My Accident Can Still Have a Happy Ending
On August 13 while out on my daily bike ride for the Challenge I was hit by a careless driver. I don’t remember much but a security camera nearby recorded the accident.
I went down hard on my left side. My bike was crumpled but my helmet saved me. I was out for over 5 minutes and came to with first responders and an ambulance on scene.
After 3 days at the Health Sciences Centre I finally got home yesterday. A CT scan and X-rays showed no serious head, neck or back injuries but there was plenty of road rash, bruising, a broken rib and a broken, displaced clavicle. We’re hopeful that the surgery to fix my shoulder and clavicle will be successful in the longterm but I'm in a sling and can’t drive or bear weight with my left arm for 3-6 weeks. Thank heavens my wife Katherine, who is a practicing registered nurse for the last 52 years, is supporting me in my own recovery.
Obviously my biking for this year’s Challenge is over, just short of reaching the halfway mark on my 500 km goal. Fortunately organizers of the Challenge have approved my proposed solution. My nephew David and his wife Christine of Vancouver have been approved to be my surrogate team members. Their daily rides on stationary bikes will be counted against my goal.
My teammates are busy people. David has an MD and PhD from UBC and has worked as a molecular cancer researcher. He just completed a 4 year residency at Foothills Hospital in Calgary, specializing in pathology and is now on a one year fellowship at Stanford University before taking up a career in Vancouver.
Christine also has her MD from UBC and a 4 year residency in paediatrics at Foothills Hospital. She is working on a fellowship and will soon be taking up a career in public medicine in Vancouver.
Both David and Christine love their second cousin Sarah. They have helped us understand what she has and the difficult regimen of chemotherapy treatments she’s following to cure her. I appreciate them for that and for all their support in the Challenge- both my personal one and the bigger one to help kids with cancer.
