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A Fallen Rider
Left Behind and Dying
Please read and share......such a tragedy and nearly a horrific loss to my family!
My Dad was in a very serious motorcycle accident recently where he suffered a broken pelvis, 2 broken wrists, fractured vertebrae and lost half his blood along with several other serious complications.
My Dad and a friend set out on a joy ride on his Harley Ultra Classic in Northern California late July 2013. This was no different than any other ride enjoying the beautiful California sun and scenery. My Dad and his partner ate lunch at a small lakeside town. Departing roughly around 1 pm after eating lunch my Dad called my Mom (as he usually does) leaving a voicemail letting her know his plans and that he would call her once he returned back to his campsite (My Dad is working a construction job on I-5). Shortly after my Dad and his friend left the restaurant they started heading up through the winding mountain road. My Dads friend was riding a ways ahead of him and as my Dad came around a corner (traveling 35 mph) there was a deer in the road. When my Dad swerved to miss the deer he hit a road reflector and jumped over a 20’ ravine slamming into the side of the mountain with trees and boulders. The friend continued riding to the campsite where the travel trailers were. When my Dad slammed into the mountainside he split his pelvis bone in half (separating the 2 halves by about 1 ½”), broke both wrist so bad that his hands were just dangling and fractured his vertebrae. My Dad after hitting the mountain rolled down the hill where he was about 20’ from his bike. Both him and the bike were out of site from anyone passing by as he and bike were in a 25' roadside ravine. After the friend returned home and hours had passed, my Dads friend started to get worried. He called the head boss asking if he had heard anything from my Dad. Eventually and so thankfully my Dads friend came back but unfortunately it wasn’t until late at night. My Dad’s friend just knew something was wrong so he called search and rescue and got several co-workers together to all go look for my Dad. This all began over 90 miles away as that was where the campsite was from where my Dad laid in a ditch dying. It wasn’t until midnight until they found my Dad. My Dad laid out there for 11 hrs before being found. His injuries were compounded due to internal bleeding where he lost half his blood from breaking his pelvis and rupturing veins in the pelvic area. As my Dad was telling me his heroic survival story he was crying saying he heard all these cars and motorcycles go by but none of them knew he was there. He was getting thirsty from the 95-degree weather and he was in so much pain that he couldn’t move. He tried rolling to his motorcycle and digging in the dirt with his shoes……anything to help him move forward towards the motorcycle where he had water. It took him 10 hrs to move 8 feet towards his bike. My Dads head was swelling and he couldn't use his hands to remove the chinstrap from his helmet, so his breathing became more difficult (if he was out there much longer he was told he was most likely going to suffocate from the chin strap). Being out there as long as he was his body started to break down putting massive amounts of proteins in his kidneys, which started damaging them. By the time he was found and air lifted to the Hospital it was 1:30 am the following morning, a total of 12 hrs lying there and dying. After being admitted in the hospital more complications followed. My Dads hands were broken so severely a specialist was called in the middle of the night. He was so dehydrated that all his veins started to collapse. Every vein they used for an IV would fail closed. Dr’s had to put a pick in one of his heart valves as a resort of the collapsing veins. He is now full of pins and may never ride, we’ll see. The first thing I said to him is that I hope he doesn’t ride again. You can take away the Harley but you can never take away the rider in him. I guess you would just have to understand by owning a Harley. Another thing that confused me is that my Dad is more concerned about riding than that of himself. Must be a riding thing too!!!!
This has been our family’s nightmare. My Dad is the breadwinner and he is not going to work anytime soon. He is going to be 60 years old this month and to make things worse neither of my parents have medical insurance. The insurance on the motorcycle will only be covering some of the incurred medical bills. Please if you could just donate a few dollars or anything that you could afford, my family would be so, so very thankful to you. Also share this story to everyone you know so we can reach all the motorcycle riders we can and maybe help prevent someone else from going through this. Even though we can be so upset with his riding partner for leaving my Dad it was the riding partner who knew something was wrong and it was he who ultimately found my Dad which we are so, so thankful
Left Behind and Dying
Please read and share......such a tragedy and nearly a horrific loss to my family!
My Dad was in a very serious motorcycle accident recently where he suffered a broken pelvis, 2 broken wrists, fractured vertebrae and lost half his blood along with several other serious complications.
My Dad and a friend set out on a joy ride on his Harley Ultra Classic in Northern California late July 2013. This was no different than any other ride enjoying the beautiful California sun and scenery. My Dad and his partner ate lunch at a small lakeside town. Departing roughly around 1 pm after eating lunch my Dad called my Mom (as he usually does) leaving a voicemail letting her know his plans and that he would call her once he returned back to his campsite (My Dad is working a construction job on I-5). Shortly after my Dad and his friend left the restaurant they started heading up through the winding mountain road. My Dads friend was riding a ways ahead of him and as my Dad came around a corner (traveling 35 mph) there was a deer in the road. When my Dad swerved to miss the deer he hit a road reflector and jumped over a 20’ ravine slamming into the side of the mountain with trees and boulders. The friend continued riding to the campsite where the travel trailers were. When my Dad slammed into the mountainside he split his pelvis bone in half (separating the 2 halves by about 1 ½”), broke both wrist so bad that his hands were just dangling and fractured his vertebrae. My Dad after hitting the mountain rolled down the hill where he was about 20’ from his bike. Both him and the bike were out of site from anyone passing by as he and bike were in a 25' roadside ravine. After the friend returned home and hours had passed, my Dads friend started to get worried. He called the head boss asking if he had heard anything from my Dad. Eventually and so thankfully my Dads friend came back but unfortunately it wasn’t until late at night. My Dad’s friend just knew something was wrong so he called search and rescue and got several co-workers together to all go look for my Dad. This all began over 90 miles away as that was where the campsite was from where my Dad laid in a ditch dying. It wasn’t until midnight until they found my Dad. My Dad laid out there for 11 hrs before being found. His injuries were compounded due to internal bleeding where he lost half his blood from breaking his pelvis and rupturing veins in the pelvic area. As my Dad was telling me his heroic survival story he was crying saying he heard all these cars and motorcycles go by but none of them knew he was there. He was getting thirsty from the 95-degree weather and he was in so much pain that he couldn’t move. He tried rolling to his motorcycle and digging in the dirt with his shoes……anything to help him move forward towards the motorcycle where he had water. It took him 10 hrs to move 8 feet towards his bike. My Dads head was swelling and he couldn't use his hands to remove the chinstrap from his helmet, so his breathing became more difficult (if he was out there much longer he was told he was most likely going to suffocate from the chin strap). Being out there as long as he was his body started to break down putting massive amounts of proteins in his kidneys, which started damaging them. By the time he was found and air lifted to the Hospital it was 1:30 am the following morning, a total of 12 hrs lying there and dying. After being admitted in the hospital more complications followed. My Dads hands were broken so severely a specialist was called in the middle of the night. He was so dehydrated that all his veins started to collapse. Every vein they used for an IV would fail closed. Dr’s had to put a pick in one of his heart valves as a resort of the collapsing veins. He is now full of pins and may never ride, we’ll see. The first thing I said to him is that I hope he doesn’t ride again. You can take away the Harley but you can never take away the rider in him. I guess you would just have to understand by owning a Harley. Another thing that confused me is that my Dad is more concerned about riding than that of himself. Must be a riding thing too!!!!
This has been our family’s nightmare. My Dad is the breadwinner and he is not going to work anytime soon. He is going to be 60 years old this month and to make things worse neither of my parents have medical insurance. The insurance on the motorcycle will only be covering some of the incurred medical bills. Please if you could just donate a few dollars or anything that you could afford, my family would be so, so very thankful to you. Also share this story to everyone you know so we can reach all the motorcycle riders we can and maybe help prevent someone else from going through this. Even though we can be so upset with his riding partner for leaving my Dad it was the riding partner who knew something was wrong and it was he who ultimately found my Dad which we are so, so thankful