Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Accidents Happen

I have had two bad injuries in my lifetime (knock on wood), one when I was in 3rd grade and the other happened a week before my 8th grade year. When compared, I would say the 8Th grade injury was more memorable and familiar to me because I was older.
The day began with my sister and I hopping on our bikes and heading to a friend’s house for a day of swimming. We had a great day and before we knew it, it was time to start peddling home. Being a twin, everything was a competition growing up. You name it and I am sure I have a story about us competing to finish or win it first. As Liz and I began our two mile journey home, we began to race.

We started to approach a stop sign about 100 feet in front of us, which led to a big road that was not too busy, but if not playing attention a car could be flying by. Luckily there was no car in sight. I know you a probably thinking I got hit by a car, but that's not the case this time. As I began to peddle faster and faster, I didn't realize how soon I would have to slow down. At the last minute I grabbed the brakes, accidentally grabbing the left brake which stops the front wheel. With that being said, the front wheel stopped immediately and I kept going. I flew over the handle bars and my chin smacked on the road with the bike landing on top of me.

I can't remember it hurting but I do remember jumping up and asking my sister if I was bleeding. Her response was simply, “no, I mean it is bleeding a little but not much”. She then took off her shirt (she had her swimsuit on under it) and gave it to me to stop the bleeding. I rode my bike the rest of the way home.

When I got home, which seemed like hours, I showed my parents my “battle scar” and my mom took me to the hospital. I had gravel scratches on my legs, hands, and chest and ended up getting 6 stitches in my chin. As the doctor finished up the stitches, he pressed around on my head to check for any other injury. At that time, I noticed a spot in my head that was a bit painful to touch, so I let him know. He looked closely and realized that I had a gash in my head, probably from the spoke when the bike landed on me.

He ended up giving me two staples in my head. I left the hospital late that night with all my injuries and a bit lucky I wasn’t seriously hurt. But I’ll tell ya, starting my first days of school with stitches and staples was really a cherry on top of my 8Th grade year!

8 comments:

  1. Good entertaining story. You kept a serious inceident light and fun for the readers. Im glad you are still able to find things to write about. And even if you are struggling you are not reflecting that in your writing.

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  2. Ouch! I have a similar story. I was 19 and on a training ride (I’m on the cycling team) and just finishing up. I got to an intersection and had a green light, so kept going. Only the car turning right thought that they could ease off the brakes… yup, I got hit by a car going 1 or 2 miles per hour! Haha! Only I was going quite a bit faster than the car.

    So when I was reading this, I had a glimmer of hope that I might not be the only clumsy enough to get hit by a care going 1 mph… I guess not :)

    On the bright side, the car totaled my bike and his insurance bought me a much nicer bike, and I have a badass scar!

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  3. I also have a similar story like this, that happened when I was about ten years old. It hurt quite a bit, even if I didn't have to get stitches. I enjoyed your story, and like swim guy said, even if you are struggling to find something to write about, you're not showing it in your writing. Good job!

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  4. Well I can honestly say this story brings back so many memories. There is one it particular that stands out more than others.

    Mothers Day, about 5 years ago I was out playing in the yard with Joe. Joe was my best friend at the time, we lived only 3 houses down from one another. While Joe and I were hanging out in the front yard Trent, another friend, comes up. He sees my bike and asks if he can do a front wheelie. I say yes but warn him my breaks are sensitive. He doesn't listen to me and takes of down a hill at full speed and hits the front break. He flew, at the time I was scared for him but didn't laugh. But every time we talk about the story, to this day I cant help but laugh.

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  5. Yes they do happen. I can remember so many times where i was an idiot and got myself hurt. When i was a kid our whole neighborhood would hang out and someone would always get hurt. Although getting hurt sucked i have a ton of storys that i can laugh and talk about with the guys that live in my nieghborhood. From falling off bikes to accidents with fireworks we had injuries of all sorts lol.

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  6. I feel like the way you wrote this post gave everyone something to relate to. Whether it is being catapulted off their bike or some other story about a unfortunate accident happening. You also were able to keep this post very personal without boring the reader using too many details. There was a very conversational tone to this post which made it easy to read and it was organized very well too. I think this post is true to what your blog is about and talking about some of your family experiences and memories. Great post.

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  7. Your story reminded me of a bike accident I had when I was really young. I was racing my brothers friend in my driveway. He was quite a bit older so he gave me a head start. For some reason I actually thought I could beat him so I was peddling as fast as I could. Unfortunately my driveway was gravel and I turned too sharp. I completely wiped out and had a huge place on my knee that was full of rocks. Needless to say my brothers friend felt awful. I loved your story! Bikes can be dangerous.

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  8. Haha I think everyone has bad bike memories. I have had several wipeouts. One wipeout was more memorable. I was riding my bike to get ice cream with my family while they drove there. I got into some loose gravel and lost control. I ended up slicing my knee, but not bad enough for stitches.
    I love riding my bike still. I think it is a common theme for most people's childhoods.
    I really enjoyed reading this post. Even though the semester is winding down, you keep coming up with highly entertaining posts. Keep it up and I can't wait to read your final posts!

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