Ouch that hurt a bit - Thank **** for ATGATT

Soldato
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Ouch! Wishing you a speedy recovery!

Also an advocate of ATGATT, I've had a few accident myself, if I wasn't wearing gear I would have lost my leg, the cars A pillar tore though all but the final layer of knee armour on my leathers, and my Ulna was almost protruding, so without leathers I am not sure where my forearm might have ended up either :D
 
Soldato
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Kernow
Only taken me a month to add my 2 pence to this thread. Wholly stand by ATGATT.

Back in Feb 2021 I was accosted by an oncoming car cutting across my lane to make a junction on my side of the road because they didn't see me. Woke up in ICU 2 days later with a lovely nurse telling me I was in Derriford Hospital and I'd been involved in an accident. If you live in Cornwall and someone is telling you that you're in Derriford you know it's bad. I was airlifted from the scene and taken 50/60 miles away for polytrauma.

Woke up with a 42cm femoral nail down my femur holding the two ends together, broken knee, broken fibula, broken thumb, broken metacarpals, broken clavicle, broken neck, brain bleed, liver contusion, crushed larynx which required me to be intubated and 4th nerve cranial palsy amongst other things. I then had another operation a week later to insert K-wires into my hand and wrist so I looked like wolverine for a month and a bit.

Among all of those injuries the 4th nerve cranial palsy and clavicle (collarbone) were by far the worst. The 4th nerve palsy is what Marc Marquez has suffered with where you see double. That was the most unnerving thing as the hospital couldn't tell me what was wrong and I had 2 weeks of unknowing until an optometrist who was also a biker said what it was and it will get better over time. The collarbone was excruciating the entire time.

The hospital physios want you moving as soon as possible and they had me standing within 3 days. Given my femur was now held together with a femoral nail and my ankle/knee were broken but held together with an air boot I was in shock when they said what the wanted to do...Another 7/8 days in a ward progressively being more capable in my predicament I was then discharged.

It's a slow road to recovery. I just had to concentrate on all the little positives in the day and try to see improvements however small.

I attended court to see the proceedings as an onlooker and the driver was charged with 8 points and a reduced £300 fine based on her earnings. She was a locum pharmacist so obviously turned up in her pseudo NHS garb to curry favour with the magistrates. She played the game from the outset by delaying her statement to the police by a month, changing her story about not seeing me then saying she saw me but thought she had time, I was in a line of traffic so unsure how that sticks. She gave no apology or showed remorse, even after being convicted in court. Funny thing was a colleague had her on Facebook as she sold her items through there and the stuff she was saying that week was beggars belief. I have never seen anyone so self centred, god forbid she had a bad week whilst someone she hit was in hospital dealing with life altering injuries.

It has changed my life and the pain is ongoing but given the circumstances I could have been killed or had much worse lasting injuries/impairments than I'm currently having to deal with for the rest of my days. I think this is a testament to the gear I was wearing. Even if you're not intending to ride spiritedly and it's just a quick nip down to the shops. ATGATT!

Annoyingly the bike I was riding was my old mans Ducati Scrambler Cafe Racer which was being run in and only had around 500 miles on it.

LGgE2yy.jpg
 
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Sgarrista
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I attended court to see the proceedings as an onlooker and the driver was charged with 8 points and a reduced £300 fine based on her earnings. She was a locum pharmacist so obviously turned up in her pseudo NHS garb to curry favour with the magistrates. She played the game from the outset by delaying her statement to the police by a month, changing her story about not seeing me then saying she saw me but thought she had time, I was in a line of traffic so unsure how that sticks. She gave no apology or showed remorse, even after being convicted in court. Funny thing was a colleague had her on Facebook as she sold her items through there and the stuff she was saying that week was beggars belief. I have never seen anyone so self centred, god forbid she had a bad week whilst someone she hit was in hospital dealing with life altering injuries.

I would be spitting if thats "all" she got. I assume you are perusing private claims against the insurance company?
 
Soldato
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Kernow
I would be spitting if thats "all" she got. I assume you are perusing private claims against the insurance company?

The prosecutor couldn't prove dangerous driving so it was a lowly driving without due care and attention. Pursued her insurer and that's all wrapped up now. It doesn't make anything feel any better and would much rather that none of it happened. The delay and hold you are forced to put on your life, coming to terms with the new norm and persistent "what ifs" are harrowing.

It's not put me off riding though. I think once you are bitten it's hard to rid yourself of the bug but this may be due to not remembering anything of the accident though!
 
Man of Honour
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Surrey
Only taken me a month to add my 2 pence to this thread. Wholly stand by ATGATT.

Back in Feb 2021 I was accosted by an oncoming car cutting across my lane to make a junction on my side of the road because they didn't see me. Woke up in ICU 2 days later with a lovely nurse telling me I was in Derriford Hospital and I'd been involved in an accident. If you live in Cornwall and someone is telling you that you're in Derriford you know it's bad. I was airlifted from the scene and taken 50/60 miles away for polytrauma.

Woke up with a 42cm femoral nail down my femur holding the two ends together, broken knee, broken fibula, broken thumb, broken metacarpals, broken clavicle, broken neck, brain bleed, liver contusion, crushed larynx which required me to be intubated and 4th nerve cranial palsy amongst other things. I then had another operation a week later to insert K-wires into my hand and wrist so I looked like wolverine for a month and a bit.

Among all of those injuries the 4th nerve cranial palsy and clavicle (collarbone) were by far the worst. The 4th nerve palsy is what Marc Marquez has suffered with where you see double. That was the most unnerving thing as the hospital couldn't tell me what was wrong and I had 2 weeks of unknowing until an optometrist who was also a biker said what it was and it will get better over time. The collarbone was excruciating the entire time.

The hospital physios want you moving as soon as possible and they had me standing within 3 days. Given my femur was now held together with a femoral nail and my ankle/knee were broken but held together with an air boot I was in shock when they said what the wanted to do...Another 7/8 days in a ward progressively being more capable in my predicament I was then discharged.

It's a slow road to recovery. I just had to concentrate on all the little positives in the day and try to see improvements however small.

I attended court to see the proceedings as an onlooker and the driver was charged with 8 points and a reduced £300 fine based on her earnings. She was a locum pharmacist so obviously turned up in her pseudo NHS garb to curry favour with the magistrates. She played the game from the outset by delaying her statement to the police by a month, changing her story about not seeing me then saying she saw me but thought she had time, I was in a line of traffic so unsure how that sticks. She gave no apology or showed remorse, even after being convicted in court. Funny thing was a colleague had her on Facebook as she sold her items through there and the stuff she was saying that week was beggars belief. I have never seen anyone so self centred, god forbid she had a bad week whilst someone she hit was in hospital dealing with life altering injuries.

It has changed my life and the pain is ongoing but given the circumstances I could have been killed or had much worse lasting injuries/impairments than I'm currently having to deal with for the rest of my days. I think this is a testament to the gear I was wearing. Even if you're not intending to ride spiritedly and it's just a quick nip down to the shops. ATGATT!

Annoyingly the bike I was riding was my old mans Ducati Scrambler Cafe Racer which was being run in and only had around 500 miles on it.

LGgE2yy.jpg
Wow, that was a bad one :( Beautful bike. Really hope you do fully recover.
 
Associate
Joined
20 Dec 2008
Posts
1,380
Only taken me a month to add my 2 pence to this thread. Wholly stand by ATGATT.

Back in Feb 2021 I was accosted by an oncoming car cutting across my lane to make a junction on my side of the road because they didn't see me. Woke up in ICU 2 days later with a lovely nurse telling me I was in Derriford Hospital and I'd been involved in an accident. If you live in Cornwall and someone is telling you that you're in Derriford you know it's bad. I was airlifted from the scene and taken 50/60 miles away for polytrauma.
Do you remember fast were you riding when the accident happened? I often assume people are riding fast with the injuries they receive but it kinda scares me to see horrible injuries even at slower speeds
 
Associate
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243
I went through that list of injuries nodding along with a "yep, me too" up until the neck, brain bleed and liver contusion. Dodged the thumb and metacarpals bullet too, but the rest of the list I can attest to. I was doing exactly 30 when I was hit from the side and I have the helmet cam footage on my phone to prove it. Still not settled my claim, the driver in my case got a Driver's Awareness Course due to a clean licence and I have no idea what he even looks like as my visor steamed up despite the Pinlock before he came into view. I do know the dozy bugger was driving in slippers because my helmet cam popped off and lay in the road, catching a perfect view of his feet as he came running around the remains of my Gen 2 Hayabusa.

In my case the "nail" is the 22" model, but I'm 6' so maybe it's down to the length of the femur it's going into?
 
Soldato
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No longer riding an Italian
Do you remember fast were you riding when the accident happened? I often assume people are riding fast with the injuries they receive but it kinda scares me to see horrible injuries even at slower speeds
Reply steal incoming!! :D

I was doing an indicated 32 mph, when I got hit by a car back in 2008 - I recall that, as I was still new to riding then, and I glanced down when giving my exit signal on a roundabout - I saw a bonnet come into view and went to sleep! Hearing metal and plastic coming together, but certainly not feeling it, as I went off to dream for a bit.

I had all the kit on - even shin pads under my leathers, to fill a gap between my knee armour and the top of my boots! I ended up with a pretty badly broken left wrist, broken left collar bone, punctured left lung, cracks to my pelvis (on the left) and head trauma. I have lost ~20 minutes of memory from before the accident, and cannot recall getting to the part of Swindon where I was hit. Even when a friend (riding behind me) told me about where we had ridden, I couldn't recall it.

Ended up in resus, then in intensive care for 5 days, followed by a further 5 days on a ward. I had 13 weeks off of work, and 8 of those were 'non weight bearing' - my wrist was plated back together, and all other injuries were just given time to heal; though I could only use one crutch due to the collar bone break.

These days, I get aches and pains now and then, usually when it is cold - my running gait was affected badly by my pelvis injury, but the worst is the memory damage - as there have been a number of events years after the accident; that I fail to recall. The worst though was my first Wedding anniversary, I honestly cannot recall what we did, and my Wife has to fill me in - I did go and see my GP about these instances, but they weren't concerned and just said to come back if it gets worse.
 
Soldato
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Kernow
Do you remember fast were you riding when the accident happened? I often assume people are riding fast with the injuries they receive but it kinda scares me to see horrible injuries even at slower speeds

The bike was being run in and I was going down a road I have always been wary of due to accidents at this particular offset crossroads. I was in a the middle of a line of traffic and I would have been going around 40mph on this NSL road. Just pulled straight across me I’m told. The police weren’t very diplomatic with her driving when I spoke to them.

There was a van driver with a dash cam at the crossroads and he had a pretty good viewpoint and captured the entire thing. I haven’t seen and don’t think I’ll ever watch it.

Magistrates in court we’re very good to be fair. They gave her more than the guideline of 4-6 points due to the severity of the life altering injuries.
 
Soldato
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At least put it up for us :D

Haha! I would if I could but it seems like it’s fallen into a police black hole.

I’m lead to believe it was quite dramatic. Everyone in Cornwall knows everyone so there is a few connections with witnesses. I’m told head went through the passenger side window, b pillar lunched my larynx as I ricocheted down the side of the SUV and ended up into another oncoming car with my femur at a right angle to the rest of it. Glad I don’t remember! Must have been excruciating.
 
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Soldato
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Kernow
In my case the "nail" is the 22" model, but I'm 6' so maybe it's down to the length of the femur it's going into?

I’m 6’3” and I had to go get a tape measure to see if I was imagining the length I heard. Just measured and 42cm sounds about right, just over 16” knee to hip.

Hope your case gets settled soon, it’s a massive weight off your shoulders, at least for me, I can move on with my life now.

@Scort Thanks for sharing your experience. Strangely cathartic talking about it. I’ve not experienced any memory loss apart from around the time of the accident so far. Similar experience on the crutch due to collarbone, agony!
 
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Soldato
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No longer riding an Italian
Thanks for sharing your experience. Strangely cathartic talking about it. I’ve not experienced any memory loss apart from around the time of the accident so far. Similar experience on the crutch due to collarbone, agony!
It is quite therapeutic to discuss it I think, and like sharing tips on riding, it might also help other riders. And it was quite an event in my life too - I will always have the scar on my arm to remind me, along with the lump of extra bone on my collar-bone, not to mention a smattering of other bits and bobs. Hopefully my memory doesn't go any further downhill, as that wasn't something I was advised on at any stage, and it has been quite worrying when things seem to slip into that 'fragmented' area of my storage :D

One of the oddest things I recall after the 13 weeks, was returning to the road - as a passenger initially, and then as a driver (then a few months later a rider), though my trip from hospital to home was uneventful, the first time I was a passenger heading home from a work trip away – I had the most vivid imagery of an Audi A4 breaking through the central reservation and hitting us head on. My mind just played the whole evet out like a film, as I just sat there watching the oncoming cars in the opposite lanes… mind you, my workmate was listening to Scooter at the time; so maybe that just drove me nuts :D

Another instance of my mind expecting trouble: when pulling away from a set of lights (as the driver) I braced myself and heard/felt an impact. Of course there was nothing there, but it was so vivid, it put me on edge and I didn’t feel all that confident the rest of the way. Thankfully, those events passed, and I went on to purchase an R1, and even though my wrist meant rides were quite hard/short with lots of breaks, it was great to be back on the horse.

Think it took until mid-late 2012 before my injury claim was sorted, that was peppered with lots of trips to private medical people, physios etc etc – it’s a shame that the memory stuff didn’t really crop up, as I expect they would have had to take that part of the claim into account too; but as it was, that took time to manifest so I never received any help or renumeration for that injury.
 
Soldato
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Think it took until mid-late 2012 before my injury claim was sorted, that was peppered with lots of trips to private medical people, physios etc etc – it’s a shame that the memory stuff didn’t really crop up, as I expect they would have had to take that part of the claim into account too; but as it was, that took time to manifest so I never received any help or renumeration for that injury.

Wow, that's a long time to feel in limbo. Was it a weight off your shoulders once it was over or was it normalised by that point?

There was a lot of sleepless nights second guessing whether I had any impact on the accident as I couldn't remember it. I know logically I wouldn't have been doing anything wrong, the police said I wasn't doing anything wrong, witnesses said I wasn't doing anything wrong but because it was 5-6 months before she went to court and didn't have a definitive answer it caused a great deal of anxiety. The insurers couldn't show any prejudice towards the criminal case so couldn't say who was at fault...although when I woke up and checked my phone I had emails from them saying they are at fault and want to help...this was rescinded.

It was 12 months from the accident here for everything to wrap up. I was told I was lucky I was hit by someone insured by a large insurer as they know what they're looking at and know what to do to quickly get it to go away. Same as you though, I had a case management team employed by the insurer to manage my rehabilitation which was actually invaluable. Lots of physios, private appointments, CTs/MRIs, psychological assessments etc...I will continue what they advise. There was a lot of emphasis on the psychological side due to being a "Brain Worker".

Definitely had similar experiences with my imagination. I would have fleeting thoughts of thinking I could just wake up in hospital again any moment now with a nurse telling me I've been in an accident. Horrible!

I'm not sure I'll ever be where I was physically but I guess you have to move on. If only I could bring back the quad on my left leg!

The good that came out of my accident is that friends and family made sure they replaced or improved their gear. Strangely enough it didn't put a lot of people off doing their Direct Access, my fiancé did hers that year, a family friend did theirs and my cousin did his also! A friend said the accident couldn't have happened to a better person due to the protection I wore and everywhere there wasn't padding, I broke!
 
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Soldato
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Wow, that's a long time to feel in limbo. Was it a weight off your shoulders once it was over or was it normalised by that point?

There was a lot of sleepless nights second guessing whether I had any impact on the accident as I couldn't remember it. I know logically I wouldn't have been doing anything wrong, the police said I wasn't doing anything wrong, witnesses said I wasn't doing anything wrong but because it was 5-6 months before she went to court and didn't have a definitive answer it caused a great deal of anxiety. The insurers couldn't show any prejudice towards the criminal case so couldn't say who was at fault...although when I woke up and checked my phone I had emails from them saying they are at fault and want to help...this was rescinded.

It was 12 months from the accident here for everything to wrap up. I was told I was lucky I was hit by someone insured by a large insurer as they know what they're looking at and know what to do to quickly get it to go away. Same as you though, I had a case management team employed by the insurer to manage my rehabilitation which was actually invaluable. Lots of physios, private appointments, CTs/MRIs, psychological assessments etc...I will continue what they advise. There was a lot of emphasise on the psychological side due to being a "Brain Worker".

Definitely had similar experiences with my imagination. I would have fleeting thoughts of thinking I could just wake up in hospital again any moment now with a nurse telling me I've been in an accident. Horrible!

I'm not sure I'll ever be where I was physically but I guess you have to move on. If only I could bring back the quad on my left leg!

The good that came out of my accident is that friends and family made sure they replaced or improved their gear. Strangely enough it didn't put a lot of people off doing their Direct Access, my fiancé did hers that year, a family friend did theirs and my cousin did his also! A friend said the accident couldn't have happened to a better person due to the protection I wore and everywhere there wasn't padding, I broke!
I think at that point, it was just another part of my life - I knew that it would conclude at some point, and sometime in 2011 I heard rumblings from my Solicitors that it would be soon. So it became a bit like waiting for Christmas day I guess; I had also heard from various people (customers, friends of friends etc) over the years, about pay-outs they had heard of for similar accidents/injuries, and figures of 30-60k were being mentioned! In my head I began planning on a deposit for my first house etc etc... when the pay out came it was about 14k if memory serves.

I had the option to contest this in court, where there was every chance I would get more - but also, there was a chance that I would get less; and if that were to happen, the small print in my contract revealed that I would then be picking up the tab for both side's legal fees! So much as I was a bit down with the figure being low (going by all the stories I had listened to), I treated it like a windfall I wasn't expecting or relying on - it helped pay for buying another bike after selling up and moving to Bristol with the then girlfriend (now Wife) and also covered rent and buying house stuff for the place we rented for a few years.

It was nice to put a line under it to be honest, though I do think getting back on a bike so soon after the accident, certainly helped me to move on - iirc the accident was in June 2008, and I was back at work sometime in October; I purchased my R1 in December and run it in over the Winter months.

My family weren't best pleased about me getting back on a bike mind, I was 27 at the time, and both my Mum and Dad were having kittens at the prospect at be being back on two wheels - I probably didn't help the case, as I was high in resus planning on buying an R6 loudly :D Trouble is, I was bitten and had the bug - and couldn't envisage giving up riding.

Even now, with an 18 month old, I can't think about giving up on motorcycles - I always tell my Wife that when I'm riding, I don't think about her or my daughter; it's nothing selfish, it's just I love a spirited ride and want to keep my head in the game when I ride like that. If I were to start thinking about them, I'd probably just go into worry mode, and end up pulling over and just turning the bike off.

During my accident, the star of the show was my mate behind - he had only passed DAS a few months earlier, and saw everything - said that the car must have seen him in the mirror, so sped up to make their turn not realising I was in the blind spot. When I got hit, apparently both me and the bike went up in the air, and I came clattering down sliding towards a set of traffic lights - I am thankful I wasn't speeding, as if I'd hit road furniture I might have done myself some more serious injuries.

Said mate was able to collect witness details for about five people - two never responded to my solicitor, one sided with the driver and said I had hit him after speeding, one person said they thought I had hit something in the road and that lead me to hitting the car, but the star witnesses were an older couple directly behind the driver for most of his journey through Swindon; they said he had been constantly weaving between lanes, and was clearly lost/looking for somewhere before he just cut into my lane.

Oh - and I got breath tested in the back of the ambulance too! I know it is standard for RTAs, but trying to blow into that device, with my collar bone and lung both screaming in pain, was agony! It certainly woke me back up, as did the very bumpy painful ride to the hospital. Apparently, the Police shouldn’t have done this - my sister was dating a WPC at the time, and she said that they should have requested a blood test for alcohol, as they couldn't be sure of my injuries.

I had a funny moment a few years ago too - I was working in Trowbridge, and took my lunchbreak in the Highstreet there (shudder), where there was large Police display thingy going on - I got chatting to one of the coppers, and both he and I stopped and did the whole "I know you from somewhere"... but neither of us could put a finger on where. Looking at some of the local paper photos taken of my accident though, he appears to be one of the traffic cops who attended! Small world.
 
Associate
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Just back from Cornwall with the other half, driving rather than riding. Yesterday we drove out to Polperro and took the road that runs from Looe and passes Lostwithiel. We came up a hill with a right hand, blind bend at the top and damn near hit a biker who'd decided to overtake approaching this hill, crossing double solid white lines.......

I swear, my conscience would never have recovered even though I was 10mph below the limit due to the steepness of the hill and he was on the wrong side of the road.
 
Soldato
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No longer riding an Italian
This thread has definitely put me off bikes.
If you're interested in them, I'd still say give it a go - there used to be a thing called "Get On", where you could do a free 1-2 hour taster sessionto see if it was for you or not. I presume that's still a thing, or you could speak to your local CBT trainer(s) and see what they offer.

I still highly reccomend riding a motorcycle to anyone, it's so much more than passing a car test, much more involved and rewarding than driving a car (imo) - and you will never be short of fellow riders to talk to when out and about; pretty much all of them are willing to have a chat - bar some touring types from experience :D
 
Soldato
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If you're interested in them, I'd still say give it a go - there used to be a thing called "Get On", where you could do a free 1-2 hour taster sessionto see if it was for you or not. I presume that's still a thing, or you could speak to your local CBT trainer(s) and see what they offer.

I still highly reccomend riding a motorcycle to anyone, it's so much more than passing a car test, much more involved and rewarding than driving a car (imo) - and you will never be short of fellow riders to talk to when out and about; pretty much all of them are willing to have a chat - bar some touring types from experience :D
I ride.
I love it it’s hard not to.
Just these stories…
 
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