[Closed] Rider who helped me on Howe Hill, NYE

Bloody hell, get well soon.

Hope you can heal ok !
Fair dos to the guy for waiting.

Get well soon.

Not me but I hope you make a full recovery.

Healing vibes grey, and many karma credits to the helper.
I hope the car driver was equally as keen to wait until the police turned up?

@tthew - different car from how I read it. Gray was hit by a car and the driver of another car stopped to help.

I was hit by a car. Car driver did stop. Cyclist also stopped. Not sure of the exact time sequence - I was unconscious for a bit. Car driver didn't have much choice but to stop - apparently the windscreen was bullseyed but also the roof line above was bent in. So I imagine the car will be written off. Hopefully I won't be!

I just wept with pain for the first time in my adult life. Took about 5 steps though and am now sitting in a chair. Take that you motherkerf<swears>

'Kin 'ell OP healing vibes, keep us up to date. Chapeau to the other rider. Of course the obvious question is ... how's the bike 😉

Just reminds me why I love mtb-ing and hate even a few 100yds on the road. Also stops me sulking about my knees, for a bit anyway. Always someone with a tougher situation

Did you know your back was broken before you were told, or did you just feel it hurt a lot?

Bloody hell Gray! I hope you make a full recovery and get back on the bike as soon as possible.

Are you Dr Gray from Warwick?

Shit - I regularly train on that hill! Hard to believe a driver could screw it up - good lines of sight, not very busy etc. I suppose it does face south east so would get low winter sun?

Get well soon.

Hi Mark, yes it's me.

I thought it was probably OK, just thoroughly ****ted, until they told me.

Yeah - I think sun was the reason / excuse given at the scene. I'm hoping his insurance will accept liability and there are no claims that I swerved in front of him or anything.

Bike is in a Police impound - not sure of exact state. Tother cyclist said the back wheel is knackered but didn't go into more details.

Don't worry. If he hit you from behind it was 100% his fault.

You could have been a child wobbling about, he should leave enough room in front of him full stop.

Get a proper lawyer involved & all the best for a swift recovery.

That's the way I see it too. I'm a CTC member so I'll get their solicitors on the case in a few days.

healing vibes. That's reassuring on the CTC / solicitor front though.

Which reminds me, must sign up to an org. that does proper insurance cover..

1030? Suns been up a good while and sun must be pretty high. Dozy driver dicking around with phone way more likely.

Hope you make a steady recovery and can get back on a bike this year.

Not seeking to excuse, but it is quite steeply uphill so I think the sun probably was a bit dazzling. Competent driving involves dealing with that safely though.

Thanks all for your kind words. I'm feeling pretty positive really. Did quite a bit of sitting and a bit more shuffling this afternoon. These things are better than lying.

Best for a speedy recovery.

Hope you heal quickly and it doesn't affect your desire to ride. Although it does affect mine. Take it easy sir!

Evening. Healing vibes and how the **** do you hit someone from behind in daylight? Distracted driver..Was the drivers phone confiscated or anyone see it?

Good to hear that you are doing ok. I'm guessing the spinal cord is intact? Could have been very nasty!! Thanks for posting up, hope you find the guy and get to thank him 🙂

That's my worse fear on the roads.

The idiot in front or coming towards you, you have a chance to at least try to avoid a collision.

The idiot behind you? well, one minute your riding, the next your laying on the floor in pain, if your "lucky".

Good luck mate, take it easy and hope the rest of the year brings only good biking memories.

what sort of fracture, I got a compression fracture on T12 years ago, trying to sleep was a bastard could not lie down without agony.

I used a rolled up towel under my lumbar to support my back. i was 90%in 2-3months and fine after 12mnth

Duncan, that's interesting thanks. My T12 is cracked right through. Cord OK though. I just wiggled my toes, still work! Did you have metalwork inserted? I have titanium rods going from T11 to L1.

When you say 90% in 2-3 months, roughly what does 90% mean? Could you walk a mile, get on a bike? Drive a car?

Thanks all.

No it was a stable fracture. I had an external support on. Like a crucifix on my chest to stop me bending. And a sling as I cracked by shoulder blade slightly

I was for 1 week Mon to Fri. I discharged myself/ got told if I could get out of bed on my own as it was a stable fracture and no surgery required I could go home. So I did via the pub.

I broke it in March and in June did the nijemagen 4daagse marches (220k)

Yours sound a bit worse than mine but just listen to your body.

In comparison I'd rather do my back again than my pelvis....

Drop me an email if you want more info/sensible advice

Thanks, much appreciated. I'm impressed by your marching - that's hard going in any state! Very encouraging. I'll be in this brace for 6 weeks apparently (comes off at night). Soft tissue around the spine should be healed in 12. So I'm hoping that I'll be able to be fairly active from around then.

I hope you make a speedy and full recovery. Good work to our fellow cyclist.

A few years back I was chatting to a couple of guys whilst out riding. After a while they told me about how they had helped a chap who had broken his leg. Proper foot pointing backwards job......... I think they twigged it was me about the same time as I did:-)
Appy days:-)

How you getting on? Climbing the walls yet?

Crap, scary stuff - Get well soon Gray!

Hello, just an update. Things are going pretty well considering! Came home on Thursday evening. Steadily getting more mobile since then. I cripwalked probably about 3/4 of a mile today, albeit with a coffee and cake stop halfway (first time I've been out in the real world for ages!).

Still pretty sore at times, especially at night, but I'm surviving and still improving quite rapidly. Only using one crutch now, and can potter about quite effectively.

Haven't got my bike back yet, so don't know if it's salvageable. Looking forward to getting back out there.

Am going to try a bit of work tomorrow - I can work from home pretty well, so just need to see how I go sitting at a desk instead of in this Grandad chair that I've borrowed. Feel a bit of a fraud being off work for much longer. Doesn't hurt *that* much and my head's fine. Well, no thicker than normal anyway!

Oh and I forgot to mention, it turns out that the Police had the details of the cyclist who helped me. He was happy for them to pass his details to me, so I phoned him the other day to say thanks. He had stayed with me for about an hour - arrived just after the crash and before any emergency services. Apparently I was very keen to roll over on to my back, but he persuaded me not to. Not impossible that in doing so he saved my spinal cord...

Feel a bit of a fraud being off work for much longer.

Broken back... T'is but a scratch 😉

Hoping the rapid improvement continues!

Glad to hear you're making progress.

Apparently I was very keen to roll over on to my back, but he persuaded me not to. Not impossible that in doing so he saved my spinal cord...

Really interesting thing to say. It seems many riders feel a strong compulsion to jump up from a crash and act as if everything's fine, no matter how broken they might be.

I only started recording memories again about 20 minutes after it happened from the sounds of it. By then I think I was pretty OK with lying still. I was feeling uncomfortable and sore, but not in agony. I guess shock and adrenaline might numb the pain. That night was pretty rubbish though. They went light on painkillers (which means I only had oral morphine every couple of hours), not sure if that's because they didn't want me to get comfy and then wriggle about, or if it might have complicated the anaesthesia for the surgery the next morning. Blinkin hurt though. I was looking forward to the anaesthetic kicking in.

Bloody hell Gray.
Glad to hear your mostly ok.

Hi Tom!

Yeah, I'm alright really. Could have been really bad, but looks like I'll be fine.

Any update mate?

Hello! Still alive. Getting loads better. Still wearing a brace, but can get about really well without crutches. Doesn't hurt much now. Have even set up a mountain bike on my turbo trainer to help with getting the knackered muscles back working. Only done 10 minutes on it so far, but it was OK! I'm generally feeling optimistic - I intend to be back riding properly by the summer. Will see the surgeon in a couple of weeks - will have an x-ray to check all is in the right place, then should be able to ditch the brace.

Good to hear, thanks for the update!

😀

Thanks chaps! It's really not nearly as bad as I expected a broken spine to be.

Good news. Come to this thread late and just read it all. Hope things keep improving for you.

Good stuff....

Update?

Hello.

Thanks for the interest! Brace came off at the end of February. Managed to do a bit of turbo training on a mountain bike over the following weeks, but then the shed was burgled and that bike stolen. A few weeks later I got a replacement and started doing short rides outside. My overall back functionality was steadily improving all the while. Am now riding a bit outside, and have a road bike set up on the turbo trainer - just about to start 'training' properly to get some fitness back, and have just had some insurance money to buy a new road bike so that I can get back out there...

I can do most normal stuff now. Have to be pretty careful lifting the kids (well, the 2 year old, I don't really lift the 4 year old), and can't do anything too touch. I'm still not sleeping brilliantly, but loads better than I was, and it's bearable. Current plan is to have the metalwork taken out next January, which is for the best long-term, but it's a bit crap knowing that no matter how much progress I make until then, I'll be flat on my back for a bit again. Recovery from that should be far easier than the initial injury though.

The driver was prosecuted for careless driving - he got 6 points and something like a £600 fine with another hundred or two in costs etc.

🙂

Glad to hear you making progress...

6 points and something like a £600

Bargin! 🙄

Glad to hear you're mending well though. Keep it up.

Thanks chaps.

Could have been lots worse. Am reasonably comfortable already on the tops of my road bike, which isn't too bad considering two of my vertebral joints are immobilised by titanium rods! Just got to decide on which fancy new bike to splash some cash on now...

glad to hear it!

Glad to hear you are healing fast. Physiological age is not equal to age for a cyclist. My second wrist op WA a lot better than the first and recovery was very fast. I suspect removing your titanium will be similar.

Update in case anyone's interested:

I bought a fancy Canyon Aeroad with the insurance money, and have been riding that since last summer. Mostly steady improvement, with a few periods of achey interruption. Now I really don't have any excuse for not being faster other than laziness though. I can't lift heavy things, and my sleep is still disturbed a bit, but overall I can do anything that's important. Haven't done any proper mountain biking (a lap at Swinley doesn't count), and am avoiding things like skiing for fear of crashing and snapping the metalwork. Though I did pile into the side of an alp going downhill on a road bike in the summer, but luckily got away with it (the hire bike did not).

Today I had my pre-op assessment in preparation for surgery to remove the metalwork. I don't have an actual date for the surgery yet, but I'm hoping that it'll be in the next few weeks. The surgeon today said "You should be on your feet same day, and going home after one or two nights here.", and I said "OK, so what I'm hearing is that I'll be back on my bike within a week, right?". He chuckled in that "I'm not sure if you're joking or mental" way. 🙂

Here's an axial slice from my CT, BTW:
[img] [/img]

Another case where we need the like button

come to this very late but glad to see you are recovering, all the best for the op to remove the work.

Just got back from my appointment with the neuro/spinal surgeon as been plagued with recurring back issues on an already dodgy back for the last 6 months. Gosh it's a bit sobering reading your account. Tough boots you are.

Good luck with the metalwork removal - I felt so much better once mine was taken out of my leg... fingers crossed you sleep better without it.

Thanks all.

tuskaloosa: I hope they can sort you out. Mine is really not that bad. I think even after a few months I was into "this is no worse than what many people just call a 'bad back'" territory. Right now it's really not a significant limiter (I rode to work the other day - over 90 km away), so I'm not grumbling. I'm hopeful that a few months from now it'll be even better with the metalwork out than if I leave it in, but if it's just the same then that'll be OK. At least then I won't have to worry about snapping screws if I crash!

Another little update:

Had surgery to remove the scaffolding on Wednesday. Got home yesterday afternoon. Would have been let out on Thursday but they didn’t have the right brace in stock.

Seemed to go well. Was a bit rubbish being beamed back to the time that sitting up was agonising, but 24 hours later I was walking quite comfortably. Will need the brace for up to 6 weeks but can try the turbo in about a week. So it's all good, nothing but improvement from now on...!

Healing vibes. That's going to be quite a story for the grandkids! 🙂

Blimey, I missed this entirely

I'm glad it's gone well

Good update - here's to improvement from now on.

Thanks for the update,great news.
I think we should call you Earl gray from now on, stiff upper back and all that 😀

Thanks chaps!

Great to hear you doing so well!!

Am now on the turbo for the first time, 12 days after surgery. Can't really lean on the bars so am sitting upright. Can at least do something though. Woohoo!

Just read all of this. So chuffed that you're making a great recovery 🙂

As funky said, please keep us informed.

Little update in case anyone's interested:

It's now two years to the day since I was hit. I've recovered well from the surgery (April) to remove the metalwork. Have recently finished physio, but will be continuing with pilates for, well, maybe ever. Saw a surgeon for the last time a few weeks back (medico legal thing, not *my* surgeon) who said that my outcome is absolutely right at the best end of the spectrum. It could have ended up so much worse, but I was crazy lucky.

So, all things considered, I'm good! Still a bit sore and achey now and then, but I no longer have any good excuse for my fat and unfit state.

Here's to fixing that next year!

Happy days...

See you on a bike some day.

Wow that's mega. Best of luck (how did I miss this thread before?)

@gray, you've been through the mill; my best to you for your continuing recovery.
I hope the driver and/or their insurers have paid an 'appropriate'price.

Thanks guys. The insurance company paid out for a shiny new bike. Compensation for other stuff should be sorted over the coming months. Thankfully there's no expectation that the residual damage is likely to cause loss of earnings, so I won't be getting a massive chunk of cash, but I'm more than happy about that!

Glad you are well recovered, and back cycling!

Glad you recovered well.
Even though I hadn't remembered this thread, for the last few days I've been super conscious of riding into low sun for fear of getting rear ended. It's resulted in some lengthy diversions, which is a bonus and great excuse for being late home. "I was only taking care, which is what you always say to me"

Good to hear Gray 🙂

Excellent update.

Ta.

for the last few days I've been super conscious of riding into low sun for fear of getting rear ended.

I'm definitely a bit more conscious of this now! I live to the West of where I work, so this time of year I'm much happier on an overcast day than when it's clear. I've considered getting one of those Garmin Varia radar thingies, but I suspect that it wouldn't significantly affect the chances of actually being hit.

Good news re recovery. But on the subject of low sun:

I have a Lezyne rear light with a 'daylight' mode. I initially thought it a bit daft and a bit of lumen willy waving, but I think it might help in low sun situations since it's so ridiculously bright.

Just remember to turn it back down to sensible setting when the sun does drop.

Really glad your recovery has been so good. I remember the day it happened.

Glad to hear you are on the road to recovery.
I recently bought one of the Garmin Varia things, really like it, helps in situations where you might not realize there is a car coming up quickly behind you (windy day, or country roads where a car is closer than you think). Like you say it might not stop you getting hit, but a secondary awareness while riding. The lights on it are pretty bright too.