This Can't Be Good
I went riding with Brad today and in spite of the burning in my legs (causes by not riding in a few weeks), I thought it would be a good ride... Except one hill gone awry. Brad rode down a valley and up a hill in the middle and down the other side. I couldn't see anything after he went over the hill, but afterwards he yelled out something like, "Hey Andrew, I need you over here." (Who knows what the exact wording was).
I rode over there and found this:
Now, I knew this wasn't a good sign, so we went over the basics: what happened, if he could walk, should I call an ambulance, etc.... We decided that he wasn't going to die, so I grabbed the bikes and walked up out of the valley with him following behind. He was okay, but a bit disoriented... Luckily, we were close to the road, so he sat down by the tree, and I rode back to the car as fast as I could. The ride back was a little over a mile (probably 1.2 miles).
I got back to the car, loaded up my bike, and sped down to pick up Brad. He was still awake, but bleeding, so he got in the car, I loaded up his bike, and we drove off toward the hospital. I grabbed my biking towel (the one I bring everytime but never use) and gave it to him to wipe off some blood. He called his folks and they were off to ER as well. The trip to the hospital was filled with small-talk (you know what tv shows and movies tell you: don't go to sleep after head injuries) and was uneventful, except I had to stop and tighten the bike-rack on I-45.
We pulled into the ER and his folks were waiting for him. I stayed for a little while until they told me, "You don't have to stay." So I dropped his bike off at his house, picked up Heather (his sister), and took her back to his truck. So she took his truck back home, and I went home after a very unusual 3 hour span.
His bike didn't make it out so well:
But it seems as though he will be fine. The update is that he fractured his orbital-bone (eye-socket) a couple places, gashed his nose pretty well, and the swelling is causing double vision. But I'll let you talk to him for the rest of the details.
At any rate, it was a heart-pounding, stressful day, but it seems everything will be okay. And I'm glad that I was in a position to help.
And make no mistake, this is the year of the hospital.
Comments
l Said: (May 27, 2006 10:46 PM)
I say: this can't really be good. Why are you always the one announce to people about friends going to hospital? I hope Brad is okay :-(