My best friend went down

[coacha]

I have been waiting to post this for a few days because I am still trying to process things in my own head. He made some serious mistakes in judgment while riding but is still alive. Kinda makes you wonder how many times you do something a that is not safe but get away with it.

My best friend and old boss went down last week in a single vehicle accident up in Ocala. He was riding his Shadow up to get some meds for his wife. He heard a rattle in his front end and looked down (mistake #1) to see if he could see anything causing it. When he looked back up there was a turn coming up fast and he didn't think he could make it. It is sketchy as to why he tried to go in very low in the corner (mistake #2) but he hit some sugar sand and lost it, high siding it into the grass (a god send for him).

His injuries are: a broken jaw, 8 broken teeth, a 3" gash under his chin, messed up his ankle and some obvious bruises elsewhere. As you can probably guess, he didn't have his full face helmet on (mistake #3). The injuries are mainly from his contact with the windshield and impact with the grass.

I have been in contact with his wife and will probably be sitting at home with him for at least a day next week as she has been out of work with Crohn's disease a bunch this year and she is out of sick time.

Ride safe brothers and sisters and keep safe riding lessons in mind at all times.

[Yellow Jacket]

Ron, I'm very sorry to hear about your friend's mishap. Thank God he wasn't hurt worse.

That does show how just a moments distraction can put you into harms way very quickly! A lesson to be learned by us all.

Will pray for his complete and quick recovery.

[kawgirl]

I hate to hear that Ron. I pray for a quick and full recovery.

[Netnorske]

Things happen fast....sorry to hear this but thankful it wasn't worse. Prayers for a full and fast recovery.

[schoeney]

Sorry to hear about your friend. Sounds like a rough patch for both him and the wife. It certainly could be worse...at least your friend is alive and sounds like he will recover.
Godspeed.

[audiogooroo]

Man I hate to hear this!
Will pray for your friend. Hope he heals up fast!

[traveler]

best wishes for both him and his wife. get well soon. they are in our prayers.

[rksaw]

I'll be praying for him too...please make sure that you keep us updated on his condition.
I'll be praying for you too. If this was my best friend I'd probably be a little frazzled.
Rich

[ringadingh]

I hope he heals up quickly, its amazing what can happen in a split second.

[coacha]

The worst part is he didn't find out he had broken his upper and lower jaw until he went to the dentist on Thursday to have his teeth looked at. The ER didn't even X-ray for anything on Wednesday night, only did CT scan for head trauma. I don't know about that ER that's for sure.

[dantama]

Coacha, a high-side usually spits you off the side of the bike, trying to picture the windshield thing?

I gotta agree with your distraction warning. When I did my high-side a year ago, it was because of distraction, too much speed on a gravel road, and a protruding rock while braking hard. But the thing that started the avalanche of trouble was distraction.

For me landing in a pile of sharp football size rocks and dirt, I came away nicely with only a broken collar bone compared to your friends "soft" grass landing.

I noticed on my ride Saturday that I kept being distracted a lot. It was my first outing in a month and the first with all my winter gear on. I kept finding myself paying attention to how my riding gear was feeling (not used to it) and not enough attention to everything else. I was surprised at what time off, and the first time of bulky riding gear for the season, did to my concentration.

A good warning from your friend's experience. I'm sorry to hear of that unfortunate news.

[chainsaw]

Prayers are with your friend and his wife.

[rickyboy]

What can I say that hasn't already been said. :-/....I wish him a quick, and full recovery. I hope this doesn't deter him from riding again. ::)

I also want to wish his wife relief from her Crohns. That can be a very harsh sickness. One of my daughters suffers from the same disease.

I want to wish them better things in the new year approaching.

[Cajunrider]

Praying for a quick recovery.

[coacha]

Just spent a couple hours at his house and he is doing much better. He spent 8 hours in the dentist chair on Saturday getting his teeth reworked...that in and of itself is torture. He had plastic bits and pieces in his lower jaw and some other interesting stories about the situation. He has a great sense of humor about the ordeal at the hospital and he intends to ride again when his bike is fixed.

Interesting side bar to the discussion is that the FHP trooper told him if he had been wearing his helmet he would have been dead. He said his helmet would have hung up on the windshield and his body would have went over the top first with his head still in contact with the windshield. ????