Ever wonder what happens when you go just a bit too fast on your BRP, forget common sense lessons such as "What's on the other side of this hill?", and combine the two? This is the result of bombing a knoll at 70 some odd mph and connecting head on with a 1200 pound round haybale.

 The results were:

 1: Death of the haybale. Blew it in half, left it standing on end, and moved it 35 feet.

 2: Near death of my beloved BRP. Repairs included forks, cracked headstock on frame, a radiator that was only 2" wide, handguards, both wheels, subframe, WB "R" series slip-on, all plastic except the tank. 1900 dollars to rebuild after buying back as salvage from the insurance company.

 3: Loss of all my riding gear but my Tech 8's.

 4: Near death of me! Severe concussion that still creates memory problems after almost 3 years. Shattered distal ends of radius and ulna in both wrists, broken lh femoral neck, several inches of lh femoral shaft shattered. 3.5 weeks in icu, 1.5 weeks in a rehab center, 8 weeks in a walker, 5 months on crutches, 9 months of PT, 10 months out of work, 1 year off bike. On December 15 of '04 I go in for surgery # 9 to remove the last of the below pictured hardware, the intramedullary nail and distal locking screws, and the screws in my femoral neck.

 Wanna bomb that blind hill or scream a trail you've never been on? Think again!

                                                                                                                Eric "The HayMaker"

 < 07/26/02 Shot of LH femur, midway down shaft.
 < 07/26/02 LH wrist showing shattering of distal ends of radius and ulna.

Composite    08/06/02 > shot showing repaired femoral neck, intramedullary nail, staples from fasciotomy and skin graft, and fragments from shattered femoral shaft.  

 < 07/26/02 Shot of shattered distal ends of RH radius and ulna.
 <08/06/02 Repaired LH radius, showing plate, screws, and pin. Pin was removed 6 weeks later.

 

 Repaired RH 08/06/02 > radius showing plate and screws.
 < 11/18/02 Scar from fasciotomy and graft. Notice huge lump from the femoral shaft fragments.

 Staples after 11/27/02 > having fragments removed, bone grafted to femur from pelvis, and shrinking of skin graft scar.

 < 04/30/03 Plates and screws removed from both wrists. Appx. length 2.75 inches.

 

 Screws used 03/03/04 > for distal interlocking of intramedullary nail. Appx. length 3.5  inches.

 
 < 01/23/04 Shot of still slow bone growth over femoral fracture. Femoral neck now healed.

 Shot of         10/15/04 > femoral shaft. Bone has finally connected. Intramedullary nail will be out 12/15!
12/15/04 Last of the Steve Austin parts are removed! 2 hour surgery to remove intramedullary nail and screws in my hip. More bandages, more scars, a little more oxycodone, and I'm good to go!