neurotwitch

wear a helmet. and don’t smoke

Time: about 6:00 am Friday
Place: on the road to work at Dunkin’ Donuts
Who: Kate, on her bike
What: creamed by an asshole driver
Prognosis: Looks worse than it is—she’s okay.

Kate was riding her bike to work Friday morning when some idiot driver failed to check to see if all was clear before he made a left turn. Creaming Kate. Needless to say, she wasn’t in “time to make the donuts.”

There were witnesses who called an ambulance, and she was taken to the local ER (I forget the name of the hospital in Natick, MA). The police notified Maureen and Jeff, bringing her bike home. Maureen said the bike wasn’t damaged too much. They rushed to the hospital and found that Kate was already CAT-scanned and stitched up. She suffered a concussion, a cut, and a helluva black eye and a few other abrasions. They kept her at the hospital for a few hours and sent her home. Her boss took her off the schedule so she would have time to mend a little—she’s going to try it again on Monday.

She was not wearing her helmet. She was riding her bike to work because she’s not allowed to drive the family car unless she quits smoking. So Stanley calls this incident: “The unintended consequences of nicotine addiction.”

Maureen noticed her glasses were missing. Kate has a long history of losing her glasses and they’re quite expensive, so Maureen went back to the scene of the crime and found them. Though they were bent every which way, unfortunately. So Kate had to get yet another new pair.

Don’t know yet if the driver got a ticket or what as they don’t have the police report yet—I remember when I had my accident that the police report took three or four days to be ready. Maureen said the guy who hit her didn’t even check to find out if she’s okay, which bothers her a lot. Probably he’s staying as far away as possible because he’s figuring his next contact over the accident, besides his own insurance company, will be from a personal injury attorney.

Below are photos of Kate now—click to enlarge the image. That black eye is going to be even more dramatic when it starts turning those lovely shades of brown-yellow, bloody blue ... and she’ll have a dandy scar to remind her that a helmet would’ve spared her all this. Ah, the common sense of 18-year-olds—makes me wonder how any of us survived our teen years. I hope that driver gets nailed big time—how self-absorbed do you have to be to not see a person on a bike?

Poor Kate. I hope she recovers quickly. This is too hard a way to learn a lesson.

1. Hi-

   I am a friend and the co-artist- to-be of Candy Held’s at the Slater Mill show coming up.  Hope to see you there, and thanks for mentioning the show in your blog!

   A comment on your daughter’s accident- I can truly sympathize with all of that and then some.  My own 23 year old daughter was hit head-on through absolutely no fault of her own by a local drunk driver last December 1 and is pretty much okay now but still dealing with the consequenses.  (sp? on that?). She had two collapsed lungs, broke and dislocated all of the toes in her right foot, had a nasty abrasion from her seat belt and did some as yet undetermined damage to her knees when the engine ended up in the driver’s compartment. she spent a week in the hospital and then went back a week or so later for surgery on her foot.  How strange that I was just re-living the entire nightmare only today.  My anger is that this was this person’s THIRD accident in less than a month in which the drunk driver totaled out at least 4 cars —- 3 in the accident my daughter was involved in alone.  Jillian is basically okay so we ARE one of the lucky ones, but the consequenses of this will follow her all of her life in aches and pains, and arthritis in her knees and foot. 

   I am glad Kate is going to be fine and hope to meet you at our opening on the 29th. 

   Susan Stone

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  06/18  at  10:55 PM

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