Surviving a motorcycle accident; the day my life changed forever

It was July 31, 2008, and I had just recently finished rebuilding my 1981 Honda CB 750K. In the fall of 2007 I got the engine rebuilt, and during the winter of 2008 I replaced all of the old chrome, side panels, rebuilt the gas tank and got a new custom paint job on it. In fact, it was only my second ride riding my bike after waiting all summer to get it back on the road.

It was a beautiful day, about 30 Celsius, and I was on my way home from work early to go golfing.  I was 3km from my apartment, and I was driving straight through an intersection, when a young woman, coming from the opposite direction, turned left in front of me and cut me off. She hadn’t seen me going through the intersection and I ended up T-boning the front fender of the car.

I was immediately launched off of my bike and sent flying over the car. Initially the driver didn’t stop driving and therefore she hit me out of mid-air with the car and sent me through the air through the intersection.  I hit the car doing about 70 km/h and with the left side of my body, mainly on my left hip. As I was going over the hood of the car, I changed directions in mid-air and was sent flying to the right, through the intersection. I ended up going about 25 feet through the air, landing on my wrists and right hip on the pavement (after trying to land on my feet and that not working) and apparently I came within 6 inches of hitting a light pole. I didn’t break any bones, and I didn’t have any severe road rash, it all ended up being severe trauma to the soft tissue in my body.  I was taken to hospital by ambulance and released about 4-6 hours later, after being treated.

HRM Police Report

GO #08-112001 – Motorcycle/Motor Vehicle Accident – At 12:44 p.m. police responded to the intersection of Oxford and Coburg Road, Halifax, in relation to a vehicle/motorcycle accident. The 24-year-old female driver of a car turned left from Oxford Street onto Coburg Street colliding with a motorcyclist who was traveling on Oxford Street. The 27-year-old male driver of the motorcycle was transported to the hospital, where he was treated and released. The driver of the vehicle was charged with ‘Failing to Yield to Traffic When Making a Lefthand Turn.’

As I was being wheeled out of the hospital, the first officer that was on scene had hung around to see how I was doing, which I found out was mainly because he couldn’t believe I was alive.  He told me that when he arrived on the scene, and he first saw my bike, he immediately assumed I was dead and couldn’t believe it when he came over and saw me kicking and bitching on the ground, alive.  He said he’d seen many accidents in his career, but with the shape my motorcycle was in, and the shape her car was in, he didn’t understand how I was able to walk (hobble) away from the crash.

When I got in my accident I had just finished losing my 100lbs, I weighed 175lbs and I was in the best shape of my life (at the time).  I was running every morning, training in the gym 5-6 days a week, playing softball, beach volleyball, indoor volleyball, hockey and I felt amazing.  Life was good.

After the accident, and for about eight months, I wasn’t able to do much of anything and this affected my whole life and my lifestyle.  I really got down in the dumps and the whole thing started to affect me in a bad way mentally.  I started feeling sorry for myself and this lead to me eating like shit again and I ended up putting on about 45lbs, and it really affected my mental health.  During this time I wasn’t a happy person and I was in a very bad place mentally while trying to deal with everything.  (Word to the wise: If you’re ever in a traumatic experience, don’t ever think about the “what ifs”, they will drive you nuts!)

At the eight month mark, and against doctors orders, I finally said “fuck it” and started going to the gym again.  The pain was intense, but I didn’t care.  I didn’t actually want to be there, but I did it anyway.  I was sore, out of shape and self-conscience about how I looked again, but I sucked it up and made myself go and workout.  I needed to get myself back to my positive lifestyle that I once knew and I needed to do it fast because I was on a downward spiral to a bad place that I had been to before and didn’t want to return to.

The workouts weren’t what they use to be, and there was pain there that wasn’t there before, but I kept at it.  I was seeing a physiotherapist three times a week, a chiropractor four times a week and a massage therapist three times a week, but I still managed to get to the gym three times a week on top of that (and work my full time job). I had to change my workout regime completely and learn how to do modified workouts due to severe hip, back and wrist pain, but I did it and in the long run it was for the best.

It’s been almost 15 years now and life has changed a lot, and it took me a long time, a lot of work, a lot of patience and a lot of support to get back to a place where I felt (feel) happy about myself, but I got there. To this day I’m constantly learning and practicing physical recovery using mobility and weight/strength training, and I still do massage, and chiro for my back, hips and wrists because I deal with pains that have never gone away, but you know what… I’m alive, I’m happy.

Yes, I faced some huge adversity, but worked hard to get back to a life that makes me happy. I have a great partner, two amazing kids, and I have a great career that allows me to treat people with chronic pain and teach them how to move their bodies. I’m very fortunate.