From the experience - what I know or don't

[Willow]

I need to preface this rant by explaining to the potential readers that its value is likely more therapeutic than accurately applicable.  I have little or no memory of the event.  From 100 miles above the location until almost two weeks after I have only stored seven seconds prior to the exit and, quite honestly, I'm not certain whether that is a true memory or a generation of the expressed eye witness accounts.

The official police report indicates the eye witnesses observed the bike swerving erratically and then the riders falling off the rear at 70+ miles per hour.  The state trooper on the scene noticed that the diabetes kit had fallen out of the bike and had the EMTs check for blood sugar level.  They observed 48.  I must tell you that is very, very low.  I also should mention that measurement was taken after a traumatic event.  The trooper's report then reads that the rider, due to low blood sugar, passed out and fell off the bike.  I truly believe that blood sugar was a factor, but reject that it was the lone factor.

Notice how well my fingers are typing?  I needed that.

My few second memory is of the handle bars wobbling and my thought that one way to combat a high speed wobble is to slightly increase the bike's speed.  My friends who retrieved the machine indicate the rear tire would not hold air and that they discovered a rather large hole in the tread.  They also noticed there was a flat spot on the rim in the rear.  That should occur only if there was no air at all in the tire.

I was trailing a freighter at the time of the mishap.  My loving wife has complained that I get too close to freighters before changing lanes o execute the pass.  I normally try to view the road ahead to avoid running over any large objects, but something coming quickly from beneath a freighter could certainly circumvent that precaution.  Freighters also tend to produce uneven wind streams that could misconstrue the reason for an unexpected wobble.

My belief is that I struck something that almost immediately emptied the rear tire.  Two of the direct effects of low blood sugar are reduced strength and a possible reduction in mental clarity.  I likely did not snack between breakfast and the lunch to which I was rushing.  I believe that I erroneously assessed the initial reason for the wobble and that I hadn't the time or ability to recover from that mistake.  It was indeed the result of stupidity and I am very fortunate to be upright let alone recovering as well as I am.

The trooper indicated at the scene that the rider kept trying to turn over, but because of the amount of blood he was afraid that would result in a drowning.  The inside of my lower mouth was separated from my teeth and had to be reconstructed on the left side.  The bone was broken multiple time about the right eye but was left to heal on its own.  The right wrist was listed as sprained and the left as broken.  The left thumb was also broken, but low enough the medical techs felt it would heal without assistance.  The middle finger of the left hand required the insertion of a pin to provide proper expressive options.  The written diagnosis indicates a "minimal fracture of the C1" and multiple bruises and bleeding of the brain.  There was enough swelling of the throat to prevent normal food intake for five days resulting in some twenty-five pounds of weight reduction.

I'm told that the half shell helmet striking the pavement quite naturally resulted in a break of the C1 and that a full break of the C1 would result in total paralysis.  What I don't know is whether a three quarter or full face helmet would've resulted in a break at a different spinal location or no break at all.

The physicians did an almost unbelievable job putting my facial and hand pieces back together.  I tell people the doctors told my wife that in six months when the brain damage completely heals I will be the same person I was before and that she responded immediately by crying because she had hoped so much for an improvement.  She says I have to stop telling folks that because it's less than half true.

I am troubled by what I don't know.  I have many significant gaps in my memory.  I am pleased to be where I am.  God has been very good to me as have more of my friends than I could reasonably expect.  I'm not entirely certain why I'm here but I'm sure there must be a reason.

If you've taken the time and effort to read this much I thank you.  I do not recommend the experience, but I am very grateful to be where and what I am after it.  Be safe and do not follow my example.    
     

[Dave Ritsema]

Carl,
While I obviously also do not know why God chose to keep you around for a while, I am grateful for his ultimate wisdom to do so. 

Heal well my friend and we look forward to seeing you at Inzane.

[FLAVALK]

You are one very very fortunate man..and we are so happy that you are.

[matt]

Willow very nice to see you up and  typing.  Keep healing and be well   Matt

[Serk]

Carl,
  Thank you for writing out your recollection of the event. And let me add to the chorus of people who are just glad you're still here to write it out for us to read...

[wiggydotcom]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Carl. Wishing you a full recovery!

[Scott in Ok]

Yanno Carl, that tire was flat even with air in it.....   

Sorry, couldn't resist, my friend.  Glad things are progressing in the right direction and thanks for sharing what you can recollect.  I look forward to your company in a week or so.

-Scott

[Toledo Mark]

Carl,

I have never met you but have read almost everything you post here.  I am glad you are recovering and look forward to meeting you one day.

Mark

[NCGhostrider]

I am glad you were able to write this.  I am sure you are working thru the details in your mind as best you can and trying to put the pieces together.   I know I would be.

I am praying for continued speedy recovery and please keep us posted!!

Craig
NcGhostrider
99 I/S

[saddlesore]

What you need to know is that you are getting better.
What you don't know may be better not being remembered.
Glad you're making progress.

[Jabba]

Willow Sir... I appreciate the effort it took to type that out, and I truly appreciate your sense of humor.  In an event like this... that's really all you can hang your hat on.

We were twins separated at birth, and I am glad that fate has you on the mend, and still cracking wise.  I also look forward to seeing you in a weeks time. 

Please sir... no more green Interstates. 

If you agree to not buy another one... I'll agree to get mine painted.   

Jabba

[Stanley Steamer]

Please sir... no more green Interstates. 

If you agree to not buy another one... I'll agree to get mine painted.   

Jabba

Don't blame it on the color now.......

[HayHauler]

Carl, great post!   Only a few misspelled words and I am sure that is because of those sore fingers. 
Thanks for telling us what you can remember so that we can keep from making those same mistakes. 
Miss ya buddy, but will see ya in less than a week!

Tell Lori Hi for me and BJ. 

Hay
Jimmyt

[HayHauler]

Please sir... no more green Interstates. 

If you agree to not buy another one... I'll agree to get mine painted.   

Jabba

Don't blame it on the color now.......

I painted my green one blue and it didn't help keep me safe from another rear-ender. 

Hay
Jimmyt

[Karen]

Green Interstates are the best, Carl, glad to read your thoughts, and even happier that you have them.
Continued wishes and prayers for your healing, I'm positive that your upcoming InZane experience will be much better for you than your recent insane one was. Thanks for sharing, our best to Lori also.

[John Schmidt]

The middle finger of the left hand required the insertion of a pin to provide proper expressive options.

Now that there is funny, I don't care who reads it. Carl, glad you're on the mend, hope our paths cross again one day. We can give each other an "organ recital." 

[Tropic traveler]

Glad to see you up and plinkin'. 

[Phil57]

Willow thanks for sharing and happy to hear you are on the mend. I had a get off at 65mph last year and don't wish it on anyone. I also never care to repeat the experience. Funny the 98 tourer as totaled and I replaced it with a green Interstate. Hopefully Jabba is wrong about them. Continue the healing it takes time.

[Skinhead]

I want to be like Carl when I grow up!  (Only not as banged up)

Glad your getting better and passing on your wisdom and experience.  Looking forward to seeing you and your saintly wife at IZ13.

[Robert]

It is really nice to hear from you I was wondering how you were and wished that you would post some information. Sometimes God keeps us around for the ones around us. He picks our friends, family and those that are close to us. I like the movie Its a Wonderful life with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. We never know what life would be like if we weren't here. Sometimes we take for granted who we are and the lives we touch just being us. Sometimes the greatest evangelism we do is being who we are. I am thankful and grateful that you are still here and am happy you have touched my life, even from how little we know of each other. Let time bring the memories back as you heal or ask God what happened, I know He will tell you.  

[fantsybikr]

Very glad to read your post...best wishes on full recovery

[alph]

Carl, glad to read your own words of the account, but I've got just one question,

was it a car tire?    

(I hope you find humor in that question, I meant it as a comic relief)

[J.Mencalice]

Best wishes for your recuperation.  Being a career health care professional in the clinical laboratory makes me quite aware of your peril with a diabetic episode such as you describe.  Even the best personal care and blood sugar awareness sometimes go awry with that insidious disease; ya never know when it'll go haywire.  Remain vigilant and heal up.  A prayer for your good health...

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

I need to preface this rant by explaining to the potential readers that its value is likely more therapeutic than accurately applicable.  I have little or no memory of the event.  From 100 miles above the location until almost two weeks after I have only stored seven seconds prior to the exit and, quite honestly, I'm not certain whether that is a true memory or a generation of the expressed eye witness accounts.

The official police report indicates the eye witnesses observed the bike swerving erratically and then the riders falling off the rear at 70+ miles per hour.  The state trooper on the scene noticed that the diabetes kit had fallen out of the bike and had the EMTs check for blood sugar level.  They observed 48.  I must tell you that is very, very low.  I also should mention that measurement was taken after a traumatic event.  The trooper's report then reads that the rider, due to low blood sugar, passed out and fell off the bike.  I truly believe that blood sugar was a factor, but reject that it was the lone factor.

Notice how well my fingers are typing?  I needed that.

My few second memory is of the handle bars wobbling and my thought that one way to combat a high speed wobble is to slightly increase the bike's speed.  My friends who retrieved the machine indicate the rear tire would not hold air and that they discovered a rather large hole in the tread.  They also noticed there was a flat spot on the rim in the rear.  That should occur only if there was no air at all in the tire.

I was trailing a freighter at the time of the mishap.  My loving wife has complained that I get too close to freighters before changing lanes o execute the pass.  I normally try to view the road ahead to avoid running over any large objects, but something coming quickly from beneath a freighter could certainly circumvent that precaution.  Freighters also tend to produce uneven wind streams that could misconstrue the reason for an unexpected wobble.

My belief is that I struck something that almost immediately emptied the rear tire.  Two of the direct effects of low blood sugar are reduced strength and a possible reduction in mental clarity.  I likely did not snack between breakfast and the lunch to which I was rushing.  I believe that I erroneously assessed the initial reason for the wobble and that I hadn't the time or ability to recover from that mistake.  It was indeed the result of stupidity and I am very fortunate to be upright let alone recovering as well as I am.

The trooper indicated at the scene that the rider kept trying to turn over, but because of the amount of blood he was afraid that would result in a drowning.  The inside of my lower mouth was separated from my teeth and had to be reconstructed on the left side.  The bone was broken multiple time about the right eye but was left to heal on its own.  The right wrist was listed as sprained and the left as broken.  The left thumb was also broken, but low enough the medical techs felt it would heal without assistance.  The middle finger of the left hand required the insertion of a pin to provide proper expressive options.  The written diagnosis indicates a "minimal fracture of the C1" and multiple bruises and bleeding of the brain.  There was enough swelling of the throat to prevent normal food intake for five days resulting in some twenty-five pounds of weight reduction.

I'm told that the half shell helmet striking the pavement quite naturally resulted in a break of the C1 and that a full break of the C1 would result in total paralysis.  What I don't know is whether a three quarter or full face helmet would've resulted in a break at a different spinal location or no break at all.

The physicians did an almost unbelievable job putting my facial and hand pieces back together.  I tell people the doctors told my wife that in six months when the brain damage completely heals I will be the same person I was before and that she responded immediately by crying because she had hoped so much for an improvement.  She says I have to stop telling folks that because it's less than half true.

I am troubled by what I don't know.  I have many significant gaps in my memory.  I am pleased to be where I am.  God has been very good to me as have more of my friends than I could reasonably expect.  I'm not entirely certain why I'm here but I'm sure there must be a reason.

If you've taken the time and effort to read this much I thank you.  I do not recommend the experience, but I am very grateful to be where and what I am after it.  Be safe and do not follow my example.    
     

I read all that... My head hurts  

Glad to see you posting again Carl and " if " you ever ride again I'm still looking forward to sharin' the wind with you again.... See you at InZane  

[~ Timbrwolf]

...I truly believe that character has a lot to do with it...


. . ....that ....and the fact that you,re just an ornery son of a bitch..    

[Big Rig]

Mr. Willow,
Memory loss is some times a blessing...glad to hear you are healing...
Positive waves continued from NJ

[jimmytee]

Glad you're on the mend.  
I didn't have near the incident that you did, but three years ago I managed to flip myself off my four wheeler. Don't remember how it happened or the next several hours. I was wearing a helmet and to onlookers it appeared I just fell off. Not really anything dramatic. But afterwards I wasn't making very coherent conversation and a friend took me to the hospital. While there,  I was cat scanned ,and examined to determine I had suffered a concusion . I don't remember the whole experience, but my buddy said that he had a lot of fun at my expense. He said I kept asking what had happened and he explained how I had been riding a pogo stick inside and kept hitting my head on the ceiling.

[Jess from VA]

Thank you for sharing with us Carl.  Everyone needs reminded of their mortality, from time to time, especially us two-wheeled rocket riders.

I think anyone in your position would be scouring their memory to try to find out what happened, what went wrong.  I think this is good, but only up to a point.  Beyond that, it may just be self flagellation and not good for the soul.  Put it behind you and look forward, and be happy.  I hope you are mending and feeling better every day brother.  

 

[Oss]

3 things I learned from Willow's accident:

Dont ride too close behind trucks on the interstate that you cant see what they run over or kick up at you

Try NOT to hit head when falling off the bike next time as my head surely aint as hard as a jarhead head

Make sure I never become a diabetic and if I do make sure I eat something every few hours


Lucky for you that the Lord seems to love Marines who ride Valkyries

May your recovery continue and may the good Lord watch over Lori as she escorts you to Inzane
(and bakes lots of pie for IZ13)

See ya next Monday I hope

Oss

[Tailgate Tommy]

The take a way from this for this old fat diabetic is to always eat pie before every ride...

...or maybe cake.

[Black Dog]

Willow,

You are so much further in your recovery than anyone could have expected...  Amazing is what comes to mind 

Looking forward to seeng you in Lacrosse, and shaking your hand (softly though).

Black Dog

[Whistler]

Nice ride report Willow , um I think it is one I will strive never to take myself , but good report. I would tell you about the outstanding lunch you missed , but that seems kind of cruel as well!  . Enjoy InZane my friend I look forward to our next meeting and I'm betting we can find a great meal somewhere to make up for the one you missed. By the way I am willing to donate 25 pounds of weight to your recovery, in fact you can have all you want, just set it up and call me with the transplant date!

John

[Michael K (Az.)]

Good to see you typing again. As Whistler says, "Nice ride report Willow"! But sheesh!

[hoosier jaybird]

Hi Willow, do not take offense but I was wondering if you feel pretty sure the back tire failure at the time of your accident was caused by hitting a road hazard and not from as some claim that car tires are not meant to flex like a motorcycle tire. I have entertained thoughts of trying an Austone taxi tire at the next change but reading your account of experiencing the loss of control of the rear of the bike and being ejected at 70mph scares the bjeebers out of me. I am glad to read your reports of progress being made on your recovery Carl, and your sense of humor still. I hope your recovery is complete and you'll be back in the saddle soon. Jay.

[Rams]

Carl,
Please don't do that again.   You do realize that this group relies on you for adult leadership don't ya?   I'm very happy to see you posting and looking forward to seeing you at Inzane.    But, I'm just a tad bit concerned.  After reading the paragraph below.

I need to preface this rant by explaining to the potential readers that its value is likely more therapeutic than accurately applicable.  I have little or no memory of the event.  From 100 miles above the location until almost two weeks after I have only stored seven seconds prior to the exit and, quite honestly, I'm not certain whether that is a true memory or a generation of the expressed eye witness accounts.  

I'm worried that you may not remember our conversation where you promised to have your wife make me that Apple Pie.        

[MacDragon]

Glad to read that the recovery is coming along well... try not to do that again!   Many years ago I broke my middle finger as well and walked around with a permanent bird for a couple of weeks.   

Heal well and don't sweat what you can't remember.  You're here and that's what counts.

[shortleg]

  Carl
     I too have had a life changing experience while riding.
  I tee-boned a car at 55 mph and slid for 50 yards on my back and my head
hit a sign  cracking my helmet.
   I don't remember much, but have always wondered what it was that I was
left on this earth to do.
    It may be just to say Hello to those at Inzane or to help those that the
 church helps. I don't know. So you and I have a job to do and that's to
  live every moment like it,s a gift to us and others.
             Love Ya all
          Shortleg[Dave]       

[R J]

Hey fellow Jarhead, glad to see ya is a huntin & a peckin on that keyboard.

Also glad to see all of our prayers, thoughts and etc have helped ya in your recovery.

Due to Dr's orders and etc, I can't make IZ13.   Would love to see everyone I haven't seen in like 5 or so years.

[bigguy]

Willow. Glad to see you doing so well.

[musclehead]

but I could lose up to 25 lbs, hmmmm 

I'd rather do adkins 

keep the shiny side up