Bike Wreck Pics
Sept. 27, 2009 Bike Wreck Pics
Click On Photos If You Like
Sharon's en500 Vulcan
My 2008 Vulcan Nomad
Things to note: Sharon's front rim is cupped and her bike has damage to both sides and paint from the truck, though mainly on it's right side. She hit my rear fender and we believe she was thrown off her bike and avoided contact with the truck, then the bike was spun somehow so that the right side hit the trucks front, but then again there is white paint (the truck was a white) on the left too. Note that the crashbar from 500 rider held up fairly well to a head on with a pick-up truck.!! (Had those custom made by a friend in Brownsville, Tx not something you can find for this bike from the factory, and what they sell would have not been much help to bike or rider).
On my Nomad you can see I hit at a slight glancing blow to my front wheel and fender, then my bike spun into the front of the truck, and the rear crashbar held firmly and did not even bend (probably saved me from loosing my leg totally). Even the left side airbox cover is gone, the left hardbag is severly cracked and laying beside the bike at the lot, and the exhaust on the left was ripped away mount and all from the bike (one of the reason's I believe Sharon's front wheel hit my rear fender first as I was pushed into her path then probaly knocked the exhaust off before her bike smacked the truck).
All in all I say we are very lucky to still be alive as this truck hit us head on.. God Had Another Plan For Us.!! What happened is we were passing in front of a flea market turn in and there was a car with it's blinker on waiting to turn in to the flea market in the opposite lane we were riding in (which he would have had to cross our path to get into the flea market). This 19 year old guy evidently was distracted by something and did not see that car stopped waiting to turn, he must have been speeding too as he skid 91" feet, and the speed limit was 45 mph were we were at on this highway. He slammed his brakes on when he finally noticed the car stopped, but instead of going to the shoulder of the road, steered into our path right as we were going past the stopped car. All of this happened so quick there was no time to brake, and I only managed a slight veer trying to dodge before impact. Lucky for us too is the fact we always ride by the book, I lead on the left and my wife rides staggered to the right, and we seldom if ever do much over speed limit (on this day we were doing speed limit and had rolled off the throttle when I saw the car stopped waiting to turn, ya just can't trust what a cage driver will do... boy did we find that out mere seconds later).
My wife ended up with cuts to both knees, a couple of deep cuts on her legs, sore bruised ribs, several other bruises, and quite a bit of road rash. Funny she had a leather jacket and gloves on and I was riding sleeveless and only had 3 very small areas of road rash. I did end up with my left leg crushed with the femur broken into 9 pieces one of which was a compound fracture, the lower bones Tibia & Fibia were both broken and compound fractures, but I had very little road rash and or injury elsewhere.
My dad had taught my sister and I how to tuck and roll as kids, he had been a drill instructor in the 82nd Airbourne where her taught this to soldiers getting ready to go to war in Korea. After making contact with the truck, my bike and I were thrown over the hood of the truck and sent flying about 20 yards down the road.. what dad taught me just occured (didn't think about just naturally tucked and rolled)... when I stopped rolling I was laying on my right side with the bike cradled against my back. I thought I was okay and started trying to get up to see about Sharon... my leg wouldn't move so I looked down and saw it was moving at the hip but bending un-naturally just below the hip.. I just sighed knowing my leg was broke, took my helmet off and laid my head on it, and began yelling for Sharon. Being that the accident happened right in front of the busy Flea market people gathered around us quickly, so I never did nor did Sharon hear each other yelling for the other. I'd ask folks about her and they would tell me "she's in far better shape than you are" and I'd think "yeah right that's what you would tell me even if she were worse".. God that day also provided us with the fact that 2 cars behind us this day was a fire chief from Kentucky and his wife a RN nurse that were going to the Flea Market, they were our first trained first responders and did an awesome job contorlling the bleeding and tending to out wounds. (Later when I got out of the hospital and was able to get on a lap-top computer my son George brought and set up for me, I logged on to the Kawasaki Vulcan Forums and told our story, well within hours I got a private message from this same fire chief... he and his wife road Vulcans too and he knew he had been there that day too).
I was life flighted to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville (we were a good 35 miles out from the hospital). were I underwent surgery to piece my leg back together using what they call steel nails and pins (those pics are far worse than the bike pics). Sharon was taken by ambulance to Lebanon's hospital... took her forever to get to where she could come be with me with her not knowing how bad I may have been. She's a tough cookie, but this was just so much for her to have to endure.. to top it off I got treatment after surgery at Vanderbilt that was severely lacking (actually appalling), which caused added grief to her, then to top that off was forced out in 4 days to go home and my wife didn't even get a counselor to guide her in what needed be done and set up for a patient in such condition to go home.. her daughter's boyfriend had been through such a thing with his parents some years before and knew and helped her get things set up at out house or we would have been in an even bigger mess. But that's all water under the bridge and we are both living and loving life... thank you God.!!
Sept. 24th, 2011 we re-visited the site of the crash for the first time, was a very healing moment and another reason to know just how great God is.!! We are living life as if this day is our last now, the experience just made our love for each other grow even further... still not back to where I once was but slowly getting better day by day. Sharon luckily doesn't remember the crash and her physical wounds have healed completely, what a trooper that woman is.!!
~Mark & Sharon~
Here is a link to some x-ray pics from 8-16-2010 which was 11 months after the accident showing the rods and breaks [please do not look at this page if you have a weak stomach] note the break nearest the hip in the femur, that break didn't heal on it's own which caused the rod in the femur to big wallowing in the hip bone area... which caused another surgery 3-21-2011 to replace that upper rod and do a bone graft in that break... as of September 2011 the bone graft has taken and healing nicely.!!
X-Ray Pictures
A Site
Of
~Musicman's World~