[johnruben]

Hello Everyone, Today I Would like to share my Past Experience with bike and how it changed my life forever.

Aug 21, 2006 I was on my way to BMS College to drop my sister-in-law(Rachel), I was driving 150CC Black Unicorn, time was approx 8am. I am usually a rash driver in terms of emergency, but that day was driving at 20-30KMPH, just few km from college, this incident happened.

As i was driving, ahead of me was a man walking almost in middle of the road, inspite of horn, he didnt move towards footpath, so i decided to overtake him...At the same time there was 4wheeler tempo coming opposite to me, I hardly overtook him when i realized something was not right, As the tempo from opposite was almost close to my face, I immediately applied both front and back brakes (front being Disc), it skid front tyres (earlier construction of nearby house had led to some sand deposit under that area)...taking my vehicle in a wrong direction and straightly towards tempo....

After 5-10mins I woke up on the road with complete blank... I cant see anything and its a noise usually you feel when there is a grenade blast in movies, After few mins i could see people surrounding me, And I felt severe pain near my abdomen and I felt rush of blood inside my body and i was shouting in pain, people around me started saying I am completely alright and there is no damage and you are wearing helmet, get up and walk....And when I attempted to getup...I lost it all...its like I cant feel my abdomen or legs....

Then 2 young guys decided to take me to nearest nursing home, they called an auto and tried to lift me with their hands and i was shouting like hell and finally put me in an auto and admitted in a nursing home in srinagar. Rachel was with me and was crying and she was hurt with minor scratches and she wanted to call family for help but the nursing home people kept on stopping her.... I felt in few mins hard to breathe and was feeling too weak and cold, I thought it was the end of me.... The doctors didnt bother about me, it was a small nursing home with no professional doctors, finally one young doctor walked in and decided i should have my X-Ray and he also called my wife and my family.

Again I was lifted and carried for X-ray and it was all hell to me, I was shouting in pain. Finally my parents and wife were here and the time was 11:30am, Doctors weren't letting us go because money was the most important thing for them (they had injected few pain killers and done an X-ray), atlast my brother cleared all dues and decided to move to Hosmat hospital since they suspected something broken in the back....

Ambulance took 2hrs+ to reach from srinagar to magrath road, not because of traffic, but because i used to shout everytime the tyres landed on a bumpy platform or pot holes and the driver was very patient and he drove very slowly, By this time my condition was worse and finally we landed in hosmat.

They immediately rushed me inside casualty and started all treatment, in couple of mins i was taken to CT Scan and MRI. Senior doctors were there surrounding me and confirmed that i had broken my Spine "T6 and T7" and because of the serious pressure i had lost control over my below abdomen and i could not feel anything. They asked me, they need to operate at the earliest or else it will be too late.

My family agreed and Doctors gave no hope (cant even promise that i will be able to sit on a wheel chair) and in 2 days I was operated. They have supported my spine with 2 Titanium Rods and 8 Screws, it was a 11hrs Major operation and I was unconscious for 15hrs.

The Pain I have went through, only God knows and its the worst pain, let god forbids even for my enemy. I used to cry every day and ask God why this happened to me, I slowly began to become more spiritual than ever before and after 4months one fine day when there was a small prayer in the house, i happened to stand on my own feet and was able to walk on my own.... I can never forget this moment, it was a greatest miracle in in my life and i thank God for rescuing me.

I later came to know, most of the spine injuries are fatal, where patient might have to live bed ridden forsaken life till death, but i was lucky that God saved me, doctors have told not to bend, but i can do everything, I may not be 100% same as before, but atleast God has saved me compared to many people who are suffering even now and I am grateful to him.

Just wanted to let all Team BHPians about my past and share my past experience as its a family here....

Drive Safely, specially in a bike and always start your vehicle with the name of God and thank you so much for reading such a big post, Gos Bless you

[shipnil]

Thanks for sharing your experience! I pray to lord that you get as close to normal as possible.

[alias]

its very brave of you to be walking with injury so serious and yes as a matter of when prayed to god with good intentions he 'll listens to your for sure.
inshAllah you'll be back to normal in no time.

[james]

John, I really admire you for the pain you putup with. I got goosebumps and could feel the pain while reading about your ordeal. I had been in a vary similar situation last year but nothing compared to this.
Please put down your experiences post your surgery. How is your back now?

[prince_pervez]

Buddy I could feel your pain as I read through the text. Unimaginable. But crap happens to everyone in life. You got over with yours. InshaAllah everything will be fine. Hows your back keeping and what do the doctors have to say after 4 years ?

[aargee]

Thanks for sharing the incident John; offlate I've understood the importance of wearing riding gears (armours, caps, gloves stuff, as helmet I wear all the time) & I've been postponing the purchase. Now this incident of yours is eye opener for me to buy one ASAP. Even if people ridiculed me for wearing riding gears on streets, I don't care, as we all know its importance when disaster strikes. The bitter truth is that, spine injury & getting bed ridden for life is something that I don't want to see even for the ones who hate me. Thanks from bottom of my heart to have shared this incident.

[download2live]

That's what I call power of God.
Be good to people around you. That's the only way you can make God happy. That's the only way you can thank him.

[arunkk]

John, your post is really an eye-opener for many people commuting in bikes. We may feel that the bike is fully in our control but things can happen on the road which are out of our control. I can understand your pain as I also have gone through a serious accident which left me with broken wrist and leg. I started using Car more often than bike after that incident.

[anilisanil]

This is really bad John! Though I was not that severly injured, in a "what could have been dangerous" accident I hit a dog at very high speeds and what happened after that was nasty, my complete right arm had huge abrasions (bones were to be seen!), my lower body got saved as it was still on the bike and my big buckled belt too saved my vitals (thank God for small mercies, no seriously!) you have to see my clothes after accident, they were so badly torn that they seemed to be eaten by a rodent!

The ugliest part was that my leg got stuck between the silencer and brake pedal, a few good samratians tried to put some paper around the leg but to no avail, I could feel my skin burning literally and then the flesh, the accident happened more than four years ago (March 30th 2006) I still have the deep burn marks on my right leg and abrasion marks on my right hand.

I was NOT wearing a helmet then (I usually do, but I did not wear it that day!) and I escaped with a small bruise on face (luckily no marks) I thanked the super powers for my second life and hence been following all safety norms!

Interestingly mine too was a black Unicorn and the accident happened on Hosur road. So many things helped my cause like there were no vehicles, I did not swerve towards the divider, there was no loss of blood or broken bones.

[bblost]

Originally Posted by aargee

Thanks for sharing the incident John; offlate I've understood the importance of wearing riding gears (armours, caps, gloves stuff, as helmet I wear all the time) & I've been postponing the purchase. Now this incident of yours is eye opener for me to buy one ASAP. Even if people ridiculed me for wearing riding gears on streets, I don't care, as we all know its importance when disaster strikes. The bitter truth is that, spine injury & getting bed ridden for life is something that I don't want to see even for the ones who hate me. Thanks from bottom of my heart to have shared this incident.

+1.

This thread reminds me that I have postponed buying some quality gear for far too long. Need to get that asap.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by johnruben

They immediately rushed me inside casualty and started all treatment, in couple of mins i was taken to CT Scan and MRI. Senior doctors were there surrounding me and confirmed that i had broken my Spine "T6 and T7" and because of the serious pressure i had lost control over my below abdomen and i could not feel anything. They asked me, they need to operate at the earliest or else it will be too late.

Drive Safely, specially in a bike and always start your vehicle with the name of God and thank you so much for reading such a big post, Gos Bless you

Hi johnruben, i went through a similar phase last year (May 17th 2009). I crashed from my bike broke the spine, with similar effects. It was T6 & T7 in my case too, docs fixed it using two titanium rods and 8 screws, operation took 9hours in my case. Our cases are very similar, difference in mine being that i broke 3 ribs which caused haemothorax & pneumothorax, they put two drain tubes on either sides of my body to clear the fluid and air.

Still i'm not completely normal yet, guess it takes time. We were lucky that we suffered only spinal cord compression.

Here's my experience: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...cond-life.html

[jeeva]

Johnruben,
Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Thank god for he lifted you up. You must be his favorite for all the good deeds that you have done in life. As you said, spine injuries are fatal otherwise.

Until some years back, I too was an avid biker. Used to set off every weekend to some direction without any destination.
Now that responsibilities and commitments have gone high and with a family, I somehow don't ride the bikes as often as I used to. With a bike, all you have is two wheels to cling on your life to, no matter however safe rider you are.

[Gansan]

@John @ Sankar
Guys, both of you are truly blessed. I am touched by your experiences and am glad two young lives won't be wasted in bed due to being paralyzed from a spinal injury. I know what such an injury can do.

In the early 80's a former colleague of mine at Tuticorin went on a picnic to a scenic spot near a water body ("Sunai" in Tamil) and suffered a spinal injury. They rode bikes alright but did not fall down from the bike. This fellow had a few drinks there and under the influence went for a swim in the Sunai with the group. After a while his bravado increased, so he climbed a tree protruding over the water and dived inside. The only problem was the spot he chose to dive had only three feet of water.

He broke his spine and was paralyzed from neck down. His head and face alone could move. He was brought to Chennai for treatment but was of little use - it was not as advanced as it is today - and he spent three years of pure hell in bed before he passed away.

[ImranShahnawaz]

John, it is a miracle as you said. Good to know that you are fine now. Do take care of your health.

[atrisarkar]

Thanks a lot for sharing John. After reading incidents like yours and Sankar's, it makes us realize that how much we take life taken for granted. It reminds us that we should value the life we have and thank the almighty forces for whatever they have given us till today.
Most of the times we are so engrossed in our daily lives that we hardly think about the bigger picture.
I'm not a religious person at all but whenever I can I try to devote some quite time to think and thank the forces which are beyond out control and which makes the clock tick.