[Closed] Clothes removed / cut-off and destroyed / lost by ambulance / A&E

Have you thought about writing to the Daily Mail? Sounds like a shoe in for a 'the country is going to hell in a hand basket' editorial piece.

Im mostly with the OP on this one
I think hes OK with having his kit cut off and understands why
Its the glasses hes annoyed about

My own experience was of being involved in a fire at a flat
All well, living room destroyed, heavy smoke damage to bedrooms
Fire brigade ace, police efficient

Of course we were not allowed back in for 24h to find the place trashed - which was fine - but that some things had mysteriously vanished, small stuff like a Victorinox knife and some other bits
Nothing massively expensive, but would have survived the smoke and bloody annoying to find them gone

Yup Im grateful to be alive and the emergency services were excellent but was just pissed off that this was thrown back at me when I raised some of our stuff had walked

Best of luck OP
Heal quick

Heal up quick OP. can understand why you'd want your stuff back too.

Understandable why you want your stuff back. It may spark a recollection and improve understanding. Not all of it may have been trashed, so why waste it?

Thing is, your kit is nowhere on the priority list for those who attended to you. It is a potential risk. Sliding a top over your head, pulling shorts down places stress on joints and broken bits. Orbital and spinal fractures don't need moving about for the sake of a bit of kit. Had you been blinded or paralysed by moving bone fragments, brought on by undressing, would you now be worrying about the kit? They aren't much fussed about other kit that may be lying about either. Getting you to A&E takes precedence. Sometimes you just have to accept losses in life. Sacrificing kit over health is quite an easy one to accept. Take it easy, get well soon and check your house insurance.

Yes, I also know that me and my back injury would have been the priority, not my kit, but I'm not happy with the way I've been treated in several respects and the loss of kit is only part of the problem.

I'm sure you can see why many people reading your post will think you come across as an ungrateful ejit - who is lucky to be alive never mind walking again and has got his priorities mixed up. I'm not really sure how you think some blood stained, cut-up bike gear and mangled oakleys (assuming you were still wearing them when you crashed - you say you can't remember the couple of hours running up to it!) are going to help you piece together what went wrong. That said, I would have expected A&E, and the Ambulance Service to normally keep all the stuff that is cut off as potential evidence for the coroner?

I can't say i'd expect to have got my kit back once it was blood soaked and cut up. I would have expected my rucksack and glasses - but beyond asking A&E what might have happened to it - I wouldn't care.

My only personal experience is that I got a bag of my brothers property to take away from ICU (not blood soaked or cut up) but would have much rather taken him home (not bike related)!

AT NO COST to himself

you have had some of the best treatment available in the world for free

I suggest you two read up on how National Insurance works.

Presumably there will be a process at the hospital for logging / dealing with personal belongings. When my dad was admitted to hospital last year we had a written log detailing things like his wedding ring. It looks like that process hasn't been followed in this case. Sure, it's a minor issue in the grand scheme of things, but it's not an unreasonable request to get a straight answer to "hey, where's my stuff?"

Get well soon, Andy.

Cougar dont be silly, we know how NI works, its just another tax that goes in to a pot and is spent by the government on whatever it see's fit.
in effect another percentage on your income tax.

But the OP got treatment free withouth having to pay for it. as in say for example he crashed whilst riding in France and had to pay for everything, and if he didnt speak French then he would have struggled as they wuldnt have provided a translator.
but that's a bit off topic.
From what the OP said, he got an answer along the lines of its been destroyed.

[i]got treatment free without having to pay for it[/i]

'free at point of delivery', not 'free'.

Value is irrelevant. If was wearing a £10k watch would peoples reaction be different?
He's already said he received great treatment and wants to piece together what happened.

No, my reaction would be the same. He didn't say he'd received great treatment, IIRC he'd said there were a host of other things he wasn't happy about too....

not my kit, but I'm not happy with the way I've been treated in several respects and the loss of kit is only part of the problem.

I still don't see how seeing ripped clothes helps you piece anything together, you hit your head and have lost memories, you probably won't remember it and unless you're looking to either put blame on something or someone it makes no difference whatsoever to the end result or the future as far as I can see?

Hope you get well soon but .....

I should imagine they were more worried about not paralysing you, and ensuring you could walk and see in the future, so may not have been worried about your glasses.

When the Tories have finished the privatisation of the NHS, and you have to pay 20K+ for treatment (ala USA) people might start appreciating the value of the 'free' treatment in the UK, and stop worrying about the petty stuff that in the long run really doesn't matter.

A 10k watch?

Whoa different ballgame.

If someones watch/wallet and keys went AWOL then this is a completely different ballgame to taking a faceplant and having your (assuming) broken sunglasses, cut off and bloodied clothes being binned. The staff are busy/need room to move and probably had a queue/high workload.

My top was cut off - like **** was I bothered about seeing it again. Same for sunglasses, who care if they are 'Oakley'.

There seems to be two trains of thought here. How would cut off clothing 'help the OP piece things together'- do they have black boxes sewn in that he can plug into a PC?

😆

What next sue for loss of knackered 'Oakley' branded glasses?

I think its ironic that the professions that could benefit most from empathising with the customer are the ones that are least likely to display that trait.

Its all too common to hear on here from NHS staff, we have done or job, it was for free, you should be grateful for being alive, you are just a number and I am a hero...

Its all too common to hear on here from NHS staff, we have done or job, it was for free, you should be grateful for being alive, you are just a number and I am a hero...

Seems fair enough to me, in the US you would have had to swipe your card before they would have even looked at you unless you had actually died (as they need you breathing to enter your PIN).

That's the way we are heading, and anyone who thinks that will be instead of NI is mad, as it will be added on top.

Its all too common to hear on here from NHS staff, we have done or job, it was for free, you should be grateful for being alive, you are just a number and I am a hero...

On the 'free' note. Its not free. We pay National Insurance and various taxes don't we?!

Wanting to piece together more details of what happened is a big part of this. The poor bloke has had a complete blackout and seeing his kit again might give him a couple of clues as to what exactly happened. Another part of it is the lack of process surrounding his kit. I think if he were told 'this happened to it, by this person, then' he would be fine - the lack of information shows a lack of due process. Which is wrong.

This ^.

Completely understand this - I was on my own when I crashed and have no memory of accident. Whilst in hospital I was told that the Police would talk to me, they didn't. I still don't know for sure whether it was a hit and run. It's a horrible experience, all sorts of things go through your mind, and not knowing the truth is quite frustrating.

As regards kit, yes you could have been wearing a Goretex jacket, Assos tights etc etc and not everybody is in a position to splash out on replacements, or indeed repairing said bike.

I sincerely hope that this doesn't happen to those who've made nasty comments, you really have no idea. 😕

We pay National Insurance and various taxes don't we?!

Depends on if you're loaded or not, really. Apparently [url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/reality-check-with-polly-curtis/2012/apr/10/george-osborne-richest-avoid-tax?newsfeed=true ]George Osbourne is 'shocked' to discover the rich don't pay tax[/url]

To get back to the OP. You've lost a pair of sunglasses FFS. Boo hoo. MTFU and stop whining

I sincerely hope that this doesn't happen to those who've made nasty comments, you really have no idea.

Personally, I hope I would be looking down, wiggling my toes and thinking thank **** I can move my toes, stand up and see tbh, and not be that bothered by a lost jacket and glasses, but I guess I am funny like that and value my health over physical crap that can be replaced.

On the 'free' note. Its not free. We pay National Insurance and various taxes don't we?!

🙄

"Its all too common to hear on here from NHS staff, we have done or job, it was for free, you should be grateful for being alive, you are just a number and I am a hero..."

It's all too common to hear on here from punters who I expect the world from the NHS, with no understanding of how under staffed, over worked, under resourced the system is, and that customer service has to be a distant 2nd to actually saving your life/making you better.

And to be being treated like a number, yes you are the staff don't on the whole have the time to be lovey dovey with every one, then of course its the fact that staff become hardened because day in day out they deal with the dregs of society who demand every thing but offer no thanks in return. Then theres the nice middle class folk, who know their rights, and have expectations of a service they have paid their taxes for. They are agressive, rude and take up valuable time that could be put in to patient care

physical crap that can be replaced.

OK if you have a money tree in the garden. 🙄

Possessions are another thing to worry about, as if Andy doesn't have enough to deal with!

So should they prioritize his 'stuff' over his eyes and back? As bear in mind they don't have infinite resources, so employing a cloakroom attendant would mean one less nurse.

I don't think anyone has been nasty to the OP. Most of the comments have agreed that he should have received his items back, but in those people's opinions Andy's clothes are not that important and are replaceable and Andy should focus on the fact he will be back on his bike in a few months.
It's likely that someone at the hospital has made a mistake and put his belongings in the bin which will mean they have most likely been incinerated by now.
Andy, can I suggest that you give it a couple of weeks and if you still feel aggrieved by the treatment you have received and that your belongings were misplaced, then you should definitely make a complaint.

[b]First of all can i say a [u]big thankyou[/u] to all the PARAMEDICS, ambulance technicians, hospital staff, and Police for the excellent care they provide free of charge to us as cyclists when we hurt ourselves.[/b]

As for the loss of siome clothes and sunglases,hopefully your treatment and transport to hospital was more important to the paramedics and medical team, than worrying about some clothes.

a few years ago a neighbours flat was on fire he was trapped inside, i kicked the door in and rescued him, i didnt give a shit about damage to the door, but his life was more important, and he thanked me andd gave me a hug, and so did his parents, it really meant a lot to us all.

Oh and lets all donate an item of clothing to the O/P , i will start with a pair of socks.

So should they prioritize his 'stuff' over his eyes and back? As bear in mind they don't have infinite resources, so employing a cloakroom attendant would mean one less nurse.

It is a shame that the NHS is so under resourced that they cannot do both and we all know what the priority is. That said if I was £500 worse off after my "free" treatment i would not be pleased at that outcome whatever the treatment was like.

I can donate shorts and a top if you are a skinny racing whippet

I find it terribly sad that so many people commenting on here think that physical health is the be-all and end-all of contentment with a traumatic accident. Andy's mental health, and therefore his ability to cope with his recovery, is every bit as important. To HIM, his lost stuff IS IMPORTANT, for whatever reasons he chooses and I think he has every right to pursue what has been lost. Some people work differently to you, you know, and a little humility and understanding of that fact goes to long way to showing that you're a decent individual, instead of some shouty, arrogant, unsympathetic tool.

Junkyard - he is not £500 worse off - the kit would have been ruined by being cut off.

Yes it should have been returned to him and someone has ****ed up somewhere along the line.

Just another thought - I wonder if it made it to the ward he was on and is still there?

Junkyard, your point is silly
the NHS is not under resourced to the point that they cant look after your belongings, what appears to have happened in this case as has been confirmed to the OP is that they have been destroyed.

The NHS has a lot to deal with and keeping some trashed clothing isnt really much of a priority for them

So should they prioritize his 'stuff' over his eyes and back?

I think you should prioritise "reading" over "typing".

No-one's said his gear is more important than his health care. But it's still [i]his [/i]gear. Someone, somewhere should be able to tell him where it is and what happened to it, even if that's "it was incinerated, sorry." No?

What's the alternative here? You get picked up by the emergency services, you should think yourself lucky for that, the contents of your pockets are perks of the job for the hospital orderlies? Oh, and whilst you're here, you don't really need [i]two[/i] kidneys, that's just greedy.

I'd be immensely surprised if there wasn't a large paper trail generated when someone is admitted into hospital, even if it's just to protect themselves from some chancer coming round and going "hey, where have my diamond solitaire and Rolex?"

he is not £500 worse off - the kit would have been ruined by being cut off

another minor concern: the hospital / ambulance service has lost most of the kit I was wearing: shorts, undervest, jersey, oakleys, gloves, socks... (all my wife was given was my lid (broken) and shoes (bloody), also the arm strap off my deuter Ruck Sack (they cut through the padded bit).

Again the NHS is superb but I would still want my stuff back this is not unreasonable

so he has no kit but he is not £500 worse of..the contents of the bag were destroyed as well then , pump inner tubes, multi tool etc. Why give him the bag strap back but not the bag or contents?

iPhone, GPS, wallet full of cash...

next line junkyard

I did ask (several times) and was either fobbed off or told that they everything would have been disposed of.

If your kit is anywhere it will be in the hospital, we don't tend to keep bloodied, torn up clothes on ambulances. Though from what hospital have said it has probably ended up in the bin, remember one mans oakleys are another mans plastic sunglasses like what you get from the petrol station.

As a cyclist as well as a Paramedic I try to conserve peoples equipment, an often usually load the bike into my car to follow them down to A&E, likewise I try to cut leathers at the stitching with a knife rather than with scissors, but priority is the patient, with injures like yours, C-spine would be priority once airway was cleared and unfortunately that means cutting clothes/backpacks/helmet straps etc.

Given the extent of your facial injuries, I'd assume your Oakleys would be in a bad state, and would have been chucked in a clinical waste bag with everything else (assuming they were still on your face when you were loaded onto ambulance?).

Hope you are healing up well and the pain is more manageable now, but important question is, how's the bike?

important question is, how's the bike?

Moreover, where's the bike?

I did ask (several times) and was either fobbed off or told that they everything would have been disposed of.

Just to be clear - I'm sitting here recuperating from last week's op on shoulder from my accident, yes that was six months ago! I paid to have it done privately cos the NHS were telling me that it would be even more months before it could be done due to backlog. Added to which I was getting more pain due to me not being fixed!

I also pay for my thyroid medication as GP is unable to grasp that I actually want to have a life rather than being shoved on thyroxine and anti-depressants to 'enjoy' a crap existance.

So of course my experience of the NHS is that it was great at patching me up but has failed woefully in everything else.

This of course in no way detracts from the NHS staff who do a terrific job in an organisation that needs, er well, reorganising.

a few years ago a neighbours flat was on fire he was trapped inside, i kicked the door in and rescued him, i didnt give a shit about damage to the door, but his life was more important, and he thanked me andd gave me a hug, and so did his parents, it really meant a lot to us all.

Crap analogy. Better one would be that you kicked the door in, rescued him, then went back for his TV and PS3.

I don't really get the aggression toward the OP, seems reasonable to me. I'd be aggrieved if my stuff had been 'lost' irrespective of condition. It's faintly ridiculous how quickly people get their backs up and the "you should be lucky to be alive" vitriol gets spouted. 🙄

What a thoroughly dispiriting and depressing thread.
Well done everyone.

What a thoroughly dispiriting and depressing thread.
Well done everyone.

I blame the Daily Mail readers!

I think you'll find its Thatchers fault

what's depressing, I find it quite interesting, I have an opinion and express it, its interesting to see how other people view/react to the same statement by the OP.

it's lively debate, which is good.

I have sympathy with the OP, I could cope with my clothes being binned but why would they bin the glasses and bag? The things I would like back no matter what condition they were in are bag, shoes, glasses and helmet. The oakleys could have been warranted if damaged as could the helmet (crash replacement).

Anyhow hope you get better soon and hope you get your gear back.

[i]why would they bin the glasses and bag[/i]

I don;t think he said they binned the bag, just the strap?

binned the bag not the strap

The scenario in the original post presumably isn't unique - so why is it that a Standard Operating Procedure isn't in place to avoid this kind of eventuality?

This is symptomatic of the NHS - crammed to the gills with people but singularly lacking in processes that deliver good care to a repeatable standard and undermined by ways of working and behaviours that are no longer acceptable but apparently tolerated by staff at all levels:

There's more here in the same vain:

[url= http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/christina-patterson/christina-patterson-more-nurses-better-paid-than-ever--so-why-are-standards-going-down-7628093.html ]More nurses but standards are going down[/url]

and

[url= http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/christina-patterson/a-crisis-in-nursing-six-operations-six-stays-in-hospital--and-six-firsthand-experiences-of-the-care-that-doesnt-care-enough-7628092.html ]A crisis in nursing[/url]

We probably all know people that have had great care from the NHS but unless we are more honest about the times when the NHS gets things badly wrong there's unlikely to be any improvement the day to day experience for patients which is surely the most important thing.

Farmerjohn - there are procedures inplace for this sort of thing - here they have failed.

Nice of you to get in your usual NHS bashing while you are at it

The best way to learn from mistake is to go to no fault incident analyis. But you would rather hammer people for mistakes wouldn't you. An increase not decrease in staff would not go amiss as well

Farmer_John go private if you find it so bad, just hope you don't get really ill or else they will dump you at the first possible point

Seems like a fair enough OP to me.

I mean, imagine how miffed youd be if you were this guy and one day you crash your bike and wake up to find all your personal effects mysteriously gone.[img] [/img]

Think yourself lucky that the worst of your worries are about what has happened to your ruined stuff!

Cripes..

I started reading this and thought "ohhh blinkin ek" when the OP scribed his tale. Fairynuff he wanted to know about his kit, would have thought that would be brought with him to hospital by the ambulance crew but hey.

Lucky to be alive and all that.

Then the threads sunken into the levels of backarguing and the like, as per usual.

Shame.

That's not what's been said Penrod.
Edit: just realised there was a page 4- whoops!

INRAT but quite easy to ride in £500 worth of kit

Being an Oakley collector some of the glasses I wear whilst riding are total one off's and impossible to replace.

If I'd have suffered the same fate as you and lost a pair of them and the rest of my other kit I wouldn't care! I'd genuinely be thankful to be alive

(though I'd like to make sure my bike got home ok)

Claim on any insurance you can, that's what it's there for

Wow 🙂 At the risk of re-igniting this thread I thought I ought to come back to it now I'm in a better place.

Clearly no-one in their right mind would have been more concerned about their kit than those nasty injuries and at the risk of trying to defend myself I guess one of the reasons I started this thread was that I wasn't "in my right mind".

It's been over 4 weeks now and I'm making good progress.

The District Nurse who came to take my stitches out a week after said they normally keep people with my injuries in hospital for "much longer".

The Facial Team were pleased with how well my facial fractures were healing after 3 weeks and discharged me. My dentist has been fantastic. Jaw (plated in two places) not brilliant still and may lose some teeth after-all but could be worse.

Wrist fracture healing well and elected to have cast taken off at 4 weeks. Lost strength and flexibility but nothing physio can't address.

Spinal fractures still stable and healing well. Consultant says it's "interesting" that I'm still (relatively) mobile (able to walk 100m with aid of a crutch and one flight of stairs).

Pain, discomfort and lack of sleep still a major feature. To be expected at this stage.

GP has been very helpful trying to tweak the cocktail of drugs I'm on to maximise pain relief and minimise side-effects (anyone else been on tramadol? A separate thread perhaps?) (Now on codine / paracetamol / ibruprofen / laxatives mix which is less "effective" but less "nasty" - my wife* says it's nice to get me back!)

Still no recollection of the accident. Or the hours before. Or much of the time I spent in hospital (5 days in the end). More of a concern my mind still keeps 'leaving bits out' of memory. (e.g. Riding buddy Kevin came to visit the day after I was discharged with cake and flowers. One week later I'd completely forgotten this and was surprised he'd not been in touch).

GP said last week that this is completely normal given my head injuries and should return to normal after 8 weeks or so. As you might gather from a couple of my commments above, my poor wife* was not at all happy I was moaning about my kit. Apparently I had a few other 'completely out of character' bizarre moments in hospital including one involving a neurologist who wanted to test my reflexes and another even more bizarre one featuring 'faggots and peas'!!!

I've got my bike back (the local newsagent looked after it for me). I've also had an email from an off-duty police inspector who happened to be one of the first on the scene. He'd described one witness saying that I "just launched myself over the bars" and that fits with what we've found on the bike - the front brake caliper has unexplainable broken loose and caught in the front wheel(broken nut possibly?). It doesn't matter but it helps to know it was a freak mechanical failure that caused it and not me or someone else.

My wife received a call from an off-duty nurse to say I'd been taken to hospital. The policeman also confirmed that it's her I might well have to thank for saving my life - apparently she secured my airway whilst I was led unconscious. (Hoping to track her down and say thanks personally at some point).

If any of you ambulance techs / paramedics / policemen / firemen / nurses out there took this thread as a dig at you I'm especially sorry. You do a fantastic job. Keep it up 🙂

Yes, those who said "it could have been worse" you were right, it most certainly could. I might not have realised that 3 weeks ago but I do now..

Anyway, back to the point of the OP and my kit. No, perhaps unsurprisingly it hasn't magically been returned to me. Suffice to say though that the guys in my LBS have been brilliant, the guys at Oakley and Giro have been brilliant (my poor suffering wife* emailed them!). A few mentioned above that I should claim on house contents insurance - should have said, not possible. Should also have stressed that despite what I was or wasn't thinking money was never a consideration.

There's always an upside. I've been indundated with messages, cards and all manner of cake and cycling related DVD and reading material. It's been great to to hear from so many people, including some I've not heard from for a while. And TooTall and llama who a must get a special mention for sticking up for me above (I'm not sure I would have!!)

Anyway, enough about injuries and 'what-if's'. Focussing now on recovery. Each day a little bit. Shed a few tears watching Chris Akrigg's video but mind in right place now. Progress may be slow but aim is to be back on the bike in 12 weeks.

*Final mention must go to Karina. Above all, sorry to have put her through the anguish of it all. Couldn't do it without her 🙂

Get well soon, as that's a hell of a lot on injuries, but you are 4 weeks closer to getting back on the bike 😉

Nice post. thanks

And the moral is, don't post on STW when stoned on painkillers!

Get well soon.

And the moral is, don't post on STW when stoned on painkillers!

My irational ramblings over Christmas clearley passed for normla then 😛

Good to hear you're healing well. I can really recommend some DX Fauxleys...

Really glad to see youre making a recovery, we all say things sometimes we dont mean to, i think in the circumstances you should be allowed to get away with it.

Oh and im sure a few tins of biscuits to the relevant hospital departments, and obviously the local paramedics would be very nice for them.

Good news. Nice post. Get well soon 8)

Nice to see you back relatively OK. Sounds like you really did a number on yourself, I'd be interested to see more of that brake caliper but one distinct possibility, depending on location, is that you got a branch in it - it's happened to me at lower speeds, but it'd be obvious from the rotor.

Very glad to hear that you are on the mend, hope things continue to go smoothly for you.

get well soon. sounds like you have a fair old path yet to travel, but that your chin is up. 8)
all the best.

Wow that was some read!
Good to hear you are on the mend.

Thanks for the update and sounds as though you're really going through the mill. 🙁

Completely understand how the head reacts to an accident as after mine I became very anxious that it may have been a hit and run - no memory of it at all.

Hang in there, small steps literally, you'll get there. 🙂

Good luck mate. Just read your thread for first time. Healing vibes! I had a bad eye socket fracture in 2004 from a bike crash.. My fault! My teeth are still a bit numb!
The mental shock is as bad as the crash. I think I understand what you went through . After a bad stack the shock makes us desperate to get back to "normal" that I think is why you weren't thinking straight and wanted clothes back etc. it's a massive shock with injuries like yours. Mine certainly took me a few years to get over and rationalise. The worse bit I remember was having the nose packing in.. Good luck and don't rush getting back.

More healing vibes here! Glad to hear you're on the mend.

I'm pleased to hear you're recovering Andy.

Good to hear you're on the mend. It feels like a long time to get back in the saddle, but at least the trails may have dried out a bit!

Get well soon!

Glad to hear you're recovering.

Your drugged rant doesn't beat the guy whose partners life I saved from a severe Asthma attack. I bumped into him a few weeks later and he went into a full rant about how I must have her false breast as the hospital certainly didn't. This was in front of load of his friends, he went a bit red when I asked how she was now that she was out of hospital.

People have funny responses to various stressful and emotional times. This was yours.

Good luck with the rest of the healing.

Thanks all 🙂

Yes, as Project suggests, plan over next week or two is to get out and thanks those who need to be thanked personally. Cheers Drac, I'll remember that one for the paramedics!

[i]he went a bit red when I asked how she was now that she was out of hospital[/i]

I bet he felt a right tit.

Or maybe not, if that's the missing one...

Get you back to work, Andy. The crazy people here make anything you've ever typed appear rational and erudite.

check your caliper bolts kids...

brakes - Member

check your caliper bolts kids...

Added a mental note to do this when reading Andy's update. Watched Closer to the Edge yesterday and their mechanical failures are proper scary!

TooTall - Member
Get you back to work, Andy.

Daytime tele is enough to drive anyone back to work!

brakes - Member
check your caliper bolts kids...

At the risk of getting "he was on a road bike?!? he deserved it" posts 😉 I should point out I was on a road bike and I'm talking roadie stile brake caliper - the bolt being the one that goes through the top of the fork. It was old and there was a tiny bit of 'play' in it but up until the crash but it was all functioning fine (even pull, not done up too loosely / tightly etc).

check your caliper [u]bolt[/u] kids (and roadies)

Interesting read and whilst I'm didn't agree with his initial sentiments, hes subesquently clarified things and its great news he appears to be on the mend.

I've got to say that this type of post doesn't exactly do my riding confidence much good...that sounds like a nasty nasty crash...

anyhow, I'm off to check my brakes..

hope you're back on the bike soon...

:-)Thought I’d come back to this one. For a few reasons.. It’s been 9 months now. I mentioned above about some of the mental (psychological) issues I’ve had. (Starting this thread being one of them!) It’s only been relatively recently that amongst my other injuries I’ve come to realise the significance of the bang on my head.

For lots of reasons (including the other injuries being more pressing at the time) no-one picked up on the neurological issues and what I now know was the brain injury I suffered.

As a result of breaking my jaw (another thread! http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/broken-jaw-recovery) I was sent to see a Speech Therapist and it was her that realised that my speech was being affected as much by neuro issues as much as my jaw being broken. Cut a long story short that led to me finally being referred for neuro assessments and eventually treatment.

One of the therapists mentioned James Cracknell and his wife Bevs book in which they document his recovery following him being hit by a truck (on Route 66) whilst crossing the US in 2010.

[img] [/img]

It’s been tough reading it but at the same time a useful part of the (necessary) healing process. So many “me too” moments; all helping me understand that the effects of the injury are ‘normal’: no memory still of the accident, the days before and weeks afterwards, some memories of things that have been ‘implanted’ (as others have told me since), others that I’m convinced are real but are not, some vivid ‘snippets’ (hearing my wife’s voice for the first time, crying in front of the kids).

Also comforting, but at the same time worrying, reading that my experience is all too common: personality changes, uncharacteristic outbursts, driving recklessly, anxiety, stress and depression. I’m still hoping I won’t be one of the 40,000 of people who have suffered a brain injury end up in prison, or the 75%+ who end up divorced!

..On that note. The good news is that with the support of his wife, family and friends, James Cracknell has made amazing progress. Like many brain injury sufferers he may never ‘recover’ fully but together they’ve done a fantastic job of re-building their lives.

The main reason for coming back to this then is to thank my wonderful wife, family and friends for all their support. I’ve largely been avoiding computers and screens for much of that nine months (again common I now learn) and I’ve not been on the Forum much but, as is the case with so many other things I’ve not been able to enjoy this year (the odd beer and riding with my mates being amongst them) I’m looking forward to being able to getting back as my recovery progresses.

Happy Christmas everyone, here’s looking forward to 2013 🙂

ooooh, just read this (I think for the 1st time)

Really pleased to hear you're doing well, AA

I came off a road bike at the bottom of a hill in exactly your circumstances when I was about 20 (brake detatched from frame and ran along with the wheel until the cable pulled tight). Luckily I seem to have managed most of a somersault before hitting the deck and only got a glancing blow on the side of my head plus a skinned back. I lost about a day of memory, mostly permanently apart from remembering the tetanus jab at the hospital.

I'm a tetchy bugger, and very forgetful - just wish I could blame the crash 😉