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 On
April 25, 2003, the weather was nice, so I decided to ride my bike to work.
I grabbed all my gear (leather jacket with liner, chaps, gloves, boots,
and full-faced helmet) and out the door I went.
As I was waiting for the bike to warm up, I thought I might take the
car instead because it was a bit chilly.
That thought didn’t last long, though, and off I went (had I only
known).
I
headed north into town to get some gas. About
two miles from home a truck passed me like I was sitting still.
About another mile down the road, I come upon an intersection that had
a car to my right, a car to my left, and a car facing south getting ready to
turn left. As I saw the car to my
right start to move, I thought, “This can’t be happening”, but to my
horror it was. The car to my
right pulled out to cross the road right in front of me.
I had nowhere to go. So,
by now you’ve guessed it, I never made it to the gas station.
I ended up T-boning that car at 50 mph.
The impact spun the car 180° and broke its rear axle.
As the car spun away, my bike continued on without me, and I fell to
the ground. The officer at the
scene told me I was a very, very lucky lady to still be alive.
I
attribute my survival to the Motorcycle Safety Class I took and the fact that
I was wearing all of my gear. I didn’t have a scratch on me, but I didn’t walk away
from this accident either. God, I
wish! The right side of my body
took the brunt of the impact. I
ended up shattering my wrist, breaking my femur, and breaking my hip.
I
spent a couple of days in ICU and three more days in the hospital.
I was moved to a nursing home physical therapy wing for two months.
I spent two months with at home therapy and then three months of going
to a rehab center for more therapy.
I’m
glad to say that I’ve been back at work since October 2003 and that I
purchased a new bike in June 2004. I know it will take me a while to regain my confidence and
feel totally comfortable on a bike again, but I’m going to get there
someday.
Ride
safe and watch out for the other drivers because they don’t see motorcycles.
Ginny
Roberts
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