Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Hits

I've been hearing of a lot more people around town getting hit by cars while they ride their bikes. Today I became a member of the bike riding hits club.

I jumped on my bike to ride 5 blocks up the street to get some lunch. The traffic light turned green and I went. This car totally tried to run the red light and ran right into me. He hit me from the side and knocked my bike away while I was thrown up on the hood of his car. I slid off and then hit the pavement. The impact knocked one of my shoes off. I immediately got up and said through the open window, "Don't you go anywhere!" I've heard again of so many people hit by a car and then have the car run off.


There were a lot of people who saw and called 911. They totally took care of me while the whole entourage came wailing down the street. I got the whole kit and caboodle: EMS, firetruck, and police. I declined the EMS ride to the hospital because the only thing that was really hurt at the time was my leg where the bumper hit it. The police got both the driver's info and mine and then sent me home while he dealt with the driver. Since I only live a couple blocks away from the intersection he was going to stop by my house so I could relax in my comfy orange chair. The firemen offered to throw my bike on top of the truck and give me a ride home. I figured I might as well get one more adventure out of the whole thing so I accepted. I have never been in a fire truck before but it was awesome.

I can be rather stubborn at times and I insisted upon going about my business--teach my afterschool class and go to my drawing class--before I went to the ER at around 11pm. By that time the adrenalin had finally worn off and my body was starting to ache all over. They said I had severe whiplash from having my body thrown all over the place. They gave me prescription strength Ibuprofen and muscle relaxers.

For the most part I feel fine now. And really, for being hit by a car, I was really lucky.

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