[Loch-Ruadh] Your Seneschal

[Baron Rozell]

The pictures are at
http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e323/SquireConor/Motorcycles/

The Accident : A Bears perspective

Weekend before last...
Sarah had always wanted to learn but had never gotten around to it. I had a
motorcycle when I was teenager but haven't ridden since and wanted to start
again. So, Sarah and I took a Beginner Rider course to learn how to ride a
motorcycle. We both did well in the class and after 12 hours of riding
through various scenarios and passing a driving evaluation we felt we were
well on our way.

Last Wednesday...
I pass my written test at the DMV and get my temporary license. (With the
Course certification you don't have to take the driving test.)

Last Friday...
We went down to Action Suzuki here in Mesquite. I already knew what I wanted
for a bike. Sarah didn't know exactly what she wanted except for a cruiser
and that she really liked the way Sluggy's Vulcan looked. After sitting on
several makes and models of bikes she decided on the Kawasaki Vulcan 500. It
was a bigger bike than what she drove in class (all the bikes in the class
were 250's) but 500cc is still considered a beginner bike and she really
liked it. I got the Plasma Blue Kawasaki Ninja 250r. The bike that I really
want is a Suzuki GSX-R750 but, I figured I should practice on a small bike
before I jumped on a two wheeled rocket. 

Saturday...
Since between the two of us I was the only one with a license and Sarah
really wanted to practice *a lot* before attempting the highway, Sean was
gracious to take some time out and help us get both bikes home from the
dealer. The ride home was intense. Sean was in the lead, I was after him and
Sarah followed behind in the truck. The wind was quite gusty while we were
on the highway. I felt like a high-speed weeble wobble. I never veered out
of my lane but I used the *whole* lane. Getting off the highway was a
relief. The winds were still pretty gusty but at least I wasn't having to
deal with them at 55mph. We drove through Rowlett for a little bit and then
some backroads and then finally we arrived at the house. With the bikes home
we only had time to close the garage door and meet friends for dinner. 

Sunday...
We got up Sunday morning and being excited about our new bikes decided to
get some practice in. Trying to take it slow, we drove a lap from our house
to next street over and back. Sarah was in the lead and I followed.
Everything went fine and I could see sarah was having a great time on her
new bike. So, we decided to do another lap but this time to turn right and
go up 3 streets before turning back to the house. Sarah took off on her bike
and was doing fine. I started off okay but my foot slipped when trying to
shift gears and caused me to fall behind. Once I got into second gear I
tried to catch up to sarah but she disappeared around the corner. I knew
there was a stop sign just around that corner and figured she would wait for
me so, I didn't try to go too fast to catch up. When I came around the
corner and pulled up to the stop sign the accident had already happened. I
saw Sarah sitting in the road and the bike a few feet away from her on its
side. She was screaming my name and saying to call 911. I immediately rode
my bike up to her and parked in the street where if someone driving didn't
see us they should at least see the bike. I hopped off and started trying to
get my phone. At this point, a couple different people stopped and came over
to help her. Another person called 911. Since there was people helping her I
got the bikes off the street. By this time, the cops, fire department, and
ambulance all showed up. The paramedics surrounded Sarah and started getting
her ready to take to the hospital and the cop pulled me off to the side to
question me about the accident and get insurance and all that crap. The cop
kept me busy with giving him information for his d!@#$ paperwork that I was
unable to ride with or even follow the ambulance to the hospital.
Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to ask the paramedics where they
were taking her. I got both bikes home and then immediately to the hospital.

When I got to the emergency room, she had already been seen by the ER doctor
and they were taking x-rays. Later we found out the she had broke her fibula
(outside bone in the leg), dislocated her ankle of her right leg, and tore
all of the ligaments in her ankle. They gave her some strong pain meds, set
her ankle in place, splinted the leg, and admitted her to the hospital.

Monday...
Was visits from family and the surgery. The doc put in two screws and a
plate and re-splinted the leg. The surgery took about two hours and
everything went well. 

Tuesday...Late morning
The doctor says that Sarah gets to go home (Well, sort of. She'll be staying
with my parents until she can get somewhat mobile with the hard cast) but in
a week (once the swelling goes down) she has to go back to the doctor to get
a hard cast and there'll be lots of physical therapy. She'll also need a day
surgery in about three months to remove a screw after the ligaments have
healed. It takes forever for her to be discharged because of having to wait
for the walker/wheelchair delivery people. Finally around 9pm, My dad and I
get Sarah loaded up in the car and taken to my parents house. 

Wednesday...
First day back to work for me and trying to get into a schedule of working
and afterwards taking care of Sarah. Sarah gets her first visit from the
physical therapy people.

As for what's next, we'll just take things day to day. Sarah doesn't know if
she'll ride again or not. If she does, I don't think it'll be on that bike.
However, I hope she'll ride at least one more time. Just down to the end of
the street or maybe just through the right turn she was trying to make when
she lost control. So that there can be a sense of closure and hopefully a
feeling of triumph that she made it through all that and still continues on.
But we'll cross that bridge when we get there. 

-Bear

-----Original Message-----
From: loch-ruadh-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org
[mailto:loch-ruadh-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of Sluggy!
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 6:00 PM
To: Shire of Loch Ruadh, Kingdom of Ansteorra, SCA, Inc.
Subject: Re: [Loch-Ruadh] Your Seneschal


--- James Rozell <squireconor at verizon.net> wrote:

> Thanks for all the prayers and wishes. We both
> appreciate that very much. Sarah is doing as well as
> can be expected.

A wise man (well, ok, a motorcycle magazine columnist)
once wrote that the worst part about a rider getting
hurt was that they could not ride!

> I'll take some pictures tonight and get them posted
> if y'all want to see. Also, if y'all want to hear
> the story, I'll post that tonight too when I get
> home from work. 

Yes, please!



---

"The idea that unicycling is intrinsically funny does not explain the
findings." Professor Sam Shuster.
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