Lukes Accident 10th December (pics)

[Tramp]

hey up guys,
All though I have never met any of you in the flesh, I feel Like i know some of you through your posts, i also know that some of the people I talk to only post here so i thought I'd share with you, As I'm sure you know I live in the UK and I have few mopeds
On the 10th of december i was out on a ride on my puch (you know the one i have just finished restoring) when I was hit by a woman pulling out of a side street, I had to be airlifted to hospital and I almost lost my left leg as a consequence, the initial surgery was 5 hours and was to stop the blood loss (from where my bones had poked through the skin) and to fix my leg in position, that surgery was a sucess and I was put on a High Dependancy ward,

overall my initial injurys consisted of:
femur broken in 2 places
dislocated knee cap,
broken fibia
fractured & splinted & split tibia (both open and closed fracture)

heres my left leg after the first surgery





I had a week or on high dependancy and then i was put into surgery again to remove the bits of splintered bone, to fit a pin in my femur and to fit my leg into a fixator. The second surgery was 9 hours long and was sucessful, the fragments of bone were removed and my femur was pinned to plan, I had to have plastic surgery though as i didn't have enough skin to cover the wound so i had to have a skin graft

heres my leg after the second surgery





I had a week of bed rest and then I started to walk again, My left leg is now 5.5cm shorter than my right leg. Also through the second surgery i developed a Pulmanary Embolism, which is a blood clot in my lung, to treat this i have to be on warfarin for 6months, but the doctors are confident in my recovery, Then on the 30th of december i was let out of hospital,



Im now at home which is a good thing and im recovering as best as i can, everyday I'm getting stronger and getting about with the crutchs gets easier,

heres my leg now, with the skin graft,




and me!



now the future, for me i will have to go back into hospital january/febuary time to have my leg re-broken and another 'halo' fitted to my fixator, this i will have to wind out 4 times a day and over the space of 12months, i will have grown my 5.5cm's back I have all sorts of other out patient apointments, like blood tests, physio work, fracture clinic and pin nurse. The doctors seem confident that in 12 months ill go back to normal and will be able to walk with out a limp,

As for the puch, I've not seen it since the accident apparantly it came off better than me, my leg was the point of impact and took most of the damage, I wont be able to ride ped's until my fixator comes off and to be honest i don't want to, I think I will be selling up my garageful, you see the woman that knocked me off could have killed me i was only doing 30mph when she pulled out and this could have gone very differently, I was close to losing my leg. Is it worth it? for me no, its not about your skills as a rider, its about the other numptys that are on the road

thanks for taking the time to read

Luke

[John]

Luke, heal fast and keep positive.

[supercub]

Sorry to hear about the accident Luke. I had a close call with a van making a turn and I was going 25 on a street bike. I managed to manuver the bike around the van. But ever since then I assume any car at a stop will pull out unless I make eye contact with them. I will even beep or stop to be safe.
After 30+ years of riding I would hate to stop now. You probably cherish your collection and you have probably built some nice bikes. You can keep them for a while and think more about riding, maybee take a defensive driving class or read up on it, only to bring back your confidence, not that you are a bad rider for what happened. All woumbs heal.
I did at one point think I was to give up riding, I sold the Honda CB400 that I fixed up and rode after 8 fun years, after news of some riders biting it. but that next summer I missing it real bad. That winter I drove 4 hours into the middle of knowhere to buy a sweet '71 Honda CB350. Just couldn't give it up.

[RebelMob]

WOW Luke - keep the spirit up and going in the right direction.
That is quite the hardware collection to help you mend but you will lose the meccano set and get through the physio before you know it.

Geeee - we never know when we are going to tangle with a bad driver. yikes.

A lot of the guys will say to keep in the game but that is an individual decision which you should think of, though everyone here will help to sway you towards getting back on a ped once you are able. If you need convincing in that direction to get back on then let me know and I will give you that push. But most importantly overall you have to do what works for you best... and right now you got to focus on healing that leg.

[Ike]

Luke,

OH NO! Sorry to hear about this. Bad as it was , It could have been worse.
Seems like this is the most common type of accident involving cars and bikes. It is always the driver of the car not seeing the bike and pulling out in front of the bike and its too late.

But anyway, we all hope you make a full recovery and this doesn`t turn you against mopeds or other motorcycles.

Get well soon and restore another bike and get back to it. Just watch out for the other guy .

Ike

[moebobbie]

Heal well Luke and may 2010 bring you much more riding.

Moe

[xrongor]

sorry you are going through all this. dont look like much fun at all.

heal up fast luke!!!

randy

[Ralph C Barger]

Luke, sorry to read about your accident. While it may seem bad now you
will heal and be about in good time. And you will ride again.
What charges were brought against the woman who hit you?
and are those Staffie Bulls on the bed with you? I have one now.
Great breed.

[Tramp]

yeah things will get better, like i said its only a year, and the doctors said im young enough to heal well. I'm sure before i know it, it will be coming off!
To ride a ped' again, I really can't now i know first hand the damage that can happen, I always thought I was too carefull a driver to have an accident like this, You know it always happens to other people and never yourself. But now, it isn't fair on my wife or my family, nobody deserves the phone call 'your loved ones in hospital' and how could i ride knowing next time i get knocked off I could be killed? I'm definatly going to keep one of my ped's because it was my first and i made a vow to myself when i first got it, that I would never sell it,

Charges against the woman? nothing as of yet, the UK law system is slow and i doubt anything to come of it this year, a good thing that came from the accident is that i got in the local paper,


although I'm not named, the dogs, yeah they are both staffordshire bull terriers, they are brilliant, they are both bitch's holly (the brindle one) is 2years old and star (the black one) is a year they have been brilliant with me and havn't took advantage to much! they like my leg as its still leaking a bit of fluid and aparantly it smells irrasistable to them, so i try to keep it covered in the house,

Luke

[Ralph C Barger]

I can understand your feelings, Luke, and it is a decision that only you
can make. For now take it easy and get back on your feet.
I was an AKC licensed Pro Handler for about 15 years and my wife now
judges shows. I showed a lot of American Staffordshire Terriers in the old
days and have owned and finished Championships on 2 Staffie Bulls. I
still have one. They are wonderful companions and great with children.
They are trying to comfort you and probably are quietly guarding you.
I wish you a steady recovery and good fortune in the future.

[duck]

Son of a B@#!$.... that hurts just looking at it.

I wish you a speedy recovery man. It looks like you have some good company to hang out with while your down.

[pehuskey]

Wow, that looks tragically gross.
Get better

[Tramp]

thank you every one, its nice to read all the kind words, like i said im getting better every day and i've even been doing the washing up and helping with other household chores,
heres a recent pic, notice my height of fashion foot ware, and I do apologise for the long hair but ive not got round to going to the barbers yet,



cheers
Luke

[John]

[Mr. Moped]