Motorcycle Accident

Physical injuries that occurred:

• 9 stress fractures in my skull
• 7 stress fractures in my lower back
• Total loss of hearing in my left ear
• Total loss of my sense of smell
• Burns on my back from laying on the pavement
• Temporary partial paralysis (I couldn't move any part of the left side of my body for the first week)
• Internal bleeding in my lungs
  

I painted this during my recovery from a drunk driver hitting me at a stop light. I sat on my motorcycle waiting for the light to change, he hit me from behind because the alcohol blinded him from seeing me.

I'd say it was a horrible experience, but I also have to say that it changed me into the person that I am, and I'm happy about that.

I don't remember the impact of the car. I woke up in the street realizing something wasn't right. I didn't try and get up and I knew I'd been hit. I checked for movement in my finger and toes and I could move them. Thank God, and I did. I passed back out again.

I woke up a few seconds later listening to screams and people freaking out. Then I saw this guy walking towards me. He had on these tan polyester pants on with a silk disco shirt with some sort of pattern. I could tell he had thought about what he put on that day. He tried to match. He was calm and I watch him look at me and tell me that I would be all right. "Right on dude, thanks." I said, and then I watched him away and he never looked back.

I faded out again and woke up to Officer Ngyen from the Garden Grove Police Department. To this day, Officer, thank you. Once I saw him, I knew things were under control. I left a few more guards down and began to fade out a little deeper. I saw him at the trial and fought the urge to hug him but gratefully thanked him for taking good care of me. He seemed pretty happy to see me too.

So I'm laying on the street and the medics are starting to show up and they are very focused on me. I used to have this white 'heavy metal' Garfield tee shirt that I had cut the sleeves off. I loved the shirt because on 113 degree day, the air rushing around you while your riding it feels good. I had faded jeans on, socks and steel toe boots. They started to cut away my clothes. It wasn't too hard because the material itself was pretty thin. I remember thinking that this was taking forever to get me to the hospital.

Time does a really funny thing when your in this state of mind. I'm sure St. Peter had been notified that there was a man down on the field. I was starting to look around for the bright lights and cloudy tunnels, but, a little disappointed by not experiencing that, they weren't there and I knew then I was staying from that point on.

Then I hear one medic announce while he cut my pants off, that I didn't have any underwear on. Now, those of you that know me, know that I think this is hysterical. There are some freaks out there, but we all look the same. I was quickly covered and I remember trying to smile while I faded out thinking about the situation.

I woke up to the medics putting me in the ambulance. I'm looking around inside thinking that they have a lot of stuff in one of these things, and they were using a lot of that on me. I remember one of the guys that was trying to keep my attention. I didn't like him. That is in no way his fault. He more than likely saved my life on that ride, probably a couple of times. Maybe I was more interested in the multiple things that were suddenly going on in a such a small space and it kind of freaked me out. I don't think these guys thought I was going to make it. He talked to me and told me that he couldn't believe that I kept coming in and out of consciousness. It made sense to me, I didn't really trust what was happening anymore, and heck yeah, I'm going to try and stay awake.

I saw lights flashing. I couldn't see any forms and everything was yellow, orange and red. I heard voices and then opened my eyes to find the flashing lights were the ceiling lights of the hospital and I was on a gurney making record time in the hospital halls. I'm looking for a familiar face but there were none around.

Pushing the gurney along with the sudden team that had formed was this nurse. I remember she was blonde and tan. I tried to move my hand but I couldn't. I tried to raise my head to talk to her and felt a hand on my forehead, gently pushing me back on to the pillow. I did manage to introduce myself to her while we crashed through the emergency surgery doors. I remember her smiling. I also remember the total amazement on almost everyone's eyes that I could even get that out.

I'm now in a room that can make or break a person. Things were now not in my control. There were a lot of very excited people around me know and I started to realize I couldn't do anything anymore. I remember the surgeon or one of the top guys there, telling them to knock me out, sounding a little frustrated. Blink, see ya.

I don't know how many hours I was in surgery. I woke up in an oxygen tent with tubes running into my lungs from my nose. I also had something in my mouth to make sure I keep breathing. My torso and arms had multiple wires connected to me. I still call it the 6 pack, but I was being fed multiple things through my veins from funny little bags dangling about me. If I moved, something beeped. I wasn't moving much.

Eventually, I was upgraded to a bed with no tent and then the wires started coming off. I remember multiple shots, hourly, to keep the pain at bay. I couldn't even imagine feeling pain at that point. It would be up to me to heal now.

Recovery wasn't easy. It took 4 months and I had to learn some basics all over again. I often tell people that I had to lean to walk again. That is not to the extreme of being incapable from the start. You have to understand that with the loss of my left ear, my equilibrium now stood on one foot. I had to learn how to learn how to use the left side of my body and make it function in unity with the right. I fell down a few times. Just walking down a strait sidewalk, and I would suddenly fall down.

The experience totally changed me and the way I make decisions now. I'm a lot more of a caring person, not to say that I wasn't before, but, suddenly I had a new appreciation on life and the people around me.

But this story isn't over yet. What happened to the guy that hit me?

He was driving a pink jeep. He was underage and with a number of his friends. The bar down the road had allowed them to drink there.

I was waiting for the left hand turn signal to turn green and he hit me from behind at 25 mph and then fled the scene. A Dominos Pizza delivery guy followed them to Their apartment complex and then called the police. He got into a lot of trouble from there. Some might feel that justice was done, I'm not a person that analyzes that. My God tells me to forgive him, and I have, many times. I'm not grateful to him for the changes that he made in my life. I loved that motorcycle and the way the it made me feel. It gave me a similar sensation that I had in the Army. Power at my finger tips.

There is so much more that happened, I've been writing for a few hours and could go on all night. I'll end this here but if you want to talk about it, email me.