The Accident

This is video shows the bike trail that Dad and Matt went mountain biking on, on Sunday afternoon (June 10). Dad didn't ride his bike back out.

Dad and Matt went mountain biking on Sunday afternoon. While riding across a small bridge that stretched across a dry creek bed, the front tire of the bike slipped off. Causing bike and dad to crash into the ground below. Flying head first, he landed squarely on his head and neck. Later dad told us that it was the worst pain that he had ever experienced. Fearing that his neck was broken, he managed to stand up and walk with Matt for about 1/4 of a mile, with each step his neck muscles tightened causing incredible pain. Unable to go any farther dad stood against a tree he waited for the ambulance to arrive.

Around 7pm, June 10, 2007; my mom received a phone call from my cousin Matt. Daddy had been in a bicycle accident. The ambulance was headed to St. Anne’s Hospital, which was around a 10 minute drive from Grandmommy & Granddaddy’s house. Mom was a basket case and Ted (my dad’s brother) was going to drive us to the hospital. I was a lot calmer then mom, but since I had only been in the states for a 1 ½ weeks, I wasn’t that confident of a driver in busy Columbus traffic. At St. Anne’s we found out that Daddy had been sent to Riverside Methodist Hospital, they were a better trauma hospital.

I wasn’t overly worried until we got to Riverside, in ER room #50, I found my daddy. As a life guard I have seen people strapped to a backboard, but none of them were my daddy. Mom was worried sick, dad was being wheeled out every few minutes for x-rays. It seemed like forever until dad was back and another doctor was checking on him. He was complaining about pain in his side. The doctor thought that something might have happened to his liver, so they whisked him away, yet again, for another x-ray. I thought that it sounded like a broken rib, since he said that it hurt to breath. A short while later a different ER doctor came in. Ignoring the rest of us in the room (probably a good thing, since mom was freaking out about everything) and told dad in a rather cheerful voice that he had broken his C2 vertebrae and crushed his C7 vertebrae; but was incredibly lucky since he was able to move and breath on his own. Dad trying to be cheerful, while staring at the ceiling commented, “So basically I broke my neck.” The doctor agreed and told mom who looked positively green, that the surgeon would be in shortly.

Ted drove me back to Grandmommy and Granddaddy’s house. I hugged Grandmommy who was crying and wanting to know how her little Marky was doing. We had come to Ohio to take care of my grandparents, Grandmommy had just had knee replacement surgery, being stubborn she would wander about the house without her cane or walker…when caught she was duly scolded, she would always promise to keep her walker with her. I said goodnight to Grandmommy and went to the study where I was staying. I wrote a friend a short e-mail and then cried myself to sleep.

The rest of the week was filled with cooking, waiting, answering phone calls, cooking more, waiting, and way too much time spent in a hospital. Felicia drove out on Monday, the nurses were seriously hovering about (Janet –dad’s sister is a nurse; Judy-Ted’s wife is a nurse; and Felicia is a nurse). Daddy was scheduled to have surgery on Tuesday morning, but an emergency came up (more urgent then dad’s) so they rescheduled it for Wednesday morning.

Wednesday morning dawned; we were at the hospital at 5:45a.m. The nurses let us see daddy, and then let us go with him when they wheeled him down to the surgical waiting room place (whatever it is called). Only one person could wait with dad there, so it was decided that Felicia would. Mom and I went to the waiting room. Felicia came out almost an hour later, I hate waiting, and waiting for a surgery to get over with isn’t any better.

We got the o.k. from the surgeon hours later. He told us that the surgery went well, everything was in order. The C7 – since it had been completely crushed had to get put together with a bolt and screw and a piece of donor bone. C2 would heal on its own with the help of the Miami J collar.

When we were finally allowed to see daddy, he was Mr. Grumpy Gills. Which most people are when they get done with surgery…he looked rather green too. Mom told Felicia and I to go home and take care of Grandmommy and Granddaddy.

On Thursday dad was discharged. Boy was he ever ready to get out of there…the little old man who wheeled him out of the hospital couldn’t go fast enough for daddy.

Now the real work started, dad is stubborn, and when he was awake (since his pain medicine made him sleepy) we often caught him doing things that he wasn’t suppose to. Such as trying to carry his laptop to the comfortable green chair, while using his cane, and not being able to hold on to anything when trying to sit down. He still wasn’t steady on his feet, you try walking and looking straight ahead and not at your feet, isn’t as easy as you might think. If I caught him in the act of doing something that he wasn’t suppose I would yell out, “DAD!” and rush over and take the computer away. Mom would then hear me and yell out, “MARK!” rushing over she would guide him to his chair, get him comfortable, bring him a soda and a movie to watch while I set up the computer. Really who in their right mind would fight pampering like that? Stubborn people…that’s who…At the same time while keeping an eye on dad, we had to watch out for Grandmommy. She was constantly doing something, like trying to take out the trash, or wanting to water her flowers. When caught one of us would ask, “WHERE”S YOUR CANE?” while the other one would help Grandmommy back to the house and have her sit down and talk to her about letting us do the work.

In the evenings we would take daddy on his “walkies” a short walk around the block or a walk at a near by park. Mom would be on one side of dad and I would be on the other. Things did get more enjoyable as the days and weeks went by.

I left for camp 3 weeks after we got there. One week later dad went home. Every month dad had to go back to Ohio for a check up. He was able to spend time with his parents as well. Which was a blessing in disguise, in September, 5 days after his dad’s death; he went to his last appointment, his surgeon told him that he was no more likely to break his neck now, then he was before the accident. His neck had healed perfectly.