Another one bites the dust

burkbuilds · 10-19-2017, 06:59 PM

Well,
I haven't been on here much lately but I wanted to let anyone that might be interested know, I got into a fight with a mini van two weeks ago and lost.

My 2015 Suzuki Boulevard is totaled and so is my right leg. I'm fortunate to have no other injuries but my right leg was badly damaged in the wreck.

Broke my Femur clean through and then three compound fractures below the knee. Dr's tell me I'll be doing good if I can keep the right foot and so far it seems to be healing but it was pretty much hanging by a few inches of skin when they scraped me off the pavement.

Three months without any weight bearing on that leg, then I'll get to learn how to walk yet once again. Same leg I trashed about 5 years ago when some dogs took me out. That time I also broke 5 ribs off at my spine and shattered my right shoulder blade and punctured a lung. This time, just the leg but I really got it good.

I was having a very nice morning ride into work, enjoying some crisp mid 60 temps, sunny day, low humidity, really relaxing ride. About 5 miles before work a mini van decides to pull straight out in front of me from my right. I was going about 50 mph and about 50 feet away when it pulled out. Just enough time to hit the brakes hard and veer left in hopes that they might stop short and I'd just clip the front of the van, but it kept coming and I T-boned the drivers side wheel well, sandwiching the right leg between the fender and tire and my bike. Bounced off the car and rag dolled out into the oncoming lane flat on my back. Laid there hoping no one would run over me coming the other way and that prayer was answered. Lots of witnesses that told the cops there was nothing else I could have done and that the van just pulled out in front of me but that doesn't fix my leg. At least the driver was insured unlike the dogs that took me out last time.( I don't even think the dogs were licensed). lol.

Well, I've got a long road of recovery ahead, hoping I can somehow keep my job which I just landed about 5 months ago, and which means I don't qualify for FMLA since that is not long enough. So far the company seems to want to work with me but I have no assurances legally if they decide they need to replace me. I can't really do my job in a wheel chair, and even if I could I can't even get to work until I can drive again, it's about an hour commute each way and I have no one that can do that for me.

Hopefully that will all work out okay though. Right now they tell me I've got 6-12 months before I'll be done with therapy and even then I may decide the foot isn't worth keeping.

Not trying to be a downer, just stating some facts. I will recover as much as it is possible as quickly as I can and I will walk again whether it's on this foot or an artificial one.

It's a really bad feeling when someone pulls out in front of you and there is just nothing you can do about it. Keep your eyes peeled fellas, they just don't "see" us sometimes even when we are in plain sight with no obstructions.

Burkbuilds

Water Warrior 2 · 10-19-2017, 08:07 PM

BB, I am almost speechless. You have survived another totally senseless mishap that should never have happened. My heart goes out to you and your family.
Your can do attitude will carry you through the same as your previous mishap. Keep us posted when you have time.

blaine · 10-19-2017, 09:09 PM

So sorry.....Seems to be more & more of "Sorry I didn't see you".....Here's hoping for a full recovery....Please keep us updated.

Fawlty · 10-20-2017, 03:34 AM

So sorry to hear about your awful experience and hope that everything works out for you in the end.

alantf · 10-20-2017, 05:27 AM

so sorry to hear of this. I fractured my femur a couple of years back, so I can imagine the pain you must have felt. I was lucky not to have any other injuries, but it was still a month in a wheelchair, then physiotharapy, and learn to walk again, so I truly sympathise with you.

Vegas Street Rider · 10-20-2017, 01:28 PM

My family and I will pray for your quick recovery " burkbuilds" and hopefully they can save your foot. We do put ourselves at greater risk on two wheels and this illustrates just how vulnerable we are. All we can do is ride protected (ATGATT) and very defensively. The rest is in God's hands IMHO.
We will also pray for your patience to let your body heal. Take care and keep us updated on your progress.

burkbuilds · 10-24-2017, 03:35 PM

Thanks everyone, this has always been a very supportive community of riders and it continues to prove itself so.
Had a follow up appointment with the surgeon yesterday and good news is my right foot is healing well and they are pleased with the progress and expect that baring any unusual and unforeseen complications I should be keeping the foot. YEA! The x-rays of my leg were way more than I expected to see. I basically have steel rods from one end to the other in my femur and tibia along with the side plate and screws holding my upper tibia fracture together and my lower tibia is basically just fragments held together by steel rods and plates and screws. I couldn't believe all the bone fragments I was seeing and they tell me that as long as they are touching the main bone anywhere they will eventually fill in and be bonded back together, although a little misshapen, they will work. I also found out that it will be almost 12 months of therapy on the foot before I've reached however much use is possible out of it so that is along way off. On the other hand, I go back Dec 4th for the next checkup and if there's been enough bone growth at that point then they'll let me start weight bearing exercises at that point but that just depends on what they see. Thanks again for everyone's thoughts and prayers, it means a lot when you are flat on your back and can't even get out of bed without help. I did manage to bend the leg up to 57 degrees by myself today with my physical therapist, that's a big improvement. I couldn't bend it more than a few degrees last week without assistance.

Water Warrior 2 · 10-24-2017, 04:53 PM

BB, that is the best news I've read in a long time. You get to keep all the parts you were born with and your future looks like fun at airport security points. Yes, I jest but I am really happy to hear of your uplifting news. I can't imagine how you and your family are feeling right now.

burkbuilds · 10-29-2017, 12:03 PM

I'm making daily progress with my healing. I no longer need the entire lower leg bandaged, just around the ankle and heal area now. I can get out of the bed by myself, use a walker to get to the wheelchair and make it to our bathroom on my own which is a BIG deal to me. I am making daily progress with physical therapy and my strength, stamina, and range of motion are all improving incrementally but still noticeably better. The PT that did my initial evaluation when I came home from the hospital returned on Friday and he was very pleased with the progress I have made and he added a bunch of "exercises" to my routine and I'm working hard on them. I'm able to sit upright in the wheelchair for about 2 hours now before I have to lay down again. I've had two "showers" this week, which made me feel like a person again. Have you ever gone 3 weeks without a shower? I'm sure many of you who served in the military have gone longer than that but it was a first for me and wow, it's hard to describe how good that feels to wash and feel clean again.

Thanks again for your support while I heal and your thoughts and prayers for me and my family as they help care for me.

Vegas Street Rider · 10-29-2017, 12:50 PM

Really happy to hear about the great progress you are making. I can relate to the shower and bathroom thing. Enough said. We will continue to pray for your healing and look forward to the time you tell us you are up and walking again. In the meantime, I have an old Harley engine off of a soft-tail that the forum members and I could modify for your wheelchair, if you are interested? Get well!!!!!

10-19-2017, 06:59 PM	#1
burkbuilds Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Shannon, Georgia Posts: 1,268	Another one bites the dust Well, I haven't been on here much lately but I wanted to let anyone that might be interested know, I got into a fight with a mini van two weeks ago and lost. My 2015 Suzuki Boulevard is totaled and so is my right leg. I'm fortunate to have no other injuries but my right leg was badly damaged in the wreck. Broke my Femur clean through and then three compound fractures below the knee. Dr's tell me I'll be doing good if I can keep the right foot and so far it seems to be healing but it was pretty much hanging by a few inches of skin when they scraped me off the pavement. Three months without any weight bearing on that leg, then I'll get to learn how to walk yet once again. Same leg I trashed about 5 years ago when some dogs took me out. That time I also broke 5 ribs off at my spine and shattered my right shoulder blade and punctured a lung. This time, just the leg but I really got it good. I was having a very nice morning ride into work, enjoying some crisp mid 60 temps, sunny day, low humidity, really relaxing ride. About 5 miles before work a mini van decides to pull straight out in front of me from my right. I was going about 50 mph and about 50 feet away when it pulled out. Just enough time to hit the brakes hard and veer left in hopes that they might stop short and I'd just clip the front of the van, but it kept coming and I T-boned the drivers side wheel well, sandwiching the right leg between the fender and tire and my bike. Bounced off the car and rag dolled out into the oncoming lane flat on my back. Laid there hoping no one would run over me coming the other way and that prayer was answered. Lots of witnesses that told the cops there was nothing else I could have done and that the van just pulled out in front of me but that doesn't fix my leg. At least the driver was insured unlike the dogs that took me out last time.( I don't even think the dogs were licensed). lol. Well, I've got a long road of recovery ahead, hoping I can somehow keep my job which I just landed about 5 months ago, and which means I don't qualify for FMLA since that is not long enough. So far the company seems to want to work with me but I have no assurances legally if they decide they need to replace me. I can't really do my job in a wheel chair, and even if I could I can't even get to work until I can drive again, it's about an hour commute each way and I have no one that can do that for me. Hopefully that will all work out okay though. Right now they tell me I've got 6-12 months before I'll be done with therapy and even then I may decide the foot isn't worth keeping. Not trying to be a downer, just stating some facts. I will recover as much as it is possible as quickly as I can and I will walk again whether it's on this foot or an artificial one. It's a really bad feeling when someone pulls out in front of you and there is just nothing you can do about it. Keep your eyes peeled fellas, they just don't "see" us sometimes even when we are in plain sight with no obstructions. Burkbuilds Login or Register to Remove Ads
	2

10-19-2017, 09:09 PM	#3
blaine Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: P.E.I. Canada Posts: 3,784	So sorry.....Seems to be more & more of "Sorry I didn't see you".....Here's hoping for a full recovery....Please keep us updated. __________________ If at first you do succeed, try not to look surprised. Login or Register to Remove Ads
	1

10-20-2017, 03:34 AM	#4
Fawlty Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Murcia, Spain Posts: 683	So sorry to hear about your awful experience and hope that everything works out for you in the end. __________________ "It begins here for me on this road. How the whole mess happened I don't know, but I know it couldn't happen again in a million years." (Johnny Strabbler-The Wild One 1953)
	1

10-20-2017, 05:27 AM	#5
alantf Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Tenerife (Spain) Posts: 3,719	so sorry to hear of this. I fractured my femur a couple of years back, so I can imagine the pain you must have felt. I was lucky not to have any other injuries, but it was still a month in a wheelchair, then physiotharapy, and learn to walk again, so I truly sympathise with you. __________________ By birth an Englishman, by the grace of God a Yorkshireman. Login or Register to Remove Ads
	1

10-19-2017, 08:07 PM	#2
Water Warrior 2 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Squamish B.C Canada Posts: 11,409	BB, I am almost speechless. You have survived another totally senseless mishap that should never have happened. My heart goes out to you and your family. Your can do attitude will carry you through the same as your previous mishap. Keep us posted when you have time.
	2

10-20-2017, 01:28 PM	#6
Vegas Street Rider Senior Member Join Date: May 2015 Location: Henderson, NV Posts: 1,108	My family and I will pray for your quick recovery " burkbuilds" and hopefully they can save your foot. We do put ourselves at greater risk on two wheels and this illustrates just how vulnerable we are. All we can do is ride protected (ATGATT) and very defensively. The rest is in God's hands IMHO. We will also pray for your patience to let your body heal. Take care and keep us updated on your progress.
	1

10-24-2017, 03:35 PM	#7
burkbuilds Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Shannon, Georgia Posts: 1,268	Thanks everyone, this has always been a very supportive community of riders and it continues to prove itself so. Had a follow up appointment with the surgeon yesterday and good news is my right foot is healing well and they are pleased with the progress and expect that baring any unusual and unforeseen complications I should be keeping the foot. YEA! The x-rays of my leg were way more than I expected to see. I basically have steel rods from one end to the other in my femur and tibia along with the side plate and screws holding my upper tibia fracture together and my lower tibia is basically just fragments held together by steel rods and plates and screws. I couldn't believe all the bone fragments I was seeing and they tell me that as long as they are touching the main bone anywhere they will eventually fill in and be bonded back together, although a little misshapen, they will work. I also found out that it will be almost 12 months of therapy on the foot before I've reached however much use is possible out of it so that is along way off. On the other hand, I go back Dec 4th for the next checkup and if there's been enough bone growth at that point then they'll let me start weight bearing exercises at that point but that just depends on what they see. Thanks again for everyone's thoughts and prayers, it means a lot when you are flat on your back and can't even get out of bed without help. I did manage to bend the leg up to 57 degrees by myself today with my physical therapist, that's a big improvement. I couldn't bend it more than a few degrees last week without assistance.
	2

10-24-2017, 04:53 PM	#8
Water Warrior 2 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Squamish B.C Canada Posts: 11,409	BB, that is the best news I've read in a long time. You get to keep all the parts you were born with and your future looks like fun at airport security points. Yes, I jest but I am really happy to hear of your uplifting news. I can't imagine how you and your family are feeling right now.
	1

10-29-2017, 12:03 PM	#9
burkbuilds Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Shannon, Georgia Posts: 1,268	I'm making daily progress with my healing. I no longer need the entire lower leg bandaged, just around the ankle and heal area now. I can get out of the bed by myself, use a walker to get to the wheelchair and make it to our bathroom on my own which is a BIG deal to me. I am making daily progress with physical therapy and my strength, stamina, and range of motion are all improving incrementally but still noticeably better. The PT that did my initial evaluation when I came home from the hospital returned on Friday and he was very pleased with the progress I have made and he added a bunch of "exercises" to my routine and I'm working hard on them. I'm able to sit upright in the wheelchair for about 2 hours now before I have to lay down again. I've had two "showers" this week, which made me feel like a person again. Have you ever gone 3 weeks without a shower? I'm sure many of you who served in the military have gone longer than that but it was a first for me and wow, it's hard to describe how good that feels to wash and feel clean again. Thanks again for your support while I heal and your thoughts and prayers for me and my family as they help care for me.
	1

10-29-2017, 12:50 PM	#10
Vegas Street Rider Senior Member Join Date: May 2015 Location: Henderson, NV Posts: 1,108	Really happy to hear about the great progress you are making. I can relate to the shower and bathroom thing. Enough said. We will continue to pray for your healing and look forward to the time you tell us you are up and walking again. In the meantime, I have an old Harley engine off of a soft-tail that the forum members and I could modify for your wheelchair, if you are interested? Get well!!!!!
	0