The accident occurred on June 14 (Flag Day), 2003. I was riding to work from a Flag Dedication ceremony in Winchester Virgina. I was riding north with a friend, Jon, when he began to slow down with the intention of turning left. While passing him on the right, I looked left and waved goodbye. When I returned looking forward I saw that a car was stopped in the road also waiting to turn left. I veered to the right but my left leg, which was on my highway peg, caught the rear bumper. I was only inches away from avoiding the entire accident. I rolled several times and ended up in the grass. Jon told me that the impact collapsed the trunk of the car and my footpeg was wedged into the wheel of the car. Luckily, Jon was there to keep me calm. The damage was immense; the tibia was broke in 2 places, 4" below the knee and 1/8" above the ankle. The fibula was broke as well was every bone except 1 in the foot. The heel was also sheered off. Due to all of the operations, the small portion of bone, left at the ankle, was beginning to look like swiss cheese because of all the pins that had been put in and taken out. I was taken by ambulance to Winchester Medical Center. After being stabilized, the Doctor said that they did not have the capabilities of resolving all my issues, so they life-flighted me to the University of Virginia Medical Center. After arriving at UVA, they didn't have the equipment in stock so they opened up the sides of my leg to allow everything to fall out. This helped keep the swelling down during the wait. On the 2nd day, the equipment arrived and they put it all together. The last picture is where they took the skin graphs to cover the openings on both sides of the leg. It was pretty amazing looking at the wounds right after the operations. While it ends up that within the next year, I would lose the leg, the technology is incredible. I am sure that many have kept their limbs due to the expertise of these surgeons. Thanks for being there, Jon.
-pegleg |
