So at around noon this morning, I got a call from Baldy's cell phone. He seemed a little out of it, and informed me that a nurse was holding a phone to his ear. He told me he had been hit by a pickup truck while bicycling right near Alice's, and had to be life flighted to Stanford Hospital. I told him I would be right there, and hung up the phone. I arrived at the hospital, and the nurse stopped me on my way to the room to ask me if I had a problem with blood. After assuring her I would be okay, she led me into the trauma unit to see him. He had a collar on his neck (which scared me, as spine injuries are very common in these accidents), and was pretty bloody. I know Don got some pictures that hopefully he will post in this thread a little later. He quickly assured me that the spine CT scan came out normal (PHEW!), and that they told him he broke several bones in his face/cheek. His shoulder was a bloody mess and they weren't sure at that point if anything was broken there. It turned out later that he only suffered tissue damage on the shoulder, though it sure hurt him all day. He spent about 10 hours in the trauma unit and ER, before they moved him up to a bed on one of the other floors to let him sleep. They had wanted to discharge him a few times, but he had grown really light headed. We think it was due to dehydration, and they weren't really that worried... but wanted to keep an eye on him. They assured me I would be able to take him home tomorrow morning some time, and that he would need to take it easy for a few weeks (no Ironman for him in September! he is quite distraught about that). So it turns out that Baldy was cruising along on his bicycle (making record time he assures me) right near Alice's. He spotted a pickup truck with a camper that was driving pretty agressively heading towards him on the opposite side of the street. He kept his eye on it, but as it got almost alongside him it decided it REALLY needed to get into the parking lot entrance Baldy was passing in front of. It pulled a hard left turn without even seeing him and totally clobbered Baldy. He woke up later with firemen surrounding him. They asked him his age and the year, and he failed both questions miserably. They flew him to Stanford as quick as they could and began working on him. He got better at answering questions quickly, and overall it looks like he should make a full recovery. Anyways, if you want to leave wellwishes or snide remarks, I figure I will probably print some of them out and take them with me to the hospital if they aren't ready to discharge him first thing in the morning. :)
Bloody Hell - that sounded like a close call... :huh Heal quickly Chris - and try to see the bright side - it's got to make you better looking... Mike
Heal fast, Baldy. Make sure the bastard buys you a collection of OCLV's, Sevens, Colnagos, tri-bikes, anything you want.
Sorry to hear it. Get well soon Baldy. Ive had my share of car meets bike accidents when I was riding 25 miles a day to get to College & back. I agree with photog, hopefully the jackoff has good insurance.
Sorry to hear the news, best wishes to Baldy & the family. And heres to a quick & full recovery ole' Bald One.
Heal fast and get back on the bike., there's an another ironman out there somewhere waiting for you. ed
