Latest / RealTalkwithMikeD / Episode 41 - Reflecting on My Motorcycle Accident!

Transcript

Episode 41 - Reflecting on My Motorcycle Accident! · RealTalkwithMikeD

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Real Talk with Mike D. All right. Welcome
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: back to Real Talk with Mike D. I am the one,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: the only, and the original Mike D. Thank you for
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: being here. Thank you for listening. And as always, I
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: do appreciate you. Ladies and gentlemen, I got a good
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: one for you today. Today we're going to reflect and
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: talk about my motorcycle accident. Yes, Mike D. had a
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: motorcycle accident. I had a Kawasaki Ninja. It was red
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: and purple and it was awesome. I loved this bike.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Ever since I was a kid, I wanted a motorcycle.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: And I did exactly just that. When I was able to,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: I bought one. And I want to tell you the
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: story of exactly what happened and what caused my accident. Alright,
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: it was a crisp September morning. It was the morning
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: of the Arts and Crafts Fair in a local town
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: I used to live in. I thought, I'm going to
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: get up, go for a nice little bike ride, clear
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: my mind, enjoy the day, and see what is going on.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: So I did exactly just that. Got up, got dressed,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: put on my favorite sweatshirt. And that sweatshirt was a
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: United States Air Force Academy sweatshirt that my father had
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: gotten me in Delaware at the United States Air Force Academy.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: I thought it was fitting that I put that on
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: that morning because it was crisp. It was a little chilly.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: And I did exactly just that. So I'm all dressed
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: and ready to go. I get my black and red
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: leather gloves. I get my helmet. I walk out to
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: my bike. I sit on it and boom, I fire
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: it up. Get my helmet on, get my gloves on
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: and off I go. And they say most motorcycle accidents
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: happen within one mile of the home. And this was
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: no exception. That's exactly what happened. I was driving down
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: the road. All of a sudden I see this car
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: coming down the alleyway. And it doesn't stop. And I panic.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: I hit my front brake. And that was all it took.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: I failed to hit my rear brake along with the
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: front brake. Had I done that, the outcome might have
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: been a little bit different. But I panicked. And I
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: only hit the front brake. And when I did that,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: I lost control. I dropped the bike and I slid.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: And then I came to a complete stop in the
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: middle of the road. There was complete and utter silence.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: All I felt was pain. I heard no cars. I
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: heard nobody coming out of their house. I heard nothing.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: For what seemed like five or ten minutes, as I
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: lay there. Then all of a sudden I hear sirens.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Then I hear them getting a little bit closer. I
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: hear them getting a little bit closer. And then they're there.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: They are on scene. They cut my sweatshirt off. They
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: cut my jeans off. They put me in a neck brace.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: They put me on a spinal wooden backboard. Put me
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: on a gurney. Load me in the ambulance and off
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: I go to the hospital. I have a broken back,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: ladies and gentlemen. L4 and L5 were broke. I have
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: to undergo surgery, four screws and a plate in my spine,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: and months of rehabilitation just to be able to walk again.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: It was a life-changing situation, to say the least. That
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: was the end of my motorcycle riding. No more. I
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: am now handicapped. I can't do the things I used
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: to do. Now, we're going to fast forward about 20 years.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: I have to go in for a second spinal surgery.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: Because two of the screws in my spine broke off.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: And as I sit here talking to you this morning,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: they are still broken. They are still in my spine.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: They could not be removed. So, along with two broken
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: screws in my spine, I have four new screws. I
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: have a plate. I have two rods. I have a cage.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: And they did a bone graft from my right hip
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: to put bone marrow into the cage to strengthen my spines.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: And here I go again. More therapy. Just to learn
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: how to walk again. This time, it was even more
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: difficult because of what I had to go through. But
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: I'm blessed because I'm not in a wheelchair. I'm able
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: to walk. However, I was in a wheelchair for a
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: short amount of time post-surgery. I think I was in
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: a wheelchair for a month, maybe a month and a half.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: I couldn't walk. I couldn't move. I couldn't turn right.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: I couldn't turn left. I couldn't stand on my own.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: It was like I was paralyzed. I basically was. I
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: couldn't do anything. I had to strengthen my backup. I
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: had to get back to a point where I was
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: able to walk again. I was back in physical therapy.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: I was back in aquatic therapy. Months and months of
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: therapy just to be able to walk. The moral of
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: the story is I'm blessed because I'm able to walk.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: I'm not confined to a wheelchair. Yes, I'm handicapped. Yes,
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: I can't do certain things. I can't walk long distances
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: without using a cane. I can't run. I can't do
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: sit-ups or pull-ups. I can't pick up heavy things. I
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: have difficulty sleeping. And the weather? The weather absolutely kills me. Summertime?
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: Not as bad. Wintertime? Absolutely brutal. I'm in pain 24-7,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: every single day. Some days, the pain isn't quite as bad.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: Some days, the pain is catastrophic. I can't sit down
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: for long periods of time. I have to get up
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: and walk around I have to get up and stretch
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: because the pain is just too much to bear. All
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: from wanting to go for a morning motorcycle ride that
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: crisp September morning. That day changed my life forever. And
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: you know what's crazy? Today, not this specific day, but
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: the days that I'm in my car and I'm driving
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: on the highway, I see these motorcyclists driving past me
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: doing 100, 100 plus miles an hour, no helmet, weaving
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: in and out of traffic. Maybe they're popping wheelies. And
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: I'm like, I'm thinking to myself, all it takes is
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: one stick, one twig, one rock, one pebble, one pothole,
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: And it's all over. Your life could be over just
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: like that. For acting stupid, for showing off. Is it
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: really worth it? No, it's not worth it. Anyhow, that
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: is going to do it for today's story, ladies and gentlemen.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: I hope you appreciate this story. I hope you liked it.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed it. But as always, I appreciate
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: you being here. I appreciate you listening. And please be
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: the reason somebody smiles. But until the next episode, I
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: bid you peace and happiness. Later!