mr.walczak
Well-known member
Some of you may have followed my accident I had last year in October.. Some may have not. Not really sure what this post is here to serve as but figured I'd shed some light on what happened and if it serves to help anyone who has been or is in the same situation as me than I'm happy.
October 22nd 2014 It was a beauty day out. I know not many of those were left so I figured I'd head home bit early and take the bike out for a much deserved pin.
The engine had just been rebuilt a week prior and I was bike-less for a few week.. (The worst!) I had also installed a new set of Q3's 150 km's prior. Got home and geared up.(1 piece dianese, back protector, boots etc.) My intention was to head out to Hamilton to work in the rebuilt engine running it on Highway and low speed stuff. I popped on the 410 at Steeles Ave. heading south towards the 407. If any of you are familiar with the area the on ramp lane continues right onto the 407 several 100 meters down. Passing under the overhead cameras I was already in my lane headed to the westbound 407 ramp. A transport was in the eastbound lane ahead of me (before the lanes split,(fork in the lanes). Last minute the truck pulls in front of me to go Westbound. I tried avoiding it and going to the left shoulder where it's only about 2 feet of concrete wide (between the side marker and a small drop off onto grass). I ended up riding this small shoulder beside the truck (tandem wheels beside me). The last visual I have is looking down at the side marker and realizing how close the trailer was too it . Next thing I know I'm laying on my stomach several feet up the ramp head facing north. I didn't want to move as I wasn't sure of the severity of my injuries. My right palm was sore and my left *** cheek felt like it was kicked by a medium sized horse. That was the extent of my pain at the scene. I remember a woman around me screaming and a doctor was talking to me asking me questions while laying there. Emergency services eventually were on scene where they had to cut off my leathers.. (* I put up a fight!*) .. They won..... I was eventually rolled over on to back board (This was when I knew I broke something as I was in excrutiating pain when I had pressure on my side.
I was taken to Brampton Civic where I was pumped full of some extremely potent pain killers while waiting for an x-ray table/room. Oh! let's not forget the catheter!. That's another story in itself. I was at Brampton Civic for a few days while they got me into Sunnybrook for Surgery (I had a stable open book pelvis fracture in multiple parts and fractured a vertrabrae in my spine). I was eventually let out after surgery on Nov 1st 14 after going back to Brampton Civic for a few days.
I was unable to walk or put any pressure on my left leg for 6 weeks as I had to let the hardware in my body settle.
December 09th was the first day I was cleared to try walking. It was an interesting experience .. Very liberating to say the least. I could only walk for very short period as the pain in my left side got too much and I'd have to take a break.
I ended up going back to work on Jan 12th where a week later I had to have my appendix removed. Awesome!
Since then I've bought a new bike and been riding like I used too. My muscles don't last as long and my pelvis gets sore on certain days but I'm happy I can walk and still ride..
It could have been worse . I certainly am thankful I was fully geared at the time of the accident.. I didn't really have any fears of riding after (or currently) I'm just much more aware of the consequences of what can happen. Last year was my first year of riding (put on just shy of 20 000k) and hope I can do the same this year. I'm not one to ride the city often as the country roads/twisties are what I enjoy riding.
Looking back on the accident I can reflect on a few things that hopefully will help my future riding and keep anyone reading this a bit more alert and learn from my mistakes.
1 - without my leathers I would have had a lot of skin grafts based on the condition of my suit
2 - without my back protector I can only assume I would have much worse injuries to my back
3 - I had a bike hole in my helmet... This one goes without saying
4 - Always ride defensively, always have a way out, assume you are invisible.
I consider myself lucky as I can still do most of the things I used too (With some limitations)
The experience has certainly made me humble of the small things you take for granted in life... Showering, Going up stairs, going to the washroom, ... WALKING... Life isn't that bad so remember this when you're having a ****** day...
Anyways this is my half *** attempt at shedding some light on what I went through. There's a lot more but I'm at work .. If you guys have any questions I'm an open book and feel the more information that is available the more you can use it to your advantage.
Ride Safe!
October 22nd 2014 It was a beauty day out. I know not many of those were left so I figured I'd head home bit early and take the bike out for a much deserved pin.
The engine had just been rebuilt a week prior and I was bike-less for a few week.. (The worst!) I had also installed a new set of Q3's 150 km's prior. Got home and geared up.(1 piece dianese, back protector, boots etc.) My intention was to head out to Hamilton to work in the rebuilt engine running it on Highway and low speed stuff. I popped on the 410 at Steeles Ave. heading south towards the 407. If any of you are familiar with the area the on ramp lane continues right onto the 407 several 100 meters down. Passing under the overhead cameras I was already in my lane headed to the westbound 407 ramp. A transport was in the eastbound lane ahead of me (before the lanes split,(fork in the lanes). Last minute the truck pulls in front of me to go Westbound. I tried avoiding it and going to the left shoulder where it's only about 2 feet of concrete wide (between the side marker and a small drop off onto grass). I ended up riding this small shoulder beside the truck (tandem wheels beside me). The last visual I have is looking down at the side marker and realizing how close the trailer was too it . Next thing I know I'm laying on my stomach several feet up the ramp head facing north. I didn't want to move as I wasn't sure of the severity of my injuries. My right palm was sore and my left *** cheek felt like it was kicked by a medium sized horse. That was the extent of my pain at the scene. I remember a woman around me screaming and a doctor was talking to me asking me questions while laying there. Emergency services eventually were on scene where they had to cut off my leathers.. (* I put up a fight!*) .. They won..... I was eventually rolled over on to back board (This was when I knew I broke something as I was in excrutiating pain when I had pressure on my side.
I was taken to Brampton Civic where I was pumped full of some extremely potent pain killers while waiting for an x-ray table/room. Oh! let's not forget the catheter!. That's another story in itself. I was at Brampton Civic for a few days while they got me into Sunnybrook for Surgery (I had a stable open book pelvis fracture in multiple parts and fractured a vertrabrae in my spine). I was eventually let out after surgery on Nov 1st 14 after going back to Brampton Civic for a few days.
I was unable to walk or put any pressure on my left leg for 6 weeks as I had to let the hardware in my body settle.
December 09th was the first day I was cleared to try walking. It was an interesting experience .. Very liberating to say the least. I could only walk for very short period as the pain in my left side got too much and I'd have to take a break.
I ended up going back to work on Jan 12th where a week later I had to have my appendix removed. Awesome!
Since then I've bought a new bike and been riding like I used too. My muscles don't last as long and my pelvis gets sore on certain days but I'm happy I can walk and still ride..
It could have been worse . I certainly am thankful I was fully geared at the time of the accident.. I didn't really have any fears of riding after (or currently) I'm just much more aware of the consequences of what can happen. Last year was my first year of riding (put on just shy of 20 000k) and hope I can do the same this year. I'm not one to ride the city often as the country roads/twisties are what I enjoy riding.
Looking back on the accident I can reflect on a few things that hopefully will help my future riding and keep anyone reading this a bit more alert and learn from my mistakes.
1 - without my leathers I would have had a lot of skin grafts based on the condition of my suit
2 - without my back protector I can only assume I would have much worse injuries to my back
3 - I had a bike hole in my helmet... This one goes without saying
4 - Always ride defensively, always have a way out, assume you are invisible.
I consider myself lucky as I can still do most of the things I used too (With some limitations)
The experience has certainly made me humble of the small things you take for granted in life... Showering, Going up stairs, going to the washroom, ... WALKING... Life isn't that bad so remember this when you're having a ****** day...
Anyways this is my half *** attempt at shedding some light on what I went through. There's a lot more but I'm at work .. If you guys have any questions I'm an open book and feel the more information that is available the more you can use it to your advantage.
Ride Safe!
