u/JasonAQuest

I was riding down a fairly busy 2-lane street, when an F-150 truck pulled out of its driveway across the street, into the same volume of space I was in. Physics doesn't allow that, so I basically got pushed off the road down to the sidewalk.

The good news is that I was wearing a 3/4 helmet with a face shield, armored gloves, and an armored jacket. If I hit my head I don't remember that happening: my head was unscathed, no loss of consciousness. Every place I had armor, no damage.

Y'know, there's something surreal about lying on your right side, believing that your left arm is at your side, but your left fingers can feel the pavement beneath you. Yep: my left humerus was snapped in two, allowing my arm to bend *twice.* (I'll skip ahead here and reassure you that all skin, nerves, muscles, and arteries remained intact.)

I chose not to move, recognizing that this wasn't the kind of incident where you end up saying "that was close" and limp for a couple weeks. This was THE ONE that you've been hoping never happens to YOU. It took me over 50K miles to get here.

The trauma crew used portable X-ray units and a CT scanner to conclude that my spine was OK, and my ribs were also cracked in several places on the left side. This indicates that it was the truck (not the pavement) that did the damage.

I haven't seen the scooter, but my neighbor who retrieved it from police impound and rode it home says it's mostly OK except for scrapes and a broken mirror on the left side (again).

5 days later I'm still in the hospital. My arm now has a plate holding the bone together. I'm pretty much ready to go, but they aren't allowed to let me without first determining that I'll be able to handle living alone with one usable arm and bad ribs. Eventually I should be back to 95%.

TLDR: Always wear protective gear, and always be looking for death threats!

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u/JasonAQuest — 7 days ago