My great friend and tri training partner, Lisa Mumford, also blogs. You can catch a window into her mind (with her great writing skills), see some adorable kids and read about her first rate family here. When I get back into town with my USB chords I will post about her FIRST PLACE win in the triathlon last Saturday! It was so awesome to see her coming in to the finish line having won the whole shebang! She was riding with me when I had my accident and remembers it all in gory detail. She recently posted about the whole experience. This will be boring to most of you but just in case Lisa's blog is ever removed from my access 20 years down the road, I wanted to have my own copy on my blog. Unless you're a family member that wants to know or are sincerely interested to hear how a random bike accident goes down, feel free to move on. Here it is...my (in Lisa's words) journal entry of the accident.
It all started at the tatoo parlor. Ashley, Micah and I were meeting up on a Saturday morning, the Saturday prior to our triathlon mind you, for a long bike ride. We chose to meet up at the tattoo parlor and then head out on a long, quiet country road North of base, a route we had gone several times prior. We had decided to go out 8 miles, turn around, ride back 8 and then head to base to ride the race course and then go for a run. On the way out, we had encountered a few patches of dogs, which was strange considering I had never really seen dogs on that road before. A big meaty white dog about 4 miles North of base had chased us as we headed North, and we talked about preparing ourselves for his probable chase on the way back.
The conversation was pleasant, light and humorous as usual. We discussed the upcoming race and the changes that had been made to the course. As we approached 8 miles and the smooth road started to become pitted and bumpy, we turned around and headed South as planned. The weather wasn't too hot, the air was fresh and the wind was light. We were cruising along at a comfy 16-17mph riding side by side: Me Micah Ashley. Just like that. I remember thinking "that dog is gonna jump out at us at some point" and I briefly considered my position on the road and that I was closest to the dog's house. That made me a little nervous. We hadn't made a note of where that location was, so it was a surprise when the "white beast" darted out at us.
It all happened so fast. So fast. He ran directly in front of me, then Micah, then Ashley, coming at us from the left. And that's when the accident happened. Micah and I had narrowly missed him, but Ashley hit him directly, and that's when everything gets fuzzy for me. I don't remember any sound. I don't know what happened to the dog, where he went, or how he left the scene. I don't recall the exact mechanism of the bike, the fall, the hit. But I do remember seeing her hit the ground, more specifically her head hitting the ground. I have tears in my eyes just thinking about it right now despite that it was over a week ago and I know she is ok now. The only words I can think of to describe the fall is unnatural and gruesome. Ashley had fallen on the back of her head. Hard. And slid along the pavement a bit. Time stopped. Micah and I quickly headed back to Ashley (remember we were riding 16-17mph).
I remember seeing her lying there from a short distance and I think my mind was playing tricks on me as I thought I saw her moving and assumed she was awake and ok. But by the time I reached her head, her body tangled around her bike, she was breathing very loudly and her eyes were only partially opened...she was not responding to me. I think I went into a bit of shock. There was no way she was unconscious. This was Ashley. She was strong and athletic and invincible. She was the last person in the world I thought of that would ever look so helpless and vulnerable.
Thank heavens for Micah. This was his first ride with us. Infact, he had just decided to do the triathlon the week prior (who decides to do an olympic distance triathlon with only a week and a half to train!? Only an incredible athlete! He's just crazy! We had been training like troops for 7 weeks and I still didn't feel ready!). I don't think it was a coincidence that he had come with us last minute that morning...definitely a blessing from Heaven. I know I would have not responded well to that situation had I been alone with her.
Micah quickly and calmly took over. Oh, did I mention he's a medical doctor? Yeah, that helped. He immediately assessed the situation and new exactly what to do. It is still a bit of a blur, I really think I was in shock! But I remember he asked me to get her shoe out of her clip (one was still attached to the bike, the other wasn't). I tried tugging her foot out of the lock. Micah told me to just get her foot out of the shoe. I told you I was not in my right mind, not recognizing the obvious! We got her untangled from the bike. She came to after a couple of minutes. It had seemed like an eternity! We had talked about calling an ambulance, etc. and decided to call Joey first (her husband, also a doctor). That call occured at 7:31 am. They decided that Joey would come and get her and bring her to the ER. After all, she was with a doctor and the "ambulance" driver was a doctor :).
Once she awoke, she wanted to move. She was confused and in obvious pain and wanted to throw up. She kept trying to sit up and Micah kept trying to get her to relax and stay still so he could further assess her injuries and mental capacity. Once it was determined her spine was ok (she just KEPT trying to move!) we got her off the road and onto the more comfortable grass (that was actually full of stickers...ouch!) on the shoulder. She had several scrapes and road rash on her body, but Micah of course was most concerned about her head.
She kept asking what happened and was very confused. She didn't know that we had been riding bikes. She didn't know why she was on the side of the road in the middle of the country. She didn't know what day it was. She knew who Micah and I were, she knew the names of her husband and kids, but was utterly lost about the PRESENT. She was having a hard time lying still, always sitting up and trying to get into a more comfortable position. As she requested information about what had happened, we would recite to her the course of events. She would lie down for a moment and then try to sit up again and would ask again what had happened. It took me a couple of times of repeating the story to realize she had no short term memory. The story I had just told her had quickly left her brain and she was confused all over again. It was terribly scary.
I estimate it took Joey 10 minutes to wake up his kids, belt them up in the car and drive about 7 miles to where we were. He drove FAST. Based on my cell phone records, we had called at 7:31 and he left the scene with Ashley (and her bike!) in the car at 7:46 when I called Todd to meet Joey at the hospital to get the kids. Joey knew exactly where we were because that same dog had chased him previously on bike rides. Looking back though, those 10 minutes seemed to last forever as we tried to help her and watched her struggle.
Once Joey had left, Micah and I had to pick up our bikes and ride about 4 miles back to the tattoo parlor where Micah and Ashley's cars were parked. What do you talk about on that 4 mile bike ride? Who really wants to get back on a bike after watching that? It was tough and I was super angry (at the dog) and so sad and scared (for Ashley). We got the bikes racked up and headed to Ashley's to drop off her car and belongings and pick up clothes for the kids. Then we headed to the hospital to see how Ashley was.
In the ER, Joey's face said it all. He was very worried, and with his background in medicine, that worried me even more. Of course he would be worried and fearful...it was his wife and she was not making any new memories! She had had a CT scan and the doctor came out with the results as we were there. She had a possible small fracture on the back of her skull and possible small amount of bleeding on her brain. Joey and the doctor began talking about locations to transport her (Lawton vs. OKC ...remember we're in a really small town). At that point, it was appropriate for Micah and I to leave. He took me home (the gate gaurd that let us through is in our ward and was really confused when the Elder's Quorum president and the Primary president (obviously not married) showed up on an early Saturday morning alone together...we definitely had to explain!).
The next few hours of worrying turned in to the next few days of worrying. Ashley finally began to make some new memories and progressed over time during her 3 day hospital stay (is that right?). Thankfully, her husband Joey kept us all updated via her blog. Go here to read Joey's version of that day and then the surrounding posts to see how she progressed and continues to progress. We all (many, many worried friends and family all over the world) hovered over our computers for days waiting for the latest updates from Joey. It is all we could think about and was constantly foremost in our minds. She had (and still has) severe pain in her head and isn't feeling quite herself and gets dizzy easily (am I right, Ashley?) but we know she will make a full recovery. This is a huge blessing. It could have been even worse and had she not been wearing a helmet (which was destroyed by the impact) she would likely not be alive today.
How fragile life is and how quickly it can change! I am so grateful for a merciful Father in Heaven who preserved Ashley's life and that she is recovering more and more every day. Unfortunately it sometimes isn't until you see the people you know and love in such a terrible circumstance before you realize how much they mean to you. Ashley, we are all SO GRATEFUL you are OK and we LOVE YOU!
Posted by Lisa at 10:41 AM
Thanks for those sweet words at the end, Lisa. They will always mean a lot to me. I am so grateful to have had you and Micah there as well. No one could have cared for me ( my possible spine injury etc!) as well as Doc Bahr and I too feel it was such a blessing that he came along with us that morning...it might be for this reason alone that Micah felt so inspired to train for the triathlon a week beforehand!! I think about that sometimes! And no one could have worried about me, cared for my kids (even dropping them off, fixing their hair, letting them borrow clothes, bringing me a meal etc), my car, taken the time to write this all up etc the way that you have. I am so grateful to have had you two with me. I will Love you guys forever!
