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[mgbenny]

So.  I'm going to try to be direct and straightforward in hopes that anyone who reads this will learn better than I seem to have learned.  I made many, many mistakes in the course of this story and I'm aware of them all.  If you want to flame, flame away, but I'm already sick over what happened and just don't want it to happen to anyone else.

I had my first wreck Thursday night.  I had a passenger, which changed the handling of the bike, and I wasn't careful enough.  A turn snuck up on us in the dark, and I ran out of lean and lowsided at about 35 mph.  We were just going around the corner for a burrito; no gear, no helmets. (not even going to begin to rationalize any of this.  Like I said, this was all a result of many bad decisions on my part, and I completely accept that).

I'm sure we only slid for a second or so but I remember it vividly.  The bike threw up a storm of sparks, she landed on me and we went over and over.  I remember every time she came over me, I was trying to keep her off the asphalt.  Then everything stopped and was silent, and the sickest single moment of my life occurred as I thought "I've killed a person.  I've killed her."  Then time started up again and she started crying.  I called my friend from around the corner who took us to the hospital, where I sat with her for 8 hours while she got checked out.

The damages:  I've lost lots of skin.  I mean, lots.  I've never hurt this badly in my life.  It was just skin and I'm uninsured, so I thought "I'll take care of it myself." and declined admission to the ER.  Scrubbing it out without morphine is the single most painful 30 minutes I've ever felt.

As far as she goes:  she's pretty damn rashed up.  Probably worse than me.  She split her head open over her eyebrow, and it's swelled her eye shut.  Two inches to the left and she would have died instantly.  She came down hard on her hip and knee, and can't bend them for the swelling.  Her x-rays came back clean, so no broken bones.  She's medicated, safe at home, and never wants to see me again.  I wouldn't either.

Listen up kids.  When you ride 2-up, you take somebody's life in your hands.  You had damn well better be prepared for that responsibility.  I've spend quite a bit of time today sitting on the floor of my room sobbing that I'm such a jackass that I almost took a life.  I took responsibility for another person and failed miserably.  It's the sickest feeling in the world and I want to spare you all from it.  I would give anything in my entire life for the last two days to have never happened.

Pictures below for the strong of stomach, in hopes of scaring you all into being wise.  I would accept this unblinkingly as a damn good warning, had I been alone.  But someone I care about is in even worse shape, and I am 100% responsible.  I never wanted to know what that feels like.

All but the last photo were taken in the hospital bathroom while she was being x-rayed.

Right arm:


Left arm.  This one bled for 10 hours:


Left hand.  Note the missing skin.  By now, 2 days later, it's peeled back about another half-inch around the abrasion:


Left leg.  These were my good, heavy pants.  They lasted about 6 inches:


Shoulder to waist.  If you look closely, you can see all the buttons ripped out of the shirt and I dragged on that side.  There's gravel so deep on my pec that I'll never get it out:


At home:


The nurse sent extra stuff with Catie so I could get cleaned up too.  What she didn't send was the several vials of morphine that Catie had in her when then scrubbed her out.  Tylenol isn't the same.  I screamed, threw up, and passed out cleaning these.  And the whole time I'm dealing with the fact that I knew better and was in control, and I did this to somebody else who did NOT have control.  Day 2, and it's not any easier to live with.

I tried to be completely frank about how I'm feeling in an effort to make the truth set in on you guys.  I was a literal 2 inches away from killing her, because I thought we didn't need gear to go 5 blocks, and because she liked the thrill of leaning and I wanted to impress her.  Nobody's impressed now.

[n00dles]

First off I am very glad to hear you both are alright. A huge mistake on your part, but it is good to see you know it instead of trying to find excuses. You know what you did was wrong and I respect that more then anything. Yes,it might of been a close call but try to not let it hit you so hard, you wil both be fine and just be grateful. After reading this, I too would sometimes ride out in just a helmet, but you have shown me what can happen, and never will I do that again on my part. The scary part about taking a girl on the back, is just thinking what could happen and I fear it every single time I take someone. You didn't mean to harm her intentionally. Was she aware of the risks also? I always make sure whoever I am taking is ready and know they can handle the risks. Best of luck man, don't beat yourself up too much..

[andrew.e]

Lesson learned, I see. I'm sorry to hear that this happened, and I wish you and her a speedy recovery. Passengers COMPLETELY change the way a bike handles! Especially a small bike, like the EX500. A passenger means that flesh now weighs half as much as machine, plus the shocks on this bike suck horribly as it is, then you add more weight to it. ATGATT pays dividends. I wrap my g/f up like a goddamn burrito in gear every time we go out. She gets the armored jacket, the expensive helmet, pants, the whole damn deal.

I know this must be tough for you right now, just being in a wreck and having her in the hospital and feeling like it's your fault. She chose not to wear the gear too, mgb. I've done the same shit "hey let's shoot over to my parents place real quick" that's like 6 blocks away through a school zone, and she still walks over and puts the helmet and jacket on and insists that I do the same.

Don't know what else to say besides get well fast and how bad is the bike? Not that it matters anyway, but at least you are both alive, she is not in a coma, and neither of you have any broken bones.


P.S. is that a f@!#ing bowl of jolly ranchers? YOU NEED VITAMINS NOT CANDY! Oh, and drink PLENTY of water and keep an eye out for ANY signs of infection. If you develop even a SMALL fever, get to the ER immediately.

[ShadesOfGray]

Wow man, holy shit. Jesus! Mistakes or no mistakes, I feel really bad for you. best of luck to you and the girl healing up.

[mgbenny]

idk about the bike...I dragged it out of traffic and sat with her, because she was shaking and going into shock.  It was gone before I got back, but the impound notice said "heavy damage all over".  I'm not optimistic.

Also not thrilled that I'm as miserable as I've ever been, and I have no motorcycle therapy.  That is always my first resort and it always works.  Now...

Oh and they were chocolate haha.  I spent the night at my mom's house and watched a movie with my sister, she brought them up.  I may or may not have eaten some

[andrew.e]

Oh damn, it got impounded. You better get that sh!t our quick or the fines will stack up. Do you know if you're going to get into any legal trouble because of this? You should tread VERY carefully because I'm sure if her insurance catches wind of this, they will drop her claim unless charges are filed since her insurance is most likely going to want someone else to pay for it <see politics forum for reference to money-grubbing HMOs>

[EDIT]

PS don't be a d!@k and do the "tough guy" thing and just "buck up" if you think you're getting an infection. Had a friend that did that after a snowboarding injury, wound up he got an infection of his bone marrow after an un-treated fracture. f@!#%d him up for many years, and he still has a limp.

[mgbenny]

Yeah if infection strikes I'm definitely going to bite the bullet and get looked at.  As far as she goes, they gave me a ticket for leaving the scene of an accident but I intend to defend myself there.  We'll see what happens.

[ninja chop]

You two heal up quick, and well.  I wish you guys the best of luck, and good grace.  Take care of yourself.  Maybe if you would not have crashed there, a semi truck could have been on the other side, and that would have been much worse? G/L

[andrew.e]

Yeah if infection strikes I'm definitely going to bite the bullet and get looked at.  As far as she goes, they gave me a ticket for leaving the scene of an accident but I intend to defend myself there.  We'll see what happens.

WHAT!? You f@!#ing had to go to the hospital! What a bunch of f@!#ing pricks. Goddamn LEOs. I'll pitch to help get you a lawyer to appeal if they manage to stick that shit.

[drsokol]

its good to hear that you are alright and realize the severity of things.  life happens and people make mistakes, its the good people like u that learn from them.  dont kill yourself over it because she lived and she will be alright, there is nothing you can do to change whats in the past, you can only change what you do and how u act in the present and for the future.

[Aphrodite]

Damn......

Sorry to hear......

Wish you both well, in you healing in many ways......

[library]

Wow, those are nasty injuries you've got. Makes my jammed toe and whiplash look mild in comparision. The scars are going to remind you every day to wear your gear.

But, what's done is done. You'll have to move on sometime.

[drsokol]

and by the way benny im sure you could of got everyone on here to stop ignoring u in other ways than going out and gettin a severe case of road rash

[andrew.e]

nah, he just gets a temporary pass

[drsokol]

alright ill give him a week then it might be back to the official ingore benny time again

[swimmerguy416]

I'm a little confused. You ran out of lean? Were you leaned really far over or did one of your tires just lose grip on some slippery junk on the road.

I know how you feel about hurting your passenger. That's one of my biggest fears in life. Anyway, thanks for the post. It's pretty timely actually, because I've been getting a bit reckless and feeling invincible lately. It sounds weird, but this was sort of sobering for me.

[Pogo]

frak man, really sorry to hear about all this. As always this board has your back. I think the girl just needs some time, too. She's probably mad right now but hopefully she'll see it's just an accident.

You're probably replaying the moment over and over again wishing you had done something different. frak that jazz, don't let regrets get to you like they get to me.

[newton2]

Sorry to hear, buddy! Don't beat yourself up for this. You'd have to forgive yourself and move on.

by the way, thank you for posting this.....I'm sure someone will pick a valuable lesson from it (I already have.)

[highender]

I really wish this were April 1st.  

I would have congratulated you on a fine make-up job, but you were right with your warnings.  Yikes!


ER without insurance?  Yes, that would have been mighty expensive.

Do you not have a 'Doc in a Box' type urgent care in your area?  Definitely less expensive than an ER.  

Do what you need to do to get well.  

[newton2]

I'm sure we only slid for a second or so but I remember it vividly.  The bike threw up a storm of sparks, she landed on me and we went over and over.  I remember every time she came over me, I was trying to keep her off the asphalt.  Then everything stopped and was silent, and the sickest single moment of my life occurred as I thought "I've killed a person.  I've killed her."  Then time started up again and she started crying.  I called my friend from around the corner who took us to the hospital, where I sat with her for 8 hours while she got checked out.

Just worth mentioning: you were hurt as well (and in pain) and you sat there for eight hours with her? You're a gentleman, Sir. And a good man.

[waynemorgan]

damn man - really sorry to read this

best wishes to both of you - get well soon and take care.

[Tulok]

Oh my gosh Benny!

I am so sorry for you! Get well soon, and use some neosporin (I think that's what it is) on those wounds to get them to not scar!
Dude, get well soon. I hope that you aren't hurting too badly.

[zeroaffiliation]

Dude, be glad you are here to tell the story.

It may take some time to fully do it, but heal up Benny!

[slickE60]

WOW! I feel bad for you. I hope you 2 get better soon, and I hope she doesn't hate you or leave you over this. 

[roxynoodle]

I'm so sorry to hear this.  You might want to send her a card explaining how awful you feel and how much you care about her.  I wish you both the best in your recovery.

I was careless yesterday myself and went out on a new bike wearing jeans.  I haven't done that in over a year, ever since I learned how bad they are in accidents.  I won't do it again.  So you may have saved me from some misery if that helps you feel a tad better.

I haven't had any passengers.  I'm afraid to.  I don't want the responsibility.  I'm also not convinced I could handle the extra weight without being able to flat foot my bikes.  So far I've said no to anyone who asks and told them I had no gear that fit them (which is true).