Lesson for Motorcyclists

[James Burleigh]

When I crashed my FJR a couple of years ago and suffered a violent head strike, my Arai kept me from being killed on the spot. So I went home and manned up with respect to the lightheadedness and listlessness I was feeling. I should have gone to the hospital just to be sure I was okay. The tragic story of Natasha Richardson's head injury drives home this point for motorcyclists.

"It wasn't immediately clear who sent the first ambulance away or why, but a resort spokeswoman said Tuesday that Richardson initially said that she was fine. 'When you have a head trauma you can bleed. It can deteriorate in a few hours or a few days,' he told the newspaper."

When I finally did go see my doctor a couple weeks later, he told me the story of a patient who was riding his new bike home from the dealer, stopped at a light, put his foot down, hit a slick spot, fell and struck his head (BTW, not wearing a helmet). He rode home feeling basically okay, then died that night.

Just a reminder to us all: We're not doctors; we don't know if we're okay. Seek professional help whenever you have a helmet strike.

Jb

 

[Big Shasta]

I'll second that.....and Add....Please wear a helmet to give yourself a chance at surviving the initial impact in the first place.

 

[Tyler]

Helmet strike or any get off, imo... a friend of mine just had a minor crash on Mines Rd this week... said his ribs hurt but that basically he was ok... 12 hours later he's in ER because he actually had several broken ribs and one had punctured his lung, collapsing it... he's gonna be fine but it's the same thing... you get bumped/bruised going down, go get checked out. Period.

 

[BwanaDik]

And if you do fall down, do be in an all fired up big hurry to jump back on your feet. Take a little while (hopefully a semi's not bearing down on you) and check out your extremities. You can go from a simple busted leg to a full on compound fracture if you try to jump up right away. Or get the spins and fall over, hurting yourself again

 

[kaitsdad]

ATGATT - it can save your life!! Clicky Here

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

And if you do fall down, do (don't -- fixed it) be in an all fired up big hurry to jump back on your feet. Take a little while (hopefully a semi's not bearing down on you) and check out your extremities. You can go from a simple busted leg to a full on compound fracture if you try to jump up right away. Or get the spins and fall over, hurting yourself again

True, adrenalin will allow you to do things (immediately after a crash) that you may not, otherwise, (and probably should not) do. Often, saying, "I'm all right..."

Once , after a crash, I picked my bike up (not listening to those around) and moved it off the roadway and was attending to details -- preparing to ride it home. I'm not sure I could do the same without the crash in the picture? Soon I was going into shock and was eventually taken to a clinic and then air-evac'd to a hospital for broken ribs/punctured lung.

I guess, there's no practice for this sort of thing? Except trying to remember about adrenalin and trying to follow medical professionals' advice.

 

[FJRBluesman]

Excellent point JB! I was talking to people at work about this very thing.

I remember a guy at a track day had a get off at about 30mph, the slowest turn on the track, he died. We were all shocked.

Makes everyone think (I hope). We have great powerful computers at home and work and we go to great lengths to protect them from damage, ESD, virus, etc. Yet we have the most powerful and fragile super computer, our brains, that many who ride motorcycles, bicycles, skate boards, etc do nothing to protect that irreplaceable piece of equipment. Something to think about...

 

[Auburn]

Just a reminder to us all: We're not doctors; we don't know if we're okay. Seek professional help whenever you have a helmet strike.
Jb

Great point JB. At WMRRA (Washington Mortocycle Roadracing Association) it is mandatory for racers who fall and hit their head to check out with the medic one. This is just a reminder as to the why that rule was instituted many years ago. It was written in blood sometime back in the late '70's.

Also a good reminder if your with someone that falls to keep an eye on them for unusual behavior which can be a sign of a brain injury.

 

[Tyler]

Also a good reminder if your with someone that falls to keep an eye on them for unusual behavior which can be a sign of a brain injury.

Other internal injuries as well.

 

[FJR_pig]

Good post, Hans. We try to be tougher than we are in certain circumstances. This story about Natasha Richardson is a sad reminder. Beautiful woman with two young sons, that sucks the big one.

I fell off of my deck on December 30th, dislocating/relocating my shoulder, tweaking my neck and spraining my back in one instant (I've never been in that much pain, OMG that shoulder hurt.) I'm not sure how I didn't hit my head, but I didn't. Afterwards, I tried hard to tough it out, but the pain, the vomiting and the pounding in my head finally convinced me to go to the ER. (That, and the non-stop lecturing from my wife) When I got there, the doctor explained how badly I could have hurt myself internally from the fall. Scared the hell out of me. I was lucky, it could have been a lot worse. I learned from it and now this is another example.

ig_ball:

 

[FJJ'sR]

Great stuff!

The instructors in MSF course I took stressed to always dress for a fall and always wear all the protective gear. Good advice to live by.

Thanks for posting about wearing helmets.

FJJ'sR

 

[fjrboomer]

And if you do fall down, do be in an all fired up big hurry to jump back on your feet. Take a little while (hopefully a semi's not bearing down on you) and check out your extremities. You can go from a simple busted leg to a full on compound fracture if you try to jump up right away. Or get the spins and fall over, hurting yourself again

What you describe is exactly what happened to my brother-in-law last July. He went down on an on ramp to I44 in Oklahoma City. Witnesses described him as flipping over at least 4 time and he landed between lanes 1 & 2 of 3 lanes. He tried to jump up and drove both the Tibia and Fibula bones through the skin. and collapsed back on the roadway. Fortunately a semi driver saw him go down and stopped blocking both lanes.

8 months later he is still on crutches. He will keep the leg but how much use he will have is yet to be determined. So do as BwanaDik advised, check your extemities before jumping up if you find yourself in that terrible position.

 

[James Burleigh]

Also a good reminder if your with someone that falls to keep an eye on them for unusual behavior which can be a sign of a brain injury.

I'm afraid that wouldn't work with MadMike. How could you tell?

 

[Toecutter]

There was an incident a couple of years back in our city. Some people were drunk, one fell down. They were all acting the same. I'm a bit unclear on the details, but somehow EMS got canceled, he went home, and ended up a quadriplegic, due to an undiagnosed broken neck.

Point is, if you go down and hit your head hard, you really shouldn't move at all until you can be transported with your head and spine immobilized and X-ray'd. A strike that can produce a spinal cord injury, with the right helmet, might not even knock you out....

 

[madmike2]

Also a good reminder if your with someone that falls to keep an eye on them for unusual behavior which can be a sign of a brain injury.

I'm afraid that wouldn't work with MadMike. How could you tell?

Er...uhm...Hans, a mere 19 months ago I was air lifted from this same basic position and I'm still recovering.

I'd say your post was appropriate and timely as we approach the main riding season. If one is going to err, to do so on the side of caution is best.

 

[FJRBluesman]

I remember at the track the medics and the Doctor at the infield hospital at Fontana were real thorough about checking you over after you went down. I recall the doctor examined my helmet very carefully to see if it contacted the ground, he wasn't going to take my word for it. He questioned any scuff or scratch that might have been there etc. Thank God my head did not contact the ground on my high side. The medics and doctors know their stuff and I'm thankful to them for that.

 

[user 6393]

1st year we were married, my husband leaned back on the rear 2 legs of a chair.

He went over, hit the back of his head on concrete. He was fine that night, but the next day he could not speak. (which, at the time I didn't know....just thought he was being pissy). I didn't really put 2 and 2 together until he stood at the bathroom mirror late that morning, obviously wanting to brush his teeth, but couldn't figure out how to make his arm come up to his mouth. He kept looking at me in the mirror, lost and confused.

I rushed him to the hospital, they did tox screens, but it wasn't until one of his workmates came to the hospital and he casually mentioned the slight fall the day before.

Well, he was flown out 2 hours later to a Neurological ICU 3 hours from home. Christmas Eve, our 1st year married. His brain had sloshed forward and smacked the front of his skull, causing a bleed...HO, f&%king ho.

To be honest? He was never the same person after that.

His neurosurgeon said that bleeds like that can take up to 6 weeks to show obvious signs.

EVERYONE...please, when someone you know or are with experiences even slight head trauma, insist they get examined asap!

And, when you see someone leaning back on a chair? Sit 'em up.

 

[rushes]

1st year we were married, my husband leaned back on the rear 2 legs of a chair. He went over, hit the back of his head on concrete. He was fine that night, but the next day he could not speak. (which, at the time I didn't know....just thought he was being pissy). I didn't really put 2 and 2 together until he stood at the bathroom mirror late that morning, obviously wanting to brush his teeth, but couldn't figure out how to make his arm come up to his mouth. He kept looking at me in the mirror, lost and confused.

I rushed him to the hospital, they did tox screens, but it wasn't until one of his workmates came to the hospital and he casually mentioned the slight fall the day before.

Well, he was flown out 2 hours later to a neuological ICU 3 hours from home. Christmas Eve, our 1st year married. His brain had sloshed forward and smacked the front of his skull, causing a bleed...HO, f&%king ho.

To be honest? He was never the same person after that.

His neurosureon said that bleeds like that can take up to 6 weeks to show obvious signs.

EVERYONE...please, when someone you know or are with experiences even slight head trauma, insist they get examined asap!

And, when you see someone leaning back on a chair? Sit 'em up.

Heavy **** Barb...

Thanks for sharin'... :thumbsup:

 

[exskibum]

Also a good reminder if your with someone that falls to keep an eye on them for unusual behavior which can be a sign of a brain injury.

I'm afraid that wouldn't work with MadMike. How could you tell?

Ya can't. And from experience, I can tell ya that he'll sometimes decide in the middle of a ride to dive off and head butt a 12x12 guardrail support (with a helmet, but still).

Natasha Richardson's accident has had me befuddled since I first read about it. My Dad was a ski patrolman and I've been skiing since I was 2 (religiously and fanatically for a lot of years). Only last year did I finally buy and begin wearing a helmet -- mostly because it was on sale and I was in a ski shop needing nothing else. I've beaten the literal crap outta myself over the years crashing high speed runs in bumps, landing jumps less than perfectly and even hitting trees twice. I've had my share of spectacular crashes and even knocked myself out very briefly once as a kid. Never ever thought I was in any real danger.

I know the head is fragile, but it was hard for me to accept that she fell on the BUNNY slope and had that bad an injury. Bunny slopes have the slope of a ballroom floor, so speed is almost nonexistent. I've long maintained that falls in the flats hurt more because you don't glance off like you do on steeper stuff. But I was always referring to a transition where I was taking speed into the flats, got complacent as the challenge abated and caught an edge to body slam myself on the flat. Reading that she had this severe an injury on the bunny slope at negligible speed makes me reevaluate my good fortune. I've always been kinda cocky at seldom falling and (so far) having the ability to protect my head when I did (there's an art to falling on skis that gets to be intuitive). But you never know about the next time, the two tree incidents were both close calls at speed, and the helmet is seeming like a better buy all the time.

Still, I'm stunned -- I wouldn't have ever believed this severe an injury could have occurred in a single skier fall on a bunny slope without some uniquely fragile condition in the victim. I've read every article I can find on her accident, but have read nothing to say it was anything other than losing her balance and hitting her head (on the snow, it seems).

Very very sad for her family.

I'm glad to say that the wisdom of wearing a helmet on a motorcycle has been more obvious to me, though I didn't in my late teens and early 20s when it was still legal here to do that.