Details of what happened...
I was passing a pack on the outside of
Thunderhill's T7 during the 1st lap when another bike drifted out and
got attached to mine on the exit. His handlebar punctured my
leathers and dug into my hip; it had such a strong hold on me that I
was getting pulled off the bike. I tried to accelerate away from
him but the witness behind us said I was dragging him and his tires
were smoking. We were so tightly tangled that the bikes were
completely out of control by the time we hit the dirt and I got
launched over the bars. I'm not
sure how that dirt qualified as "runoff" because the terrain was
extremely treacherous. After many repetitions of
sky-ground-sky-ground I crumpled and it was time for the ambulance.
The final encounter with the ground obliterated my right shoulder
and arm:
Surgery on June 1st was successful. It took 3.5 hours for 3 surgeons to put everything back together.
- The humerus head (ball at the top of the bone that extends between the elbow and shoulder) was pulled out of the shoulder socket, snapped off the humerus completely, and split into two pieces.
- The humerus was splintered with multiple radial (lengthwise) fractures and required surgery to reassemble it.
- The muscles etc. were torn off the shoulder and had to be sewn back up.
- The bicep and tricep were beaten up and torn.
- The elbow got out of alignment and could only be bent/extended within a very short range.
Surgery on June 1st was successful. It took 3.5 hours for 3 surgeons to put everything back together.
Click on a
picture to enlarge it.
