Not an ordinary bike ride.
On August 30 2017 I went for a bike ride alone after work on a popular trail. I had ridden it several times. It’s 3.3 miles mostly uphill. I got to the top and turned to come down. I only remember from here on in flashes. I remember going down and seeing my wheel in the grass (off the paved trail). I over corrected and lost my balance. I then began to fall to my right. I hit hard on my right wrist and right knee. I was halfway over the handlebars with the bike in between my legs. I got my bearings and turned to get up and saw something I will never forget. There was a hole in my upper, inner left thigh and blood was pouring out like a faucet. I remember thinking I have got myself in a bad situation and I have to get out of it or I’m going to die. I applied pressure with my hands immediately and called for help. Luckily I was right near a playground and a wonderful man came to my aid. He applied pressure with his bear hands and called 911. I was mentally able to separate myself from the situation by thinking about my daughter who was 5 at the time because I didn’t want to die and wanted to see her again. I had totally severed my femoral artery and had no idea at the time. The ambulance took 20 minutes to arrive since it was volunteer only. I managed to stay conscious the whole time and by the time the ambulance came the bleeding had stopped because the artery had spasmed shut and clotted. My blood pressure was only 60 over 35 when they loaded me in the ambulance and I was going into shock and was convinced at one point. I was going to die. They took me to the local hospital because I was too critical to make it to one of the trauma centers in Baltimore. My bp was up when we arrived and all I wanted to do was to leave. I thought I was fine but all along deep down I knew something wasn’t right and the ER doctor wanted me to see a vascular surgeon to be sure I didn’t hurt my artery. I became more and more afraid and only wanted to go home but I waited to see him. I was lucky to see the chief of surgery at the hospital who is a very good vascular surgeon in the Baltimore area. He did an angiogram and saw how badly my artery was injured. Things became a whirlwind and I was whisked away to surgery before I even knew what had happened. I have never in my life felt so terrified I couldn’t understand the rush. I thought my life was in danger again and that’s why we were in such a hurry. I woke up from surgery confused and groggy. My vascular surgeon came to see me and told me I was extremely lucky to be alive and that I came close to losing my leg. He shocked me beyond words. I just hit my year anniversary. I know I’m lucky to be alive and I know this has made me a better person and changed my life for the better. I feel so fortunate I had life threatening injury that became a limb threatening injury and the only lasting effect is a little nerve damage in my left leg that is slowly improving
