What happened?
It drew me north as much I could go on the way to Snohomish in Washington State where I would stay with my friends Don and Joni, which the reader maybe still knows: ....
Up in Sakatchewan, just coming from the mining town Flin Flon on the border with Manitoba, a gravel road was the shortest way ... .
Deeper gravel coming up I slowed down, still the front wheel started to wiggle and before I could speed up to get out again and stabilize the wheel, it slipped in a deeper groove and stared to beat from one side to the other. 1, 2, the third time all the way to the left which caused the bike to slam to the right diagonal to the ground with al the speed it still had, me with the right shoulder first on the ground. Blackout. Standing up, collecting my gear, which was thrown all over the place, I realized that something was wrong, not only that the mirrows and most of the the instruments of the handlebars were gone, but also a strange dizzyness and some uncomfort in the shoulder, a dislocation maybe, which I thought to be able to bring back in position. That was the wrong though, and the driver of a car which stopped , asking if he should help getting the bike back up, I signaled that I was not all right and sat down, leaning at the bike. No net for the phone, he needed to drive back to get the ambulance coming. More people stopped then and took care of me. Until the ambulance and RCMP(Royal Mounted Police) came I fainted in and out.
Well In the ambulance as well, also because they gave morphium based painkiller. Finally in the hospital they figured out the broken clavicle and 1 rib, later 2, I think now there are actually 3 ribs broken.
First x-ray didnt look so bad for the doctors, for me they did, second x-ray showed that the parts of the clavicle moved apart from each other, so that one doctor still said it didnd need a correction, but luckily the other saw the need of it and put a metal plate and as many srews in it as he could find bone for.
In My opinion the nurses did the best work in the hospital. I dont want to blame anyone, but the correction of the position of bones should be done always, or?
Now I am in Snohomish, Washington, because my good friend Don drove from here to Prince Albert in Saskatchewan one day, one night, had a little rest and another day to pick me and the bike up! I repeat: ... because my good friend Don drove from here to Prince Albert in Saskatchewan one day, one night, had a little rest and another day to pick me and the bike up! Then we drove the day after the surgery 3 days, sleeping twice in motels, back to Snohomish. Is he a friend?
By the way, Don doesnt do facebook.
(I just started fbook, because it might be handy to stay in touch for this project and a few real friends I think to have somewhere spread over the globe, sorry about my honesty friends.)
More about Don, Joni, Wilma, Dough and the whole family here soon on this page.
T.
Foto: Don Siewert