Motorcycle Crash

On Friday, August 5, 2005, I was involved in a motorcycle accident travelling south on highway 101 near Millbrae. I was riding my Yamaha R1:



I don't remember the accident (the dent in my helmet is a very probable explanation). I remember riding in the fast lane at about 25-40 with a group of 3 other riders in heavy stop and go traffic. I had just moved up to the rider because I felt the space between me and the car behind me was too close. The next thing I remember is lying on the ground, people telling me to not move, and that emergency help would be there. I wasn't in any pain yet.

After being taken to the Stanford Medical Center



I found that I had sustained the following injuries:
A total of 3 fractured vertebra in my back
Amputation of the tip of my left thumb
Partial loss of feeling in my left shoulder

If you take a look at the picture below, there are three main parts of the vertebra, the meaty round part, the spinal cord just behind the meaty part, and the "wings".



I fractured the C-7 (Cervical) vertebra which is the seventh down fromtop of your head. It's right about at the top of your shoulders. My C-7 fracture was just the wing part.

I had "compression fractures" in the remaining two vertebra. They were T-7 and T-8 (Thoracic) which are just about in the middle of your chest. A compression fracture occurs from pressure created by bending over too much. I did not have any damage due to a hyperextension, which would have been significantly worse. Thefractures consist of small fissures in the "meaty" part of the bone shown above.

Any nerve damage to the spinal cord is what results in paralysis which thankfully you can see I did not have.

Also during the accident the tip of my thumb was torn off. It's the part of your thumb that has your fingernail. I have all three joints and hopefully with some reconstructive surgery I will not suffer too much loss of function.

All in all I consider myself extremely lucky.

I received a lot of support during my stay at the hospital. I never realized how hard something like this could be until going through it. My friends and family made the experience as best as best it could possibly be.

To those that have sent flowers and cards, thank you so much, there have been some tough times in the hospital on drugs and feeling like my world has collapsed around me. You helped so much.

To all those that visited me in the hospital, I never realized how lonely those things are until I was immobile in bed. I probably only spent 1 or 2 hours alone during the entire time, thank you so much - seeing friends and family really makes a difference.

To those that have helped me out with logistics, finding my keys, driver's license, getting my bike out of hock, giving rides to my wife, I owe an especially large debt.

And finally, my wife, who spent every day and every night, who suffered through my down times, and satisfied my every desire without a single complaint. I could not have made it through without her. Rossy you were an angel in my time of need.

Here I am in the hospital about 1 day before I was released (as you can see, Yumi [Sergei's Girlfriend] is helping me to stay in good spirits):



I arrived home last night, Tuesday, August 9, 2005. I am on a fairly moderate diet of pain-killers - percoset and ibuprofin, and working towards a speedy recovery. I must wear a back brace out of bed to prevent me from leaning forward and stressing my fractures. I must wear a neck brace at all times. (Oh, and with this splint on I can still type about 100 wpm) The doctors are saying I will be able to get rid of the braces sometime between 4 and 12 weeks, depending on my recovery.

Thanks again everyone who helped me through this. I'm going to be just fine in very little time.