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with all the talk regarding bike safety and after recent events, i thought it would be a good time to post a few pics of my leg after my crash (WARNING - pretty gory). it happened on april 7th of 2001 - the day before my 22nd birthday. it was a sunny day in the low 20’s, I was travelling from my dads house to my mums - a distance of less than 5k’s. my old man lives on stock rd near the bottom of the hill in bicton, and my mum lived in palmyra. I normally go straight along stock rd, but for some reason turned right onto preston point rd at the roundabout.
two streets later there was a blue magna stopped at a stop sign on my left. I wasn’t speeding (60…maybe 65 at most), I had my girlfriend on the back and was riding in perfect conditions. when I was about 15m away the blue magna came out in front of me quickly. there were cars coming the other way. I had nowhere to go so I jumped on the brakes as hard as I could. the back wheel was in the air all the way till I hit her. I couldn’t have been doing more than 40 when I hit. the following couple of photos were taken between two and three weeks after the accident. my girlfriend walked away with barely a scratch (thank god).
I have had 11 operations so far (with another 2 or 3 to come…then heaps more as I get older) and have been told by my doctor every time that if anything goes wrong I will wake up without a leg. I was in hospital for over two months…the first time. I didn’t walk unassisted for a year. I had hours of physio and hydrotherapy every day. I went through pain that you don’t realise exists until you’ve experienced it. I am only telling you all this because it could happen to you. it has totally changed my life. I can barely play any sport and still get heaps of pain from it. I limp quite badly, have some gnarly scars and nearly go arse over regularly. hopefully seeing this should will make some of you think twice about taking an unnecessary risk.
I know that I was lucky. I have seen HEAPS of people who aren’t. be alert and take every possible precaution that you can.
unfortunately, bikes are too much fun and I MUST still ride. I would love to just give up as I know it could happen to me again, or to one of my friends that I ride with…but I also know that I will never give up. i always wear all the gear i have. my only compromise is to wear draggins instead of leathers when riding around town.
this one was taken about two weeks after the crash. if you look carefully you can see that my knee is still dislocated.
this picture is of the ilizarov frame that was drilled into my leg to stabilise it.
this is the other side of my leg
please be careful...
two streets later there was a blue magna stopped at a stop sign on my left. I wasn’t speeding (60…maybe 65 at most), I had my girlfriend on the back and was riding in perfect conditions. when I was about 15m away the blue magna came out in front of me quickly. there were cars coming the other way. I had nowhere to go so I jumped on the brakes as hard as I could. the back wheel was in the air all the way till I hit her. I couldn’t have been doing more than 40 when I hit. the following couple of photos were taken between two and three weeks after the accident. my girlfriend walked away with barely a scratch (thank god).
I have had 11 operations so far (with another 2 or 3 to come…then heaps more as I get older) and have been told by my doctor every time that if anything goes wrong I will wake up without a leg. I was in hospital for over two months…the first time. I didn’t walk unassisted for a year. I had hours of physio and hydrotherapy every day. I went through pain that you don’t realise exists until you’ve experienced it. I am only telling you all this because it could happen to you. it has totally changed my life. I can barely play any sport and still get heaps of pain from it. I limp quite badly, have some gnarly scars and nearly go arse over regularly. hopefully seeing this should will make some of you think twice about taking an unnecessary risk.
I know that I was lucky. I have seen HEAPS of people who aren’t. be alert and take every possible precaution that you can.
unfortunately, bikes are too much fun and I MUST still ride. I would love to just give up as I know it could happen to me again, or to one of my friends that I ride with…but I also know that I will never give up. i always wear all the gear i have. my only compromise is to wear draggins instead of leathers when riding around town.
this one was taken about two weeks after the crash. if you look carefully you can see that my knee is still dislocated.
this picture is of the ilizarov frame that was drilled into my leg to stabilise it.
this is the other side of my leg
please be careful...
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