Life altering injuries

[nobbie48]

Life altering injuries (Including brain) bring on the dread feeling in me. Human beings are amazingly resilient but the thought of being without a leg or arm is scary. Blind, paraplegic or zombie is worse.

I think about my own suffering, both physical and lost future opportunities but also the burden I would be placing on those around me. If the shoe was on the other foot and it was someone dear to me that was injured how it would affect my activities.

Then comes the moralization. If someone does harm to themselves the "Serves them right" factor kicks in, often unfairly. Most of us have done stupid things and been lucky.

When a person is injured by someone else's negligence and the perpetrator gets a slap on the wrist I ask "Where is the justice?"

I have the greatest admiration for those that adjust to and cope with any of the above situations.

 

[Wingboy]

Well said. Since my wife's fall 2 years ago, it's been a very surreal experience. She will never regain her mobility, and i will never have the retirement life that i thought i would. Live every day to the fullest.

 

[Lightcycle]

This is a long read and fair warning - it is very disturbing. But if you want some insight as to what someone goes through after a life-altering motorcycle injury than this is the most impactful thing I've ever read:

Two Arms and a Head: The Death of a Newly Paraplegic Philosopher

This was his original ride report on ADVRider:

Seattle to Argentina on a KLR650

Hello Friends- Finally! Everything is coming together and it looks like Ill be leaving today. My plan is to stay with a friend in Portland the...

advrider.com

 

[GreyGhost]

This is a long read and fair warning - it is very disturbing. But if you want some insight as to what someone goes through after a life-altering motorcycle injury than this is the most impactful thing I've ever read:

Two Arms and a Head: The Death of a Newly Paraplegic Philosopher

This was his original ride report on ADVRider:

Seattle to Argentina on a KLR650

Hello Friends- Finally! Everything is coming together and it looks like Ill be leaving today. My plan is to stay with a friend in Portland the...

advrider.com

Ouch. He hit a donkey in post 39.

 

[Lightcycle]

Ouch. He hit a donkey in post 39.

The ride report is the tip of the iceberg. The real story is his essay/book.

Two Arms and a Head: The Death of a Newly Paraplegic Philosopher

 

[GreyGhost]

The ride report is the tip of the iceberg. The real story is his essay/book.

Two Arms and a Head: The Death of a Newly Paraplegic Philosopher

That will be read later when I have some time.

EDIT:
Cheated and read the last line. God damn it. Tragic.

 

[Trials]

...
I have the greatest admiration for those that adjust to and cope with any of the above situations.

I know somebody that should get an award for it and I bet a few on here know him too.

 

[Trials]

I know somebody that should get an award for it and I bet a few on here know him too.

We rode trials together, he was a rider trainer, paramedic,
got T-boned and the last time I seen him, he solo rode his hand powered speeder to a Lion's Head event way up on the Bruce Peninsula.
Steve.

 

[nobbie48]

This is a long read and fair warning - it is very disturbing. But if you want some insight as to what someone goes through after a life-altering motorcycle injury than this is the most impactful thing I've ever read:

Two Arms and a Head: The Death of a Newly Paraplegic Philosopher

This was his original ride report on ADVRider:

Seattle to Argentina on a KLR650

Hello Friends- Finally! Everything is coming together and it looks like Ill be leaving today. My plan is to stay with a friend in Portland the...

advrider.com

I was thinking of clicking on the like button but "Like" is inappropriate. We need an "I appreciate" button.

 

[nobbie48]

Well said. Since my wife's fall 2 years ago, it's been a very surreal experience. She will never regain her mobility, and i will never have the retirement life that i thought i would. Live every day to the fullest.

Kudos to you. Some people feel they're being inconvenienced if they can't find a parking spot near the door on a sunny day.

I know a family that had a couple of normal kids until one was about 4 or 5. Then he needed a common medical procedure but the doctors screwed up leaving him mentally 5 years old. In his mid thirties he was constantly being bothered by the police because he looked normal but acted like 5 year old. A couple of years ago at a special summer camp someone let their guard down and he fell. Now he's an adult five year old in a wheelchair for life.

I've been so lucky in not having serious mishaps. Riding and working in construction have had me at the danger points all too often. Maybe that's why the subject scares me.

 

[regder]

These are the thoughts that make me seriously reconsider riding. If you've ridden long enough, you probably know someone that has either lost their life or has been seriously injured. It's selfish of us to take on these risks for some fun when we are well aware of the risks and the impact it would have on our loved ones.

I have had two fairly minor accidents (as far as these things go) that have broken a bone or two on each occasion. Thankfully, nothing seriously life altering.

Still riding, not sure what that says about me.

 

[Roadghost]

The ride report is the tip of the iceberg. The real story is his essay/book.

Two Arms and a Head: The Death of a Newly Paraplegic Philosopher

Devastating. Very tough to read. Shows how quickly it can all go wrong. But you have to live, risks and all. It's no use locking yourself up, or living in fear of what might happen. Life is for the living. If it all went wrong for me, as it has for some I have known, I might take the same path as him. But that doesn't stop me from enjoying life the best I can. If you can't do that, you might as well die anyway.

 

[oioioi]

This is a long read and fair warning - it is very disturbing. But if you want some insight as to what someone goes through after a life-altering motorcycle injury than this is the most impactful thing I've ever read:

Two Arms and a Head: The Death of a Newly Paraplegic Philosopher

This was his original ride report on ADVRider:

Seattle to Argentina on a KLR650

Hello Friends- Finally! Everything is coming together and it looks like Ill be leaving today. My plan is to stay with a friend in Portland the...

advrider.com

WOW WOW WOW

I just skimmed through the thread and I am shocked, saddened and .............................. (words cannot describe)

I will read through the 120 page essay at a later time, when I have the time.

Thanks for posting this.

Not to spoil it but..... RIP

 

[oioioi]

Devastating. Very tough to read. Shows how quickly it can all go wrong. But you have to live, risks and all. It's no use locking yourself up, or living in fear of what might happen. Life is for the living. If it all went wrong for me, as it has for some I have known, I might take the same path as him. But that doesn't stop me from enjoying life the best I can. If you can't do that, you might as well die anyway.

Very well said.

 

[mimico_polak]

Ugh...that one gets you right in the feels. I started reading it, and got a few pages in and thinking "Oh that's such an awesome trip, would love to one day do that."
And then, BAM, gets right into the gut. Horrible.

We've had our share of members have injuries and massive loss. Even as recently as a couple of years ago out in NFLD. But I applaud the strength that is shown, and resilience in the face of such tragedy. I'm not sure I could, but to everyone that can overcome such challenges and STILL get back on a bike, there's no words to describe how much in awe I am.

 

[Matt Rain]

The ride report is the tip of the iceberg. The real story is his essay/book.

Two Arms and a Head: The Death of a Newly Paraplegic Philosopher

I got nauseous and light-headed reading the end. **** me.

 

[Chaos]

I remember reading that chain on ADVRider, and the subsequent chain of events. Hard to read for sure.

 

[oomis]

Gene, I’ll look up that book. Why didn’t you suggest it to me earlier?

My story is in another thread, but my life was certainly altered. Lost my wife, lost almost 3 years of my life (so far), 18 months in the hospital, 12 surgeries in 12 months and the entire left side of my body is now a wreck, with 63 pins and screws, 3 plates and 2 rods.

And that’s not even starting the discussion on the psychological after-effects, which I will be working through for the rest of my life. My perpetrator (though the incident happened in Newfoundland, he was a tourist from Mississauga) has not yet been brought to justice, though those wheels are still turning slowly.

Other riders have lost more than I have, but the loss of my wife... I’m told that’s the second hardest thing for a human being to process aside from losing a child.

The process of moving forward is unfathomable until you are in it. Then it is only day by day, and then you wake up and it’s been a thousand “one day at a times”. It may remain that way for me for quite a while.

Healing comes. In all forms. Usually slowly. But I have ridden since, and will continue to ride. After lots of time in a hospital bed with nothing to do but think, my (our) position that the intelligent, mitigated, well considered risk remains worth it. My story was a random incident and we were not at fault. We prepared the best we could as we did every morning, but that was our time.

And if I stop riding because of the risk, in my head that leads me to wonder if the risk we originally took was worth it. Which leads my head to a terribly guilty place that I have to stay away from. It is a dark, deep pit from which escape is hard. Ask me how I know.

So I ride. And I remember. And I hurt. And I remember some more. My **** doesn’t work right at all any more, and it’s only going to get worse, but as I heard it put once, while riding is dangerous, so is sitting on the couch watching tv eating cheetos all day.

I choose a life well lived, with risks mitigated but embraced.

 

[nobbie48]

Gene, I’ll look up that book. Why didn’t you suggest it to me earlier?

My story is in another thread, but my life was certainly altered. Lost my wife, lost almost 3 years of my life (so far), 18 months in the hospital, 12 surgeries in 12 months and the entire left side of my body is now a wreck, with 63 pins and screws, 3 plates and 2 rods.

And that’s not even starting the discussion on the psychological after-effects, which I will be working through for the rest of my life. My perpetrator (though the incident happened in Newfoundland, he was a tourist from Mississauga) has not yet been brought to justice, though those wheels are still turning slowly.

Other riders have lost more than I have, but the loss of my wife... I’m told that’s the second hardest thing for a human being to process aside from losing a child.

The process of moving forward is unfathomable until you are in it. Then it is only day by day, and then you wake up and it’s been a thousand “one day at a times”. It may remain that way for me for quite a while.

Healing comes. In all forms. Usually slowly. But I have ridden since, and will continue to ride. After lots of time in a hospital bed with nothing to do but think, my (our) position that the intelligent, mitigated, well considered risk remains worth it. My story was a random incident and we were not at fault. We prepared the best we could as we did every morning, but that was our time.

And if I stop riding because of the risk, in my head that leads me to wonder if the risk we originally took was worth it. Which leads my head to a terribly guilty place that I have to stay away from. It is a dark, deep pit from which escape is hard. Ask me how I know.

So I ride. And I remember. And I hurt. And I remember some more. My **** doesn’t work right at all any more, and it’s only going to get worse, but as I heard it put once, while riding is dangerous, so is sitting on the couch watching tv eating cheetos all day.

I choose a life well lived, with risks mitigated but embraced.

I have been fortunate in that my close calls were only that. If I injured someone else I don't how it would affect my outlook on life and I've done some really stupid things.

Statistically, right now if I came to an early self induced downturn in my health the most likely culprit would be my diet. I'm not alone on that and wonder should I suffer a sudden irreversible event how I would feel.

Is it harder to forgive ones self or someone else?

 

[JD_PICKLE]

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