amrwrx89

Hello everyone,

I'm a recreational cyclist in my mid twenties who has been a cyclist and runner for the better half of my life. Around two months ago, I was struck from behind by a drunk driver while on a training ride and suffered several critical injuries. The injuries I sustained include 17 broken bones (pelvis, multiple lower back fractures, humerus, scapula, sternum, 6 ribs, and 3 fingers), a dislocated shoulder, a separated AC joint, a punctured lung, 2 brain hemmorhages, and a concussion.
After the injury, I was flown by helicopter to the nearest trauma hospital, where I spent a week in intensive care. I spent a total of 3 weeks in the hospital before I was approved to go home, but I will be undergoing therapy for the next several months.
All of my fractures are aligned properly and therapy is going well. However, I'm still not allowed to put more than 5lbs of weight on my leg and arm due to the fractures.
Has anyone suffered similar injuries? I am most concerned with the pelvic (acetabular) fracture and dislocated shoulder.
I am motivated to be back to cycling and running within the next year! The doctors think I will be able to make a full recovery, however there is a possibility of arthritis in the injured joints. On the bright side, I was able to take my first unassisted steps in over two months this week!
Has anyone had any similar injuries and made a full recovery?

02Giant 

There are very few that have sustained the level of injury you have and survived. You are very fortunate!

All I can offer is follow your Dr. and PT's advice, and good luck.

amrwrx89

Thanks for the response! I am very fortunate and thankful that my helmet did it's job. I will be following the advice of my therapist and doctors and keep my focus on getting back to where I was before!

f4rrest

Wow, glad you made it.

Much less severe accident than yours.
Broken pelvis (iliac), heel, 5 ribs, back issues.

Back on the trainer very lightly in 2 months. Wanted to ride in 4 months, but attorney would absolutely not permit riding outside until a settlement was final, so 6 months.

Talk to your doctor and attorney, and heed their advice.

I have arthritis now and some constant pain, but can still manage some pretty epic rides.

amrwrx89

Thanks for the encouraging words! I'm feeling a bit better each day, but I know it's gonna be a long road to recovery. Once I start riding again, I'll definitely be keeping it to the trainer like you did!

Jim from Boston

Hi @amrwrx89,

Wow, and +10 dittoes to all the good wishes above. I quoted your post in it’s entirety because it’s a compelling story I can relate to. Back in June 2012 I was hit from behind, and the driver turned himself in the next day. My course was somewhat similar to yours, including the Med Flight, about a week in ICU, a couple weeks in an acute care hospital, six weeks in a rehab hospital, three months off work with about five months physical therapy, back on the bike after about five months (in November).

I am mainly a commuter who extends my year round 14 mile one-way commute, including long Saturday rides. I have additional train service to work, so my first rides were part by train with about 5 miles riding. My beautiful Bridgestone RB-1 was totaled so my winter commuting was on my heavy mountain bike, until April when I bought a carbon fiber road bike. I have posted, My main injury besides a few minor broken bones was a fractured sacrum. Weight bearing activities such as walking a distance and prolonged sitting are uncomfortable, but fortunately sitting on the bike seat is OK, even for a few hours. I also lost some gluteal muscle due to a soft tissue injury and had a draining wound that made me dependent on someone to change my dressing until October. My plastic surgeon and nurse wife made me aware of how much I needed protein to heal, despite my lack of appetite.

I write not to one-up, but to relate. During that summer, I found writing to Bike Forums kept my spirits up. Of particular note to me was this one seemingly magical occurrence:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

…I have been cycle commuting, road riding and cycle-touring since about 1972...truly a lifestyle. I was hit by a car inJune 2012, and was hospitalized for six weeks, off work for three months, and off the bike for five months, during one of the best cycling summers ever.I was torn from my cycling lifestyle, as well as other activities, like work,family life, and hobbies.

I just had to be patient and take time to heal, which was itself a consuming task. One-by-one I resumed the various activities, cycling being the last.Going back to work certainly hastened the process, especially since cycle-commuting was a viable activity, as part of work. I am more enthusiastic about riding than ever, and may even be a better rider now too.

During that summer I kept up with Bike Forums, and got a lot of support from various subscribers...

BTW, this was one of my hospital experiences that gave me hope for the future:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

….Here’s a rehab story I learned of, almost as a mystical experience. It's also about trauma, but IMO holds out the hope of healing when things seem bleak.

When I was about two weeks into my hospital stay, I was watching an un-named, circa early 1950's black-and-white movie with the sound off because my roommate was asleep. It seemed to be a romance, with Glenn Ford and Anne Baxter. A scene came on where they were driving in a car and had a sudden collision, and Glenn threw himself in front of Anne. He awoke in a hospital bed, and she was OK.

The following scenes showed him gradually recovering, as he tried to get out of bed with a trapeze bar, then walk with a cane. Soon, he strangely, and surreptiouously from Anne Baxter, slipped away to a golf course and tried to hit some balls. She was obviously mad at him when he got back (all this still with the sound off.) Then there appeared on screen a newspaper headline that Ben Hogan was going to participate in an upcoming major golf tournament.

It turns out that the movie was “Follow the Sun,” a 1951 biopic of Ben Hogan. I looked him up on Wikipedia, especially about the accident and found this:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Hogan and his wife, Valerie, survived a head-on collision with a Greyhound bus on a fog-shrouded bridge, early in the morning, east of Van Horn, Texas on February 2, 1949. Hogan threw himself across Valerie in order to protect her, and would have been killed had he not done so, as the steering column punctured the driver's seat.

This accident left Hogan, age 36, with a double-fracture of the pelvis, (Ihad a fracture of the sacrum) a fractured collar bone, a left ankle fracture, a chipped rib, and near-fatal blood clots: he would suffer lifelong circulationproblems and other physical limitations. His doctors said he might never walk again, let alone play golf competitively. While in hospital, Hogan's life was endangered by a blood clot problem, leading doctors to tie off the vena cava. Hogan left the hospital on April 1, 59 days after the accident.

After regaining his strength by extensive walking, he resumed golf activities in November 1949. He returned to the PGA Tour to start the 1950 season, at the Los Angeles Open, where he tied with Sam Snead over 72 holes, but lost the18-hole playoff.”

This episode gave me a first glimmer of hope that I would be on the bike again…

KevinF

Well, your injuries put mine to shame... I'm in my mid-40s and I sustained a fractured shoulder from a skiing accident in early March 2016. I was in full immobilization until early April and that's when I started physical therapy. I got clearance to start riding again in early June, but frankly therapy took up so much of my time that I just didn't have time to ride. i.e., therapy is a full-time job; riding the bike is just a test to see how well therapy is coming along.

When I rode, my shoulder would be aching just from the bumps of the road and from trying to hold it in a fairly constant position. Standing on hills just wasn't happening. It was late summer (six months post accident) before I felt like I could ride "normally" or at least without my shoulder bothering me.

Basically, last year just didn't happen. I take the winter's off the bike (I spend the winters in the gym and skiing). This season the shoulder has been a non-issue, a success I credit to taking therapy seriously. Not riding sucks, but having limited mobility in joints, etc.-- for life -- sucks far worse.

10 Wheels

I would be concerned about the "2 brain hemorrhages"

I had to have surgery to stop the bleeding.

Take care, You have Youth on your side.

amrwrx89

Jim,

Thanks for sharing your inspiring story! It gives me hope that I too will be back to the activities that I love. I actually also suffered from a fractured sacrum. Being away from the cycling and running definitely takes its toll, but I will keep myself motivated, and stories like this help more than I can explain.
I really liked the Ben Hogan story also. I'm also a golfer, so your reply has been motivational on multiple levels! Thanks again!

Kevindale

Reading of your recovery so far, and your determination, I have little doubt you'll be back on a bike within a year. Good for you! In your favor are that you're young, and it sounds like you were in good shape before the accident. I've never had a traumatic accident like yours, but I have had to come back from a major surgery that left me a pale shadow of my former self. I was more a hiker than a cyclist at the time, and constantly pushed myself just a bit harder than my docs suggested. I had 10 weeks of approved disability time after I got out of the hospital, but pushed myself back to work after 2 weeks. Walks got longer and longer, and I did a short but very steep and tough hike at 4 weeks, which was a huge personal victory. No one knew about it but me, but each time I wanted to take it easy, I would think of that very real personal victory. Each success will urge you forward. Set realistic goals, and track your progress. My first goal was to walk to the end of the hospital corridor and back, with a nurse at my elbow. Once up, I actually did 2 laps. It felt so good. The next day, 6 laps, and so on. Pathetic, tiny goals in retrospect, but when you can't get out of bed without help, each step is a big one.

Obviously, don't push hard enough to damage recovering tissue, make sure bones are properly knitted together, and so on. But pain is much more tolerable when you're physically active, even if the activity is a shadow of what you were capable of a few weeks ago. Keep us posted on your progress.

merlinextraligh

This is completely f'd up, and points to one major downside of suing people.

I realize there are times that litigation is appropriate, but this points out one major cost to litigating that people rarely consider in their decision calculus.

amrwrx89

KevinF,

Thanks for the response. I can relate to the shoulder pain. After two months, I can still only move my arm a bit past 90 degrees. I think it will be 6 months before I reach out and grab handlebars pain free. These stories are helping to keep my motivated!

amrwrx89

Kevindale,

Thanks for the encouragement. I agree that every small step is a major victory. Similar to your story of walking down the hospital corridor, I took my first steps in over two months this week. I try to walk a little longer each day as tolerated. It feels good to be even slightly mobile again!

amrwrx89

10 Wheels,

The brain hemmorhages were very concerning, but recovery is going well. Luckily they stayed small and did not require surgery. I am also undergoing therapy for the concussion that covers complications from the hemmorhages. Thanks for sharing!

Colin G

Wow. All I can say is I'm glad you're still with us and heal fast.


The worst I have ever gotten from crashing is some deep tissue damage in my hip and some numbness in my right forearm from some nerve damage from when my wrist struck my top tube during the crash. Of course I finished my ride but missed the next 2 days of work. I could barely get out of bed the next morning under my own power.

robj4

I haven't told this story here before, but I had a rock climbing accident 30 years ago and had very similar injuries to yours. I fell 80' down a cliff face. Add an almost completely amputated right arm at the shoulder and a bunch of facial fractures and our injuries were the same. It took 30+ surgeries to put it all back together. I ended up with 6 fused levels of my spine, two hip replacements and my right humerus is fused to my scapula. I lost the shoulder joint itself, but kept my arm. It actually functions better than you'd think. The process took 20 years.

A few years after the last surgery, I started going to a gym to try to regain some sort of fitness. I worked with weights, did some yoga and spent a lot of time on a spin bike. After about a year I regained some flexibility and strength and considered cycling again. I raced prior to the accident and really wanted to get back to riding. The physical injuries though weren't what kept me from trying it again, it was all mental. Fear specifically. One day I was on a spin bike, bored out of my mind and just decided I was going to look into a road bike.

With the support of my wife, I went to a local shop and told this story to the owner. He told me years later that he thought I was nuts, but if I was willing to try, he was willing to help. I bought a Defy and the shop owner and I rode together often. I was terrified and exhilarated at the same time. It was clear that the mental aspect was the real challenge. I think once you're healed you're going to have to deal with that too. Especially since your injuries were from a cycling accident. Having someone to ride with is very helpful. Having someone to talk to and to watch my back was the key for me.

Six years later, I ride 3-4 mornings a week, about 20-25 miles before work, and a longer ride on the weekend. I'm physically limited to rides of about 50 miles. I'm still not comfortable to riding in groups, but I do occasionally. I don't think about the consequences of a crash while riding, but it's in the back of my mind. I find that I pay much closer attention to the road and my surroundings than I did when I rode pre-accident.

I hope you heal well. When your therapy is finished, try some yoga. It helped me get from a Defy with flipped up stem and spacers to a TCR SL with a 10cm saddle to bar drop.

bonz50

call your doctor and/or physical therapist, they can answer that question better than anybody.

Jim from Boston

BTW, @amrwrx89,

See this now-closed sticky thread on the Advocacy andSafety Forum, ****If You've Been Hit By A Motor Vehicle: ALL MEMBERS READ****

amrwrx89

Thanks for the info!

Ogsarg

You sustained some serious injuries and I don't think anyone can tell you when you'll be ready to get back on a bike or start running again. As others have said, listen to the doctor and physical therapist and if you can, you may want to work with a sports medicine specialist. Make it clear to them that you want to get back to riding and running. It may impact how they treat you.

I had a pretty bad motorcycle accident a little less than 4 years ago. Broken clavicle in 2 places, broken scapula, and 3 ribs. Due to the number of breaks in the shoulder region I had surgery to put in a metal strap to hold everything together while it healed. After surgery I was told not to move my right shoulder at all so that it would heal properly. Naturally after that, the muscles were atrophied and it took a long time to get motion back and build up strength. It seemed like it would take forever but eventually I regained almost all range of motion. When I was doing PT, the therapist told me that I was in the minority in that I religiously did all the exercises she prescribed between visits and that it made a huge difference.

nycphotography

One thing I've noticed over the years is the MD's and PT's have to deal with the full range of the bell curve. Meaning from hard core "I will do this even if kills me" type A+ types, to "ow that hurts I don't wanna do I can I just get my settlement so I can sit on my couch the rest of my life" types. And everything in between.

This means that the more pain tolerance, mental toughness, and just plain grit you have, the more you have to work the PT as much as the PT has to work you.

Do everything that is prescribed... so long as you reasonably can. Ask how much more you can do if you are capable. Ask what the consequences are of doing too little, too much, or doing something the wrong way. Do the maximum, but the "maximum" may be defined by medical objectives, healing objectives, balancing competing medical goals, etc, and not just by your ability to tolerate it and perform it.

Finally, have aggressive goals, but keep a reasonable perspective. If your goals run long, don't dismay, just adjust the timelines and keep plugging, because you will get there eventually if you keep at it.

Best wishes to you, and keep your positive mental state. It is admirable, and will serve you well.

robj4

Truer words were never spoken.

Nachoman

My dad was in a bad cycling accident (although maybe not as bad as yours). He fractured his wrist, collar bone and shattered his acetabulum (hip). He was in a wheel chair for about a month and crutches for at least a few more. Unfortunately, he never got back on the bike.

JagR

Good luck and like others have mentioned follow the Dr's plan and stay positive.

Your situation sounds MUCH MUCH worse but for what it's worth...I fractured my L5 and it took me almost 3 years to get back.

amrwrx89

Thanks everyone for the encouraging words! I will continue following the doctors orders and push my therapy as far as allowed. I'm excited to see improvements, and am looking forward to the small victories!