OK- this one was a winner... (some of you have probably read the other thread already...)
The date was Sep. 24, 2005. I went out for the first practice of the other org's event at VIR. Short story: somebody decided to learn how to shut the door on me, on the first lap! The bad part was, when I came disconnected from the bike, the first thing I hit was the armco. The punch line is my right arm was severed above the elbow. Yes, severed. As I understand it a spectator donated a cooler with ice to get it on the helicopter. (I owe you a cooler, dude. A NICE one.) Unfortunately the surgeons couldn't save it, so I'm listing a little to the left now.
Here's the rub: a lot of people saw this- it was the first lap and the crowd hadn't thinned out yet. However, only one rider chose to follow him. Unfortunately, they neglected to get his number! To boot, the guy immediately loaded his stuff on the truck and ran.
I'd like to talk to this guy. I'd love to hear his side of it. And all kidding aside, if anyone knows whose cooler that was I'd like to thank that guy as well. Anyone have an idea?
Yes, I am asking fellow racers to throw another one under the bus. That's not intended as a threat. Truly, what I'd like to see is this guy apologizing to my wife. If I video that I could probably put it on pay per view.
Sorry for your loss. At least you can adress the issue with a sense of humor! I wasn't there, so I haven't got any answers for you.
On another subject. Did you contact the Wegman Fund?
Did- and they're a great organization. My own fault- I've been lazy getting them their paperwork.
4Hey Dennis how you doing man? I talked to you before you went out on the track. I was pretty far behind. I didn't see anything but I am glad you are OK.
Not bad- good thing I was left-handed to start with. ;D
And I do remember talking to you- I have virtually no memory of the crash but there are a few snips still there.
And I'll skip the obvious comment about you being far behind anybody.... :-X
I was also there that weekend and myself and my team all said a prayer for you.
I believe that racer is in the M.A. region and will ask around for you. I am not sure if this person will contact you, but I will see what I can turn up.
Ivan
Blue,
Sorry to hear the story of your bad day. I've no information to aid your cause, but I had a similar experience in the fall of 2004 at BHF. I was on my out lap after Friday lunch when I got hit, put down & out, then helo'd. Guy continues on around track, pulls off, packs up & leaves. My buddies search the paddock, ask everyone, & people start to put 2 and 2 together to figure out who the guy was. He turns up to watch the races on Sunday & my friends find him & bring him over to my pit (I'd been released from the hospital Sunday afternoon). He was sorry & I tried to be cool about it....But my head had been rung hard & I had no recolection of the crash. The funny thing was he tried to explain that I had looked back & come into his race line....My fault, right? But I had a beautiful tire 'smear' from his front tire on the side of my bodywork where he essentially t-boned me. Then it comes out that he ran off the inside of the turn, went straight & collected me out on the exit. (?!) I decided not to ask why he just rode off, packed up & went home w/o looking to see if I was okay. (Hell, were the red flags followed by the arriving helicopter not a clue?)
Turns out he was a street rider doing a track day, and in my biased opinion is he should have been in the slow group. (Any group but mine!)
I wish you luck finding out the info from your crash to help set your mind right.....Your experience serves as an example to me that if I witness a crash, I'll make a note on who was involved & follow it up in the pits after.
Good Luck,
Oh.....And it's not "throwing another racer under the bus". Racing is one thing, trackdays are another. Showing kindness & concern when being involved in a serious crash is the right thing to do.
I hope you find out who that guy was.
Dennis, I'm glad to see your sense of humor is still the same ;D Stephane, Chris and the rest of the Gainesville crew were all praying for you (Stephane even drank an extra beer for you every night). Everyone makes mistakes, not owning up to that is embarassing. I hope you do find the racer that caused your accident, I think he does owe it to you to at least talk. If you ever need anything (motorcycle or otherwise) give me a ring, Matt has my phone number.
While I am not a detective, nor do I play one on TV, I would look at the results of that race and start narrowing it down from there.
That should be pretty easy.
Good luck!!
QuoteWhile I am not a detective, nor do I play one on TV, I would look at the results of that race and start narrowing it down from there.
That should be pretty easy.
Good luck!!
You can tell you're not a detective.... ;)
He said it was practice!
I must not have good reading retention skills either ;D
Ok Find out who was registered that weekend and see if they break practice up into odd and even... I'm sure that could not take more than 10 or 20 hours..
Actually, mdr, that's a good idea, I think. Of course, that assumes that someone from CCS would return my effing calls!
Besides, R1, all it would take is a review of the practice times to see whose transponder was out there.
Dennis glad to see ya back, I was there that weekend but did not see the accident. Good luck in finding the person involved
Picked up my prosthetic arm yesterday- I have a special attachment waiting for that special person. ;D
QuotePicked up my prosthetic arm yesterday- I have a special attachment waiting for that special person. ;D
Glad to have you back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anybody remember the guy who ran the early Daytona Boxer cup(EARLY, as in R100 early) races with a prosthetic hand? He was an old time racer when lost it racing. He was pretty fast.
Glad too see your not letting this get you down bluedogz.
QuotePicked up my prosthetic arm yesterday
Does it make the "6 Million Dollar Man" noise? I'd pay extra for that if I had to get one. You just never know when you might have to fight Bigfoot in slow motion! ;D
No, but it's made of carbon fiber. If nothing else it looks effing cool. 8)
QuoteNo, but it's made of carbon fiber. If nothing else it looks effing cool. 8)
What does it have on the end, if you don't mind me asking? One of those clamp type things that open when you twist your arm, or a hook. I'd be careful wiping with a hook. ;)
QuoteI have a special attachment waiting for that special person. ;D
No one keyed in on this... OMFG... I can only hope that if I ever face what you've gone through that I'll have this much of a sense of humor toward it.
Truly, I guess you have to. I mean, all the pissing & moaning in the world isn't going to give you a limb back, but I guess it's just nature to think people would be angry/depressed/etc. (not that you haven't or don't go through all of that anyhow).
So here's a question... Are you thinking of ever trying to ride again?
I heard stories of a guy in the UK who lost his left arm and still RACED. He rigged up a thumb rear brake on the right hand lever, and used the right foot pedal for the clutch. Apparently the guy was pretty good too... Spectators or unfamiliar racers would think he was just an arrogant prick because it looked like he was riding with his left hand on his lap the whole time. 8)
And have you made up any good stories about it yet to tell people? "Alligator wrestling, got it bit off by a shark while surfing in Australia" etc...
There's a pretty fast guy running flat track here in Wisconsin racing w/ one arm. Now how he does it, I dunno, but all the competitors have much respect!
QuoteThere's a pretty fast guy running flat track here in Wisconsin racing w/ one arm. Now how he does it, I dunno, but all the competitors have much respect!
I wonder if that's the same guy I saw at Moroso last year? The true testament to this guy's ability is that I didn't recognize it until someone pointed it out.
Had a friend from the KC area that raced. A girl ran him over, then moved out of the street...with him unconcious under her car...promptly removing his left lower foot.
Anyway, he returned to racing. Converted his bike to RH shift, and when he raced, he put his boot on backwards...LOL!
I will definitely ride again, but racing seems unlikely. Truly, I'd love to run one more race just to do it, but I think I'm gonna get vetoed on that.
I'll probably go to the thumb or finger throttle on the left, and a big master cylinder on the right foot running all the brakes.
QuoteDoes it make the "6 Million Dollar Man" noise? I'd pay extra for that if I had to get one. You just never know when you might have to fight Bigfoot in slow motion! ;D
The interesting thing will be when I get it tattooed- the upper arm is carbon fiber, but the forearm is that annoying flesh-colored plastic. I'm debating between tattoo-like art or having it chromed to look like the bad guy in T2.
My Vote : CHROME! Normally I hate the stuff, but looking like the T2 guy would be priceless.
What... NOBODY knows who this guy is? It's getting lonely under this bus.
Yes, I'll ride again on a modified bike. That's just an issue of enough weekends and beer strung together. Racing, though, remains iffy.
Oh yeah- and as a final kick in the teeth- lost all my gear at the hospital. Leathers were cut to ribbons and discarded, helmet's destroyed, gloves were discarded as a biohazard, air jacket cut to shreds. They even took my boots apart with a screwdriver! >:(
:'( :'( :'(
Post up sizes. Maybe folks have some used stuff they'd let you have. I have an older XL Shoei and some really beat 13 boots that I keep as last-ditch spares....
Thanks for the idea- I have a lot of spares too. New leathers will be pricey but I'm ok with that since I'll use them a lot- this last set lasted over 10 years. Everything else i've got- though I''m not sure I'll trust the KBC helmet again.
Still here under the bus on my own......
QuoteStill here under the bus on my own......
Doesn't look like you'll find the info you're seeking. But I don't think you're alone. You'll always be a part of the racing family.
Dennis, Even though it was a CCS race you might post this on the WERA board,there alot of traffic ova there
Did that- no joy there either. I gues I was kinda hoping for the "Oh, you were the guy that Bob hit. His phone number is..." But then I'd like a pony for Christmas too. >:( >:( >:(
I wish I could tell you something you don't know, and sometimes I wish I could keep my big fingers still (as opposed to keeping my big mouth shut ;) )
Dude, you're gonna kill yourself losing sleep over finding out who hit you. Either that person does not want to be found, or does not know you are searching for him/her.
I know that you want an apology for your wife, and maybe some more details, but it doesn't appear that you're going to get it from the absolute source.
Feel free to tell me to STFU, but I hope you can take some consolation in the amount of apologies you receive from people who were not involved, and get on living your life instead of letting this tear you up day in and day out...
Tru nuff- still getting used to looking in the mirror.
I'm guessing that one day you'll wake up, look in the mirror and think "wow, I haven't thought about my arm in a long time...".
Hopefully that day comes along sooner rather than later.
So... Tell me about the prosthetic. Carbon fiber, but does it have a hook or some type of animated hand? How do they work? I see a guy at my local car place with a hook that works pretty well, but I have no idea how he makes the thing open/close/etc.
The arm itself is carbon fiber- there's a battery and circuit board in the forearm part, which runs the terminal device aka hand. The hand is programmable, as in, how much force does it apply, how fast does it open/close, etc. The whole shebang is held up by what looks sorta like a set of backpack straps over my shoulders, with a connecting strap between them across the shoulder blades. There's a pull switch in the connecting strap that gets pulled if i shrug my shoulders a particular way. A quick pull and release opens the hand, and a pull and hold closes it. There's also a pull switch in the elbow that locks and unlocks it.
There's two different hands that I got- one looks like a real hand and the other is a hook. Frankly, the hook is way more functional- I wear the hand one to job interviews and such but usually use the hook. If you set it up right you can make the hand fly off spontaneously- great fun on trains and airliners.
The biggest bitch is getting the thing on one-handed. Try putting your jeans on with one hand someday.
Dennis, please email me. This does not pertain to who hit you but it's important to you.
hehe... pretty cool info.
Thanks for sharing!
Dennis thanks for sharing..It helps us understand more of that type of injury & probably helps you in the healing process.Look foward to seeing you back at the track in some capacity
I'll be there some way, somehow. I'll be.... well, probably the only one-armed guy.
Still haven't found the bastard, though.
Oh, for those still in the loop... we found that special someone. Still debating how to start that conversation....
Obviously, it won't be with a handshake.
Quote from: bluedogz on February 18, 2008, 08:59:33 PM
Oh, for those still in the loop... we found that special someone. Still debating how to start that conversation....
Obviously, it won't be with a handshake.
I am glad you found that someone start that conversation like this :kicknuts:
Quote from: bluedogz on February 18, 2008, 08:59:33 PM
Oh, for those still in the loop... we found that special someone. Still debating how to start that conversation....
Obviously, it won't be with a handshake.
Dennis,
The incident you are referring to happened right in front of me before the esses from 5a through T6 on that practice day. The offender didn't pack up and leave, but he did not race that weekend (or so I was told when I found him and confronted him about the situation). I don't want to put your business all over the board, but you can email me and I'll tell you everything you want to know. Sorry I didn't respond to this thread years ago, 2005 was my first year (I only raced 4 weekends) and I found out about this board years later.
r_p_m_motorsports@yahoo.com
I hope you are doing well.