Dave here! and in one piece!
Hey all -Dave here!
I'm now home and resting and getting caught up on all your well wishes and kind thoughts! THANK YOU SO MUCH! It does mean a lot to myself and Jill.
So, here is the latest.
The Accident - I was riding in the left most lane of a 3 lane main road heading for the ferry from Vancouver back to Victoria. I was nearing an intersection and coming up on a car to my right in the middle lane. Just before the intersection, the car decided that she was going to suddenly make a left on the street/intersection...from the middle lane and WITHOUT shoulder checking. We were both doing about 65Km/Hr. I didn't have a chance. The front of her car swung over and right in front of me. I remember starting to brake and swerve left then BAMMM, the collision. I was launched and slid 15M into the oncoming traffic lane. Lucky for me (VERY) the traffic was back 1/2 block from being stopped at a previous light. I remained conscious the whole time and remember the impact and rolling down the street several times and sliding to a stop, facing oncoming traffic. My next thought was "get the f*ck out of the road!!" I crawled over to the side walk and collapsed. It was seconds before people came to my aid and were calling 911. An off duty nurse was there and held my hand and comforted me while checking my condition. Then another nurse and a Dr. showed up. The lady who hit me was there and was visibly shaking. People went and got her plate and info and there were lots of witnesses. Within 5 min it seemed like the entire police, fire and ambulance crews of Vancouver descended on the scene.
I was taken to Vancouver General and treated right away. After a few hours and many x-rays and a CT scan, they finally removed my C collar and got me off the back board (thank god because my back was starting to cease up).
My right leg suffered the brunt of the collision and even I was surprised that is was not broken. It looks like a swollen sausage now, even my toes are swollen. A few scrapes on my left elbow and that is the extent of my injuries.
My gear did it's job hands down!!!!!! Jacket is in rough shape and same with my pants (useless now as they had to cut them off). Gloves are good and my helmet only suffered a large scuff on the back of it. Boots held up good as well. Can't say enough about wearing good gear ALL THE TIME!
The Bike - Not sure of its condition at this point. I have to phone the insurance company tomorrow and the crash investigators to get details on its conditions. All I know right now is that is it is at a towing yard back in Vancouver. I only saw it once as I was rolling down the street and saw it sliding behind me. I'm pretty sure the front end must be toast.
I'm going to try and get copies of the photos they took at the scene and post them up. I'm donating what's left of my gear to the Safety Council to show students how gear can save your bacon
It's going to be a while before I can walk again (massive soft tissue damage to right leg), but over time I should fully recover. How much time is up to my body.
So thank you all again so much. I know Jill really appreciate all the kind words and it made me very emotional reading all your well wishes.
Stay safe everyone. "Those people" are out there.....