I live (well, I call it that!) and
breathe just like you, but there doesn't seem to be a newsworthiness in
relating such details. But my son (aka The Passionate Cyclist) has a
tale worth passing along.
Part of Brett's training routine is to
ride two or three times a week with other Orlando-area cyclists. Such a
time was a Wednesday night a few weeks ago.
In e-mail he sent to teammates and me he said:
Wednesday night as I headed out for my weekly ride I had an accident. I found myself unconscious at the bottom of my apartment stairs. It seems that if you decide to descend a flight of stairs it's best to use every step on the way down. I must have missed the most important one (the first) and proceeded to hit every vertebra in my back on the way down.
I was taken to the hospital and they said I'm going to be at 50% mobility for a while. Against all doctors orders I've been on the bike to see what would happen. It seems that being bent over is the most comfortable position. In fact, being on the bike is the most comfortable thing I've done since the accident. Standing upright is virtually impossible, and sleep is done in 10 minute intervals. My weekend will be spent in bed allowing my back to heal.
As I said, I learned of his accident and
visit to the hospital two days after it happened. Casual notification
by e-mail. Sent by Brett from work. So I called him there.
"Yes, Mom, I'm fine. I just thought you'd get a kick out of reading
what happened."
"Yeah, right. So you fell down two flights of stairs?"
"No, just down the first seven or so steps to the landing."
Continuing, I asked, "Who called the ambulance?"
"I woke up and crawled back up the stairs and called myself."
"So your back's messed up." Then, thinking about the concrete steps, I went on. "What about your head?"
I could hear the shoulder shrug in his voice as he said, "Oh, it's
okay. I was wearing my helmet."
- There were probably two reasons he fell:
- He descends steps two at a time, just like he goes up them.
He was wearing his cleated bike shoes.
I don't believe he spent the weekend in bed allowing his back to heal.
- If he had, he'd have answered the phone when I called.
Another time I'll tell you why he was seeing a chiropractor before the fall. ("Idling Away a Summer Evening.")
