The Story of our Accident

I realize I have given the short version of the accident but not the full story. So I figure now is a good a time as any. Our story... On March 17th my husband Bobby & I took off to meet a good friend. We were itching to get the bikes out after a long winter. To be completely honest I truly don't remember what happened that evening. I don't remember the day before that or quite a few of the days after, when I woke up in ICU. I only know what I have been told. Luckily Boomer, our friend riding with us that day, was not hit by this idiot who crossed the center line & took out Bobby first & them hit me. So this dude took out not one but two motorcycles & the riders. Our friend was very lucky & narrowly escaped the same fate as Bobby & I. From what I understand Bobby's bike landed on him, pining him to the ground. I was thrown from my bike, I believe. We were both air lifted to Charlotte, CMC's trauma unit. They didn't expect Bobby to live, he was bleeding out. His carotid artery was severed on site. I'm not sure they expected me to make it either either. I was intubated at the wreck site. I had the worst possible trauma score you can have & still be alive, when I was admitted that evening. I mean how many people live after being hit head on by an F150 truck while on motorcycles. There is usually one outcome to an accident like this one & its generally a one way ticket. Yet we are both still here. When we arrived at the trauma unit our list of injuries grew! Bobby's artery had to be re-routed & a stent placed. He also had an anyurism of the heart, simply from the impact. They placed mesh netting around his heart. His almost lost his left arm. It was crushed & mangled. However after at least 6 surgeries, they were able to save his arm, which he still has lots of pain in which is caused from a brachial plexus avulsion. Basically the nerves that connect the arm to the spinal cord were ripped out of his spinal cord. That is what avulsion means. His left leg still has a tib/fib fracture & this is the second titanium rod they have placed in his leg. They have also tried a bone graft, which did not take. There is a very large piece of bone missing from his leg, they actually searched the wreck site that evening for it, but it was never found. He also had a break in the ankle of the same leg. He had some cracked ribs & his collar bone was fractured. Bobby also had two strokes sometime during the incident due to the large amount of blood that he lost. He was non weight bearing on his left leg only, however considering the condition his left arm was in he is not able to use crutches. He had to be in a wheelchair once he was able to get out of the hospital bed. I was brought in with a large laceration on my head & the socket of my eye was broken & my nose. Obviously a severe concussion also. I had a few cracked ribs on the right side & a chest tube was placed due to a right side collapsed lung. I had numerous cracks in my pelvis which were really painful. My collar bone was also cracked. On my left leg I had a tibial plateau fracture (my knee cap was broken) they repaired that the night I arrived in the trauma unit. The left ankle was shattered & has 3 plates & approximately 27 screws. My right leg had a tib/fib fracture toward the ankle that they also set the evening I came in. The right knee was completely destroyed inside. When I read my medical records they originally said it was inoperable. After a few months I finally had surgery on the right knee to replace all the ligaments & tendons destroyed that night of the accident. I had so much going on they had to wait to do that surgery. It really tore that knee up! While still in the hospital they also placed a cast on my left wrist & the last couple of fingers. They were broken too.I also had a brachial plexus injury. However my nerves were only stretched, not ripped from my spinal cord. I was told it should get better on its on, but I still have problems with it. I was non weight bearing on both legs for over 4 months and just like my husband I was also wheelchair bound if I have go anywhere. I had a transfer/slide board that had become my friend for a few months. That board is how I would get into & out of the car, onto the toilet, or in & out the wheelchair & last was in & out of the shower, when I could finally have one. I was told I had 9 to 12 months of rehab on my right knee. So now after 3 months of basically being confined to the house, to the couch actually... Bobby has no control or use of his left arm, it is basically dead weight & he has to wear a sling, yet he has constant nerve pain throughout the left shoulder arm & hand. He had an appointment in Minnesota the middle of July to see a specialist that we hope could help him with his left arm. We were hoping they may be able to reverse some of the damage done & maybe get some function back. They did a nerve graft & a tissue transplant but it has helped none with the pain or function in the arm. Of course both bikes are totaled, not that it matters. So was that guys F150 truck. You can't ride a bike with one arm & this incident has pushed us over the edge so we have chosen to no longer ride motorcycles, too much was taken from us that evening. Riding was truly a passion for the both of us, that we will no longer be able to enjoy. Now we live each day in pain while trying to figure out how best to live this life we are left with. While this guy who hit us pays his traffic ticket & goes about his life. My mother was wonderful through all this. Without her I don't know what we would have done. She had to do everything for both of us. She would load us into her car & take us to our doctors appointments which were an hour one way. No trauma centers near where we live. We live in the country. So this is our story. Unfortunately it never gets any easier to tell or explain, no matter how much time passes.

Below are pics of our bikes, after the accident. I rode the black Ninja. You can see that the yellow one is a lot worse. It was hit first.