My first ever ambulance ride...
Discussion
And my first ever shot of morphine...
Nice weather this afternoon, so went down the A7 from Edinburgh, stopped in at a friends for coffee and came back up the A68.
For some reason I decided to take a back road from the A68 to home; never normally go this way, just a spur of the moment decision.
Not in a hurry, riding well within both the speed limit and my own capability, came up behind a slow moving Berlingo.
Took my time waiting for a decent place to pass; simple overtake, nice open road, plenty of view ahead, no obvious hazards... right up until the moment that the ladders on the roof of the van were suddenly no longer on the roof of the van, but tumbling onto the road in front of me...
No time to avoid them, no time to even close the throttle; I rode right over the first one, but the second got me in the left leg (not even sure exactly how!).
Managed to stay on and ride the bike to a halt (in massive pain), even managed to get the sidestand down, but as soon as I tried to get off the bike my ankle folded under me!
Knew straight away I wasn't going dancing tonight, so when someone offered to call an ambulance for me I didn't exactly complain (too busy gritting my teeth and moaning).
Didn't take the paramedics long to decide my boots were staying on until they'd "taken the edge of it" hence my first shot of the hard stuff.
Long story short; nothing broken, but torn a tendon from my shin to my heel.
Very unusual one to tear (apparently) and going to take weeks to heal.
All I will say about bad ankles is that that bloke Lorenzo has guts.
Turns out the van driver had just finished a job and was only going a few miles to get home, so didn't bother to secure the ladders to his van; thankfully he admitted all this to the nice plod who was first on the scene.
Also turns out I know the bloke; worked with him in the fire service and also played rugby with him years ago.
And the morphine?
Bloody horrible; absolutely spaced and very confused (hadn't been before the jag) and hot and cold flushes and cold sweats. Spaced feeling wore off after a couple of hours (and the pain came back with a vengeance) to be replaced by a horrible queeziness which just won't go away (and I've already been sick twice).
Now sitting with a glass of Glenkinchie (aparently there is nothing to stop you drinking after morphine!) feeling very sore and rather sorry for myself.
Tomorrow I'll need to get the bike sorted somehow as the police will have had it recovered (last I saw from the rear of the ambulance was that it was now on its side on the verge; don't know how it got there seeing as how I had parked it neatly), and start all the insurance nonsense; oh joy...
Nice weather this afternoon, so went down the A7 from Edinburgh, stopped in at a friends for coffee and came back up the A68.
For some reason I decided to take a back road from the A68 to home; never normally go this way, just a spur of the moment decision.
Not in a hurry, riding well within both the speed limit and my own capability, came up behind a slow moving Berlingo.
Took my time waiting for a decent place to pass; simple overtake, nice open road, plenty of view ahead, no obvious hazards... right up until the moment that the ladders on the roof of the van were suddenly no longer on the roof of the van, but tumbling onto the road in front of me...
No time to avoid them, no time to even close the throttle; I rode right over the first one, but the second got me in the left leg (not even sure exactly how!).
Managed to stay on and ride the bike to a halt (in massive pain), even managed to get the sidestand down, but as soon as I tried to get off the bike my ankle folded under me!
Knew straight away I wasn't going dancing tonight, so when someone offered to call an ambulance for me I didn't exactly complain (too busy gritting my teeth and moaning).
Didn't take the paramedics long to decide my boots were staying on until they'd "taken the edge of it" hence my first shot of the hard stuff.
Long story short; nothing broken, but torn a tendon from my shin to my heel.
Very unusual one to tear (apparently) and going to take weeks to heal.
All I will say about bad ankles is that that bloke Lorenzo has guts.
Turns out the van driver had just finished a job and was only going a few miles to get home, so didn't bother to secure the ladders to his van; thankfully he admitted all this to the nice plod who was first on the scene.
Also turns out I know the bloke; worked with him in the fire service and also played rugby with him years ago.
And the morphine?
Bloody horrible; absolutely spaced and very confused (hadn't been before the jag) and hot and cold flushes and cold sweats. Spaced feeling wore off after a couple of hours (and the pain came back with a vengeance) to be replaced by a horrible queeziness which just won't go away (and I've already been sick twice).
Now sitting with a glass of Glenkinchie (aparently there is nothing to stop you drinking after morphine!) feeling very sore and rather sorry for myself.
Tomorrow I'll need to get the bike sorted somehow as the police will have had it recovered (last I saw from the rear of the ambulance was that it was now on its side on the verge; don't know how it got there seeing as how I had parked it neatly), and start all the insurance nonsense; oh joy...
Well, as I lay on the verge repeating the word "ouch" I was assured there wasn't a mark on the bike.
Whether that was just well intentioned people trying to reassure me or not I don't know.
As I said, the last I saw, it was on it's side on the verge, but I don't know how it got there.
Worst of it is, it's my wife's TT; I was only out to play for a while.
If it's bent or bust I don't see me getting a shot again in the near future...
Whether that was just well intentioned people trying to reassure me or not I don't know.
As I said, the last I saw, it was on it's side on the verge, but I don't know how it got there.
Worst of it is, it's my wife's TT; I was only out to play for a while.
If it's bent or bust I don't see me getting a shot again in the near future...
Really sorry to hear that and I hope your ankle is on the mend. Take it easy as tendons can take a fair while to heal.
Don’t worry about the bike. Any damage will be paid for by the other drivers insurance. Contact the PH’r Anniesdad as I think he runs a loss recovery service and gets good positive reviews here on PH.
Don’t worry about the bike. Any damage will be paid for by the other drivers insurance. Contact the PH’r Anniesdad as I think he runs a loss recovery service and gets good positive reviews here on PH.
Just been up to the recovery pound to see the bike;
Large scuff on the bottom side of the fairing just in front of the left footpeg (that'll be the one that got me), and a scuff and crack on the leftside tailpiece just below the pillon pad.
No other damage.
Still want to have my local Triumph have a look over though, just in case.
Hitting ladders at 50ish can't be good for your wheels or tyres (or suspension, or head bearings)!
Spoke to the roads policing officer dealing with it; driver admitted all libility so has been given a fixed penalty for insecure dangerous load rather than taken to court (he wouldn't tell me if it's points, fines or both).
Now need to get on to the insurance; have the insurance certificate, but can't find the rest of the docs...
Large scuff on the bottom side of the fairing just in front of the left footpeg (that'll be the one that got me), and a scuff and crack on the leftside tailpiece just below the pillon pad.
No other damage.
Still want to have my local Triumph have a look over though, just in case.
Hitting ladders at 50ish can't be good for your wheels or tyres (or suspension, or head bearings)!
Spoke to the roads policing officer dealing with it; driver admitted all libility so has been given a fixed penalty for insecure dangerous load rather than taken to court (he wouldn't tell me if it's points, fines or both).
Now need to get on to the insurance; have the insurance certificate, but can't find the rest of the docs...
Insurance have been great so far (Motorcycle Direct).
I made one phone call which was answered in less than 30 seconds, lady took my number and details and someone phoned me back within 20 minutes.
Already given permission to have the bike collected by my choice of repairer, offered a hire bike if needed and they have passed me onto a solicitor who will deal with injury and uninsured loss recovery (excess and clothing) claims.
Solicitor has already phoned to make introductions and get a brief statement, reckons it should all be sorted out very quickly (but we'll see about that one...!).
I made one phone call which was answered in less than 30 seconds, lady took my number and details and someone phoned me back within 20 minutes.
Already given permission to have the bike collected by my choice of repairer, offered a hire bike if needed and they have passed me onto a solicitor who will deal with injury and uninsured loss recovery (excess and clothing) claims.
Solicitor has already phoned to make introductions and get a brief statement, reckons it should all be sorted out very quickly (but we'll see about that one...!).
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