only post on the subject – promise
This will be my only post on the subject of my cycling accident.
A few observations.
1. When being pitched over your handle bars try and land on your helmet (Huh George!) rather than your face. Your helmet is designed to resist impact – your face is not.
2. Only try and damage one arm, not both. My left arm, which suffered some soft tissue damage, is more painful than my right hand, which has the fracture. The left arm is compensating for the loss of the right hand and is now very achey.
3. To all our medical students – please learn to communicate with patients. I may not care which bone is damaged but please listen to your patients and give them the info they need. Don't follow the lead of the consultants who tell someone to wear a cast for 4 weeks and then vanish before the patient has time to ask a few questions. Learn from them but don't copy them
4. To the dentist who rebuilt my front tooth – I retract all previous statements about dentists. You have restored not just my tooth but my faith in your profession. I also did not mind you nipping off to be sick half way through – I could see you were also having a bad day. The fact that it only cost £35 is still amazing – i was expecting an expensive cap, but you didn't sell me what I didn't need and still did a fantastic job.
5. To Mr Chris May – if you get a call from Messers Sue, Grabbit and Runne I would advise you to be co-operative! Only joking :-) – the bike is well and only needs a bit of TLC to get back on the road.
6. To the cyclist who stopped to help and the people in Walton who picked me up – thankyou very much. Your help was most appreciated. And sorry to the little girl who was frightened by a big scary man with a bloody face.
7. Is this wrong (I think so…) – on the back of the appointment card for the fracture clinic at Warwick Hospital is an advert for a law firm chasing compensation deals. I thought this was pretty offensive. Do we really live in a world where this is morally acceptable?
22 Feb 2006 10:43
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Tags: Accident Cycling
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[Skip to the latest comment]Robert O'Toole
Hope things are feeling better.
Now to make matters worse, imagine the staggering salary that consultant gets despite of his completely woeful service.
As for the advert for ambulance chasing lawyers, i'm amazed. Warwick Hospital has been on the brink of closure, with compensation claims being a big part of the problem. At several locations in the hospital they display graphs showing the huge sums that they are paying out. This constitutes a significant chunk of NHS funding.
However, i have to say that in my dealings with some of the consultants at Warwick Hospital, I have come close to talking to my lawyers. Oh the downward spiral of the NHS! Doomed!
22 Feb 2006, 12:54
Karen Mortimer
Heard about your accident from various people – hope you feel better soon! In fact, should you be typing at all with poorly hands/arms?!! :-)
22 Feb 2006, 16:11
Thanks Karen – doctor said I need to keep fingers moving otherwise they swell up and go bad – so typing seems to be ok. Not writing an epic anytime soon, but should be ok for a bit.
22 Feb 2006, 16:26
Bad luck Tom. Get well soon
22 Feb 2006, 16:35
Steven Carpenter
Sounds like it was a nasty fall – hope you start feeling better soon :-)
22 Feb 2006, 20:41
Have you any ideas about reducing the likelihood of a similar crash occurring in the future?
Was another vehicle involved?
Were you on or off road?
Would less effective brakes be better? V brakes often have limiting devices added to them, as otherwise they are too hazardous for many riders – certainly for on-road cycling.
25 Feb 2006, 12:41
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