A couple years ago, my son fell to the ground while we were going with my family on the walk. My father asked him if he caught a hare. A few minutes later, my wife whispered to my ear, did we really see a hare, because she missed it. So apparently this Polish phrase is not as widely known as I thought. Anyway, here is the story of the hare I met and oh boy, it had sharp teeth.

Joy of bike

In the last years, I rediscovered the joy of riding a bike. I used to ride a lot, mostly at the asphalt roads between small cities and villages around my hometown. It’s good for health and nice opportunity to visit new places. It’s very hard to get such an experience in a big city though. My trekking bike had to make room for a mountain bike that works better with the uneven surface of the forest trails. While cruising through the hilly area of Tricity Landscape Park I spotted a sign that advertised single tracks for downhill. The temptation to give it a try was with me on every ride I had since then.

First, I bought a full face helmet (the best decision ever made). I found the information about the tracks and picked the easiest one to try. On one Thursday after work I grabbed my helmet and a bike. First, I found the bottom end of the tracks. After a long, uphill ride, I stopped on the starting spot on the top of the hill. I located the entrance to the one that I wanted to try and rolled down. I kept my speed under control and a couple of tight corners later, I was again on the bottom of the hill.

Just one ride

I came here with an idea to have one ride and cruise home. I enjoyed my very first ride but it was very short. No way I spent 20 minutes getting there just for 2 minutes of fun.

I climbed the top of the hill again. After a quick glimpse at the map, I found another easy track. This time, I kept my braking less aggressive which gave me a solid speed on the bottom of the hill. That was even more fun! I was approaching the end of the track, it was no longer steep but still covered with obstacles. I climbed a wooden structure and rolled down. I was caught off guard for what was coming next: two small bumps next to each other. At low speed, that could be a nice pump track-style feature. At higher speed, it could be a quick jump. I had less than a second to decide.

I never trained for jumps, no way I was going to speed up. I was not fully aware how fast I’m going because I wasn’t braking either. What I didn’t know is my speed was just perfect … to crash somewhere in between of the bumps.

The crash

I remember hitting the ground with the right side of my body. I hit with my shoulder and then with my head. I always wondered what happens to glasses in a situation like that, would they hurt my eyes? Not in this case, they just fell forward off my face. I quickly grabbed my glasses, my bike, and moved off the track because I didn’t know if there is anyone riding behind me. I wouldn’t want them to collide with me. I did a quick damage control, moved my arms and hands up and down. I figure that would be a good test to check if there are any broken bones in me. All good, fully operational. I started to think in the worst case I need to buy new glasses.

I decided it’s enough for today and started pushing my bike. I was still in the woods. A couple of steps later I saw black dots in front of my eyes. They quickly covered all my field of vision. I sighed. Great, so now I’m blind. I dropped my bike to the ground and sat on the grass. After a minute or two I noticed the black dots reverse their dance. I could see again so after a short break I grabbed my bike and started pushing it. Shortly after, I lost my sight again. Fortunately, it came back soon as well. A couple of cycles like that later I was sitting close to the road. I took a longer break there.

Break?

I started looking for the damage one more time. My leg was bleeding, my arm and back was aching. I noticed that my right shoulder looks different than my left shoulder. I was pretty sure there was some symmetry in them before. Not anymore. Maybe I will need to see a doctor after all. I wanted to rest a bit before I decided what to do next. Suddenly, something weird happened to my right hand. I lost control over my fingers. My thumb moved in some weird direction and stuck. Other fingers were just stiff. I used my left hand to close my right hand in a fist. Just in case, if it was going to stay that way I wanted it to look more natural.

That was the moment I realized there is no way I will go back home myself. I needed help. I called the emergency line and they dispatched an ambulance for me. The medics quickly assessed that my collarbone is broken and they took me to the closest hospital. I called my wife to tell her what happened and that I leave my bike behind me. My glasses were just fine.

Hospital

So it was Thursday evening. They took a bunch x-rays of me and we waited for the doctor to tell if I needed a surgery. Apparently, in simple cases, you can just fix the arm so it does not move too much and wait a couple of weeks. However, when the doctor took a look he said that it will be an interesting case for the young doctors that will come the next day. Surgery it is then. Good news is I got back control over my right hand. Yay!

They asked me if I want to go home or wait in the hospital. I was scheduled for patching up on Friday morning. I decided to spend that night at home. My wife and son grabbed me from the hospital. I arrived the next day in early morning hours. Around noon, they told me to start preparing for the surgery. I washed myself (not so easy with just one hand) as they told me to be ready in 15 minutes. Two hours later the doctor visited me and said there are technical issues: they don’t have all the parts and they will slice me only on Monday.

I had to stay in the hospital over the weekend because otherwise that would no longer be a sudden case. I would be kicked out from the queue and rescheduled to who knows when. That time was surprisingly pain free. I really appreciated that I did not hurt my legs. I was one of the few with the upper body issue. Most of my fellow patients were stuck to the beds and it was no good.

Surgery

On Monday I was woken up around 6 AM. In the first 15 minutes they tried really hard to find a good spot for the IV. My right arm was the surgery subject (no go), and the left arm was full of bruises from earlier treatments. They even summoned an IV specialist and they said they have a hard time because I’m “like this”. Sorry, I am responsible for the right side. What happened to my left arm is all on you fellows.

The next thing I remember was waking up to the conversation of the medical staff. The first words I heard: “those stupid IT guys”. Not sure if the computer is just broken or they have beef against IT folks on bikes. I didn’t ask.

Later that day, I learned that my arm is now equipped with a titan plate and a couple of screws. They are big enough to annoy me long term so doctors will need to cut me again in a couple of months to remove them.

Back home

The helmet saved me from any head injuries. Problems with sight occurred only in the hour after the accident and back to normal. The surgery was successful with no complications. I’m already looking forward to jump back on the bike in a couple of months. I will probably focus on some basics of control before I go back to the single tracks. What’s certain is that I will release the hare I caught only after my collarbone is healed.