Motorbike Accident

On December 17, Tré and I were involved in a motorbike accident. It currently ranks as THE scariest experience of my life (and Tré’s as well). We are thankful to be alive.

DESCRIPTION OF ACCIDENT:
As we were driving our motorbike at about 60 km/hr on one of the main 4-lane roads, a 15-passenger van pulled out into our lane as it was attempting to cross the road. I braked, swerved, and honked in an attempt to avoid it. It hesitated and I thought we were going to make it past, but at the last moment it continued forward and hit us from the left side with its front bumper. I can still hear the sound of the impact, and it sends chills through my body. It is amazing how many thoughts can pass through your mind in such a short period of time. I remember thinking in disbelief, “F***, I can’t believe he just hit us.” The impact sent us flying into the opposite lane with on-coming traffic. Thankfully, on-coming traffic did not run us over! The bike came to a rest about 3 meters (10 ft) from the van with the van’s bumper lying on top of it. Tré landed very hard in a sitting position about another 5 meters (15 feet) from the motorbike. I was thrown from the bike, flew through the air, and rolled on my side about 10-13 meters (30-40 feet) from the motorbike. As I came into contact with the pavement, I felt my head hit, and I remember thinking that I was glad I had my helmet on.

When all movement stopped, I could hear Tré screaming. My first thought was, "Shit, I can't believe we're alive." My second thought was a feeling of horror not knowing what I was going to see when I looked up for Tré. I was relieved to see him sitting and hear him screaming - he was alive and conscious. His leg was broken at the thigh and bent in a direction that is not normal. He was terrified. Not having looked at my body, but knowing I was unable to walk, I crawled to him. There were quickly 15-20 bystanders to help us. They called for an ambulance, comforted Tré, and gathered our belongings. After I reached Tré, I looked down at my throbbing foot to see that I had a 10-12 cm (4-5 inch) deep laceration running the length of my foot in which bone was visible. What I later found out was that there was a 7 cm (3 inch) laceration across the bottom of my foot as well. I could tell that we were both going into shock (shaking, losing consciousness, feeling cold, etc.), and kept asking bystanders, “Shock, you understand shock?”

An ambulance arrived probably within 10 minutes (although it felt like 30), and we were put in the back together. Terrified, we held hands tightly as we both struggled to stay conscious. We were taken to the Phuket International Hospital and treated. Our neighbors (an older English couple) came right away to be with us in the emergency room, and stayed with Tré when they had to separate us. I can never thank them enough for their support! It seemed like an eternity before we were given any painkillers, but the morphine shot in the butt, finally kicked in and brought some relief as we waited for surgery. We both went into surgery at the same time – a few hours after the accident.

DIAGNOSIS:
Tré broke the femur (thigh bone) in his left leg. Amazingly, he had no scratches or lacerations on any part of his body. They had to do surgery on his leg though to align the bone. He has a plate and 8 screws in there now. He was really brave through all of this even when he was in a lot of pain. Following the operation, he lost too much blood, and required a blood transfusion. There were 22 staples closing the incision in his thigh. In 6-8 months they will need to remove the plate and screws since he is still growing.

I broke two bones in my left foot (not toes) – the 2nd and 3rd metatarsals. They operated on my foot and put in two plates with two screws each, and spent an hour removing tiny bits of foreign material from the lacerations. I have long and deep lacerations on the top and bottom of my foot. The surgeon is mostly concerned about the lacerations with the possibility of infection. They have not completely stitched them up. Everyday, the surgeon removes the bandages, cleans the lacerations, and inspects them for any sign of infection. They have had a plastic surgeon look at my foot as well. Amazingly, I have few other scratches or bruises.

HOSPITAL STAY:
We were in the hospital for seven days. It seemed like forever. As the typical stereotype of hospital food goes, the food was horrible. We are eternally grateful to our many visitors! Several days, we had between 10-12 visitors. Most foreigners living here don't have family in the area, so it was nice to experience that people pull together when someone is in need. Thanks and appreciation to: Vichan; Marge & Archie; Angelica; Audrey, Skip, & Barbara; Ailsa; Deng & younger brother Deng; Kuhn Jan; Alan & Jeanne; Luisa; Samuel & his mom; Jeab; Louie; Deiter & Pawn; and Samantha. We can’t begin to thank you enough. Many thanks to all our friends in far-away places as well for the comforting comments, well wishes, words of wisdom, and/or loving thoughts. Especially, thanks and appreciation to my father for his daily phone calls and loving concern!

The Thai man who hit us came to visit four times as well and brought gifts. Apparently, this is unusual in Thailand. Often people just drive away from the scene. He has spoken with the police, has taken responsibility for the accident, and is making arrangements to have our motorbike repaired at his expense. So, we're fortunate to have someone responsible and caring involved in the accident.

The Thai staff at the hospital was very attentive and nurturing as well. My surgeon, in particular, was very comforting and attentive. Also, the International Liaison, James, was a tremendous help and made the whole ordeal much less confusing by helping with insurance, communications, etc. In addition, he even brought in his PlayStation from home to help keep Tré occupied.

We had an interesting distraction in the hospital for a few days. One of my high school students was admitted to the hospital following a motorbike accident as well! He was very lucky, and did not crash into anything – just wiped out on a rainy night. He sustained minor lacerations requiring some stitches to both hands. He was in the hospital overnight, so, Tré got to hang out and party in his room with five of my high school students. They ordered lots of food, played PlayStation on the plasma screen TV, and watched movies.

CURRENT STATUS AS OF 12/28/08:
We were released from the hospital on December 23rd. They were planning on keeping me in the hospital an additional 5-7 days. However, they agreed to release me with Tré on the condition that I return to the hospital everyday for my lacerations to be cleaned and inspected by the surgeon. Thank goodness for Tré’s speedy recovery! I was getting down, had basically stopped eating, etc. I wouldn’t have done well with another 5-7 days. The day we got released, I walked 3-4 km on my crutches, and took the bus to the beach. I felt incredibly better just being able to see the ocean, hear the waves, feel the warmth of the sun, and to get some exercise (which made me hungry finally).

We’ve been unable to find an automatic car to rent, so to get around for now, we have rented an automatic motorbike with sidecar. I can drive it since it has the sidecar attached on the left-hand side of the bike. I don’t have to use my left foot to shift or to balance the bike. Talk about “getting back on the horse.” It’s scary, to say the least.

Tré ~ The incision from the operation is healing well. They removed the 22 staples today. Tré was surprised at how relatively painless that process was. The surgeon said that he can start going in the water on Monday, so he is thrilled and looking forward to that. He is getting around on his crutches pretty well, and has been off of painkillers for several days now. There are no signs of infection. We just need to hope that the bone and leg heal properly, so they don’t have to redo the surgery. Please keep your fingers crossed or pray – whichever you prefer! The surgeon told him today that his wounds will heal faster than mine, and that he should be helping to take care of me (rather than the other way around).

Ashley ~ I continue to go to the hospital everyday for cleaning and inspection of the lacerations. Currently, there are no signs of infection and the lacerations continue to slowly (emphasize slowly!) heal. At this point, they have decided not to completely stitch up the wounds, but to let them fill in and heal naturally (due to fear of too much tension on the surrounding skin). They have had the plastic surgeon inspect my foot as well, but they are continuing to wait to see how it heals. When they unwrap it, it looks really nasty!!! This healing process of the wounds will probably take another two weeks. That’s just for the wounds. There are also the two broken bones in my foot to consider. Hopefully, they’ll just take the typical 6-8 weeks to heal (unlike the 5 months that it took my hand!). Right now, their main concerns are infection, nerve damage, and tissue damage.

Psychologically, Tré seems to be doing pretty well. He doesn’t seem to have any apprehension about being back on a motorbike, and is still asking for me to buy him a motocross bike! Boys!?! Me on the other hand, the accident keeps replaying in my head. I can hear the sound of the impact with the van. The constant throbbing pain in my foot is a constant reminder. I worry about the effect on Tré of breaking such a major and crucial bone. I feel guilty for not being able to prevent all this pain. Parental guilt. It keeps me awake at night – hence the fact that I’m up writing this at 4am. Thank you to many of you for your words of wisdom on processing this.

Overall, we are thankful to be home, together, and ALIVE! That is our current “motto.” We’ll continue to add updates on our progress. Please just keep sending your well wishes that it’s progress and not complications! :)