When I was young, falling off your
bike was a rite of passage. You wiped
out, got your wounds cleaned, then got back on your bike again.
It seems I’ve reached the age of
entitlement. Now when I fall off my bike
I require an ambulance and four hours of emergency care, not to mention a
week-long hiatus from bike-riding.
Mind you, I can’t recall ever
falling off my bike this hard before. It
wasn’t like I was doing some stunt or racing a car down a street or chasing
down a burglar – I was merely heading to work, when I decided to make a right
turn (too suddenly, apparently) on a rather slippery street.
I must have hit the pavement hard and
fast because I don’t remember any of it.
Usually one can stick out a hand to break the fall, but in this case, it
was my head/face that broke the fall, or so I was told. I remember vaguely one of the city workers
who found me talking about a “face plant.”
I wish I could remember who these people are but the whole incident was
a blur.
Losing consciousness is an interesting
thing. We do it all the time as we drift
off to sleep, but rarely do we get the wind knocked out of us. It’s interesting that I can’t actually
remember myself falling, nor do I remember waiting for the ambulance for 15
minutes – it felt like seconds.
Thank goodness for good-natured city
workers – I wish I could remember who they were or what they looked like – I would
thank them for pealing me off the pavement and giving me all those wet wipes for
my bloody face.
Being in any kind of accident reminds a
person how fast things can happen and change for the worse. Fortunately I didn’t have any long-term
damage (ha ha –we’ll see), but an accident has the potential to change one’s
life forever.
It can be costly, too. I’m fortunate to have work benefits to cover
the costs of the 1. ambulance ride (it was great, by the way – would highly
recommend); 2. a new lens for my glasses; and 3) dental work on my front tooth that
was chipped. These expenses are minor compared
to what some people have to go through, particularly if they have to take time
off from work.
My injuries weren’t very severe – a scraped
face and minor concussion. And looking
on the positive side, I gained a slightly new perspective on things (can't quite articulate this yet, but I’m sure it’ll come).
So long as the accident isn't too
serious, we can learn from it and move on.
I hope to be biking again soon.
Hope you feel better soon. You are hardcore man.
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