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I got in a terrible motorcycle accident yesterday. Let me set up the scenario.
I am heading to church yesterday morning around 7:30. I have to get there kinda early to do welcome and announcements and worship. It's a slightly chilly morning, so I don a jacket along with my helmet and khakis. I am heading north on Wauwatosa Rd, a wide open 40mph road. I come to the first cross street about 1 mile from my house. A white Camaro pulls up to the intersection on my right; she's about to turn left. She has a stop sign and I don't. Well, she pulls out. I think to myself, "That's pushing it. She's kinda close." I move to the right side of the lane to avoid her.
Well, another car pulls out right behind her. He didn't even look to his right or left. I immediately know I'm going to get hit. I hit my horn, slam down my brakes and throw my body to the left. He stops still. I slam into his front bumper and go flying. There was about 1.3 seconds there where I thought, "I'm going to hit this guy and there's nothing I can do about it." Then came the sickening crunch. I don't know exactly what happened between hitting him and ending up lying on my back twenty yards down the road. I remember hitting my head and my helmet confirms that fact. Other than that, I don't know the sequence of events.
So I'm laying the middle of the road thinking, "What the heck just happened?" and getting pretty upset with that guy. He comes running full speed from his car, already on the phone to the police and getting an ambulance. I'm sure he thought at least for a moment that he had killed me. But he sees me sitting up and starts shouting, "'I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, oh my God, oh f***, I'm so sorry, I'm calling the ambulance, this is all my fault, I'm sorry."
I call my mom. I've never been in an accident and I don't know that I'm coherent enough to trust myself at that point. She comes right away, actually beating the police there. I also call my pastor to let him know that someone else will have to give announcements. He doesn't answer. I call everyone I know will be at the church, and none of them answer.
Ben (the new youth pastor) actually calls my house looking for me, and my dad answers. Ben asks if I'm at home and my dad says that I left 20 minutes ago. He also discovers my mom is gone. He figures that my bike broke down and that mom came to get me, naturally thinking that if it was more serious he would have been informed. But he wasn't; my mom knew I would survive and wanted to give him some more sleep before jarring his entire world.
Back to me. The police and the paramedics show up. They're ready to take me to the hospital, but no blame has been assigned yet, though the other guy admitted it and it was pretty obvious. If it is in any way my fault, I can't really afford to pay for a hospital visit since my deductible is about $2,000. I know I'm ok, so I figure I'll wait for a while. For liability reasons the paramedics have to recommend that I go immediately, but I choose not to.
The police ask what happened, and we both give the same story, which is nice. It turns out that the white Camaro that pulled out in front of him is being driven by his mom and sister. They're all heading to Chicago, so he just followed them right out. The cop gives him a citation for failure to yield and I don't get a citation at all.
At this point everything is pretty much over. The bike is trashed. The engine is caved in, the front fender has a huge dent in it, the gas tank is smashed in, the front forks are scratched up, it won't turn over... The biggest thing is the back right shock. It should be straight up and down, but it's bent at a 90 degree angle. I'll post pictures soon.
So, that's the story. I walked away from a crash that should have killed me. I went to the doctor today to look at my leg because it's kinda numb between the knee and the ankle, and he just kept looking at me, amazed that I was standing in front of him.
I'm very lucky. I attribute it to God watching over me, but why me? This has raised a lot of questions for me--questions about God and why some people walk away and some don't. Maybe it was just gravity and aerodynamics and anatomy. I don't know, but I doubt it. I have a lot more thinking to do.
Now I have to figure out insurance stuff. How much is the bike worth, how much do I get for pain and suffering, sending in receipts and stuff. Also, I have to figure out if I can go on the Wilderness Trip for our youth group a week from today. We'll see...
By the way, my helmet saved my life. No doubt about it. WI is not a helmet state, but I was wearing one. I advise you all to do the same. I'll have pics up of the bike and helmet and myself soon.
I am heading to church yesterday morning around 7:30. I have to get there kinda early to do welcome and announcements and worship. It's a slightly chilly morning, so I don a jacket along with my helmet and khakis. I am heading north on Wauwatosa Rd, a wide open 40mph road. I come to the first cross street about 1 mile from my house. A white Camaro pulls up to the intersection on my right; she's about to turn left. She has a stop sign and I don't. Well, she pulls out. I think to myself, "That's pushing it. She's kinda close." I move to the right side of the lane to avoid her.
Well, another car pulls out right behind her. He didn't even look to his right or left. I immediately know I'm going to get hit. I hit my horn, slam down my brakes and throw my body to the left. He stops still. I slam into his front bumper and go flying. There was about 1.3 seconds there where I thought, "I'm going to hit this guy and there's nothing I can do about it." Then came the sickening crunch. I don't know exactly what happened between hitting him and ending up lying on my back twenty yards down the road. I remember hitting my head and my helmet confirms that fact. Other than that, I don't know the sequence of events.
So I'm laying the middle of the road thinking, "What the heck just happened?" and getting pretty upset with that guy. He comes running full speed from his car, already on the phone to the police and getting an ambulance. I'm sure he thought at least for a moment that he had killed me. But he sees me sitting up and starts shouting, "'I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, oh my God, oh f***, I'm so sorry, I'm calling the ambulance, this is all my fault, I'm sorry."
I call my mom. I've never been in an accident and I don't know that I'm coherent enough to trust myself at that point. She comes right away, actually beating the police there. I also call my pastor to let him know that someone else will have to give announcements. He doesn't answer. I call everyone I know will be at the church, and none of them answer.
Ben (the new youth pastor) actually calls my house looking for me, and my dad answers. Ben asks if I'm at home and my dad says that I left 20 minutes ago. He also discovers my mom is gone. He figures that my bike broke down and that mom came to get me, naturally thinking that if it was more serious he would have been informed. But he wasn't; my mom knew I would survive and wanted to give him some more sleep before jarring his entire world.
Back to me. The police and the paramedics show up. They're ready to take me to the hospital, but no blame has been assigned yet, though the other guy admitted it and it was pretty obvious. If it is in any way my fault, I can't really afford to pay for a hospital visit since my deductible is about $2,000. I know I'm ok, so I figure I'll wait for a while. For liability reasons the paramedics have to recommend that I go immediately, but I choose not to.
The police ask what happened, and we both give the same story, which is nice. It turns out that the white Camaro that pulled out in front of him is being driven by his mom and sister. They're all heading to Chicago, so he just followed them right out. The cop gives him a citation for failure to yield and I don't get a citation at all.
At this point everything is pretty much over. The bike is trashed. The engine is caved in, the front fender has a huge dent in it, the gas tank is smashed in, the front forks are scratched up, it won't turn over... The biggest thing is the back right shock. It should be straight up and down, but it's bent at a 90 degree angle. I'll post pictures soon.
So, that's the story. I walked away from a crash that should have killed me. I went to the doctor today to look at my leg because it's kinda numb between the knee and the ankle, and he just kept looking at me, amazed that I was standing in front of him.
I'm very lucky. I attribute it to God watching over me, but why me? This has raised a lot of questions for me--questions about God and why some people walk away and some don't. Maybe it was just gravity and aerodynamics and anatomy. I don't know, but I doubt it. I have a lot more thinking to do.
Now I have to figure out insurance stuff. How much is the bike worth, how much do I get for pain and suffering, sending in receipts and stuff. Also, I have to figure out if I can go on the Wilderness Trip for our youth group a week from today. We'll see...
By the way, my helmet saved my life. No doubt about it. WI is not a helmet state, but I was wearing one. I advise you all to do the same. I'll have pics up of the bike and helmet and myself soon.
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