Fellow VFR Rider Down near Boston

Hi all, a best friend of mine Rob was riding his '07 VFR to work on monday morning in Waltham MA. (we were to ride together after work) when a truck coming the other way took an un-signaled left hand turn right into him. Rob is alive but in pretty bad shape, cerebral edema (thank god he had his helmet on), messed up shoulder (would have been much worse without armored jacket on), broken left leg at ankle, and the worst is his right leg which was opened from thigh to shin, his patella tendon torn, tibia and fibia shattered. He is in surgery today to try and reconstruct his knee. Please keep him in your prayers, with any luck he will walk again.

The truck was cited and was definitely at fault, but that doesnt help too much other than with insurance issues. The drivers insurance will have to cover some of Rob's medical costs which will be substantial, and his insurance company is helping to pay off Rob's brand new bike.

I guess the lesson here is that he just wasnt seen or the driver was just a totall jackass. I recently installed HID Xenon lights bought on ebay for like 100 bucks. You dont need to spend the 300 dollars for the "motorcycle specific" version. I would suggest that this mod makes you about 5 times as visible from the front and may save your life.

What makes matters worse is while he is in pain in the hospital, all he hears from all the doctors and the nurses is how he "should never ride a bike again and no one should". I was in the room when a couple doc's came in with that to say. I think it stinks for them to give opinions like that, especially to a guy who needs his spirits high and loved riding bikes.

Anyhow, please keep Rob in your thoughts and I will keep you posted about his condition. Thank god it wasn't worse.

 

Always sucks to hear of such things! Especially to go down at the hands of someone who just wasn't paying attention.
Best of luck to him. Wish Rob a speedy recovery. oh, and I hope he is able to ride again someday.
Dean

 

#1 cause of death is cardiac disease. Ask them if they eat pizza, etc. You are so right that these folks really need to weigh what they say in the presence of patients.

I can think of the four recent bad wrecks with VFR riders and three involved a left turner. I personally won't commute in an urban environment any more.

Tell Rob we're pulling for him and the best of luck in a full recovery!

 

There are no words. Could have been anyone of us and what each of us fear.
Our lives taken by an inconsiderate driver. The irony and hence anger sometimes overwhelms me. A good rider having his life ruined by a careless, inconsiderate jacka$$ driving along with abandon inside the cacoon of 3 tons of steel. And we all know they abound and what each of us look for constantly as we ride. What happened is what we all try not to think about because the consequences are so life changing. My best to Rob and his family. I also agree wth NeverlosT about having HID and running lights if possible...can't have enough lighting on a motorcycle and fotomoto...I won't commute on my motorcycle during rush hour either. I pick my spots for riding and like everybody else, take my chances and hope for the best and try to be the most vigilent rider on the road to compensate for all the idiots that are not.
God Bless you Rob...
George

 

Best wishes from another MA VFR rider.

I've heard of a number of similar LH-Turn accidents on the NESR forum. Seems to be happening with increased frequency this year.

 

Aww crap - very sorry to read about Robs accident. Hope his recovery is quick. Gives me the shits when medical staff (allbeit with probably the best intentions) start talking that crap - do they ever tell car accident victims that they should never drive a car again?

Hope to read that Rob is making good progress soon.

All the best,

 

Keep us posted.. speedy recovery but even let's pray for speedy mental recovery. We all know that once you are down it is hard to get back to it...

 

Update:
Rob had surgery yesterday to determine the status of his right leg, the result was very positive, the amount of good tissue was more than they expected and they temporarily connected his patella tendon to his shinbone. They will wait for the bones to heal together more before they try to permanently connect the tendon. Other than that his concussion/cerebral edema is getting better and his broken left leg is set in a cast. His shoulder is bruised bigtime but in one piece.
So overall he is beginning to recover. The questions now are where he will live since his house isnt wheelchair accessible, and if he is going to be able to work from home. But those are better questions to deal with than wondering if his leg will work again, it seems he is out of the woods there.

His head (mentally) seems in good shape, he is in good spirits, talks about riding again eventually, I think his girl might kill me if I even bring it up so I am staying quiet! He seemed to enjoy it a lot though, so I am hoping he gives it another shot.

 

Hi From Rob

Hi all,

This is the rob that you have been discussing. I actually registered on this forum a few months ago, but have pretty much been a lurker, using the vast knowledge in this forum to help me. I wanted to let you all know that I am doing much better now. My newly re-attached patella is starting to heal nicely, I received an MRI on my shoulder today, my fractured ankle is healing very well, and the sub-dermal hematoma on my brain is dissipating. I should be out of the hospital and into a rehab center by Mon/Tues I am told. I don't think that I am ever going to be 100%, but hopefully pretty damn close. I wanted to thank you all for your concern and I will update you guys later.

P.S. Short my girlfriend holding a gun to my face, I fully plan on getting a new bike once I am good to ride again.

Thanks again for your comments and well-wishes!
Bye for Now!

 

Rob,

Good to see you are on the mend!!!
Best wishes for a fast recovery and getting back in the saddle again.



Rex

 

Man, Rob sure is using some big words for someone with dain bramage!:biggrin:

Sounds like things are going as well as can be expected. Work hard on the PT and you will be chasing the nurses in no time!

 

Good to hear that you're on the mend Rob.

 

It's good to here that you're doing better. I wish you a speedy recovery, and hope you can get back in the saddle.