet. I'm not a die hard "wear your helmet freak".. I've actually argued on the other side- if you don't want to wear it why should you have too! As it turned out I was in PA when I went down. PA is a no helmet law state- I didn't have to wear it. But after this past month.. you can bet your last dollar that I WILL!

Please enjoy the rest of this riding season a lil more for me, and always no matter what- Ride Safe!

Louise

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It's been 40 years and 250,000 miles of motorcycling for me -- scarcely "dropping" my bike in the driveway. Until last Tuesday evening, when the ER trauma surgeon told my wife I'd not have survived the afternoon's traumatic brain injury without my helmet.


Awakening as if from a bad dream in a hospital bed at Mayo in Mankato with a mild concussion, my most recent memory was playing under a tree with my granddaughter at lunch nine hours earlier.


My confused eyes spotting the slightly abraded motorcycle helmet atop the hospital cabinet nearby, I learned I'd been in a minor accident with my motorcycle.

Witnesses said I stopped quickly to avoid rear-ending cars stopping suddenly ahead of me, ultimately going over with my bike sideways and hitting my head on the street. (A macho biker would say, "Just had to lay it down.")


Retrograde amnesia may prevent my ever remembering jumping on the smaller of my two BMW motorcycles that afternoon -- apparently quickly donning only the helmet and half-gloves to return some DVDs to the public library downtown.


It's scary; the woman who saw it all happen told me, to my astonishment, that I got to my feet conscious, amiably chatty, with only a scraped elbow. The other witness helped me upright and park my motorcycle, and called the police.


Thankfully, the Mankato police officer who lost a brother to motorcycling recognized my condition and called for an ambulance. Visiting with them days later -- my brain healing after losing two hours of memory before the accident and six hours afterward -- it's as if we've never met or talked before!
Though I'm mostly back to normal, my plans for Sturgis 2011 are canceled. If yours are on, use your helmet this week as you head to western South Dakota!


And do enjoy the gorgeous Black Hills vicariously for this recovering veteran motorcyclist.

JOHN BIPES, MANKATO, MINN.