Crashed

I must have hit the tarmac pretty hard.  An eyewitness account indicates that there was some bouncing on the helmet on the road involved.  (I have the helmet – the foam on the helmet is compressed in a certain section, and also cracked, but the helmet had held its shape.)  I am told that I was knocked out for a couple of minutes.  When I came to, I could hear voices filled with concern that I recognized, and I gradually realized where I was.  I think it was Stacy who was saying that we had two doctors in our group.  They were asking for an ambulance be called.  They were also trying to shield me from other traffic on the road.  I had apparently turned myself from my side to my back by instinct, but they really did not want me to move because of the risk of spine damage.  Sally wanted to protect me from the sun and held on to my hand to reassure me.  I must have been in great pain but I do not remember any of it.  I cannot even remember if there was any screaming involved.  Am I imagining some of the things I mention here?  I really don’t know.

But this I already knew – I had made a significant mess of things….

What I did not know at that point was that this situation was also going to open up a lot of positive experiences for me.  The people I interacted with, both friends and strangers, and the folks who helped me in various way during the next few days – all amazing!

Next posting in this series here.

For more about where the accident happened and what I was doing there, see this link.