Bruiser back from hospital after bike accident!

[Bruiser]

Greetings all,

This is the first time I've had a chance to post here since the "accident".

I was T-Boned by a stupid (kiwi) woman in a 4wd in Grey Lynn on Oct 26th. She executed a U-turn while driving down College Hill from Ponsonby Rd towards the city. She was on the inside of two lanes while waiting for some space. When she got the outside lane clear she hit the gas and U-turned straight into me coming the other way up the hill - smacked me side-on on the Harley - taking me out. (One witness, who I have spoken to since, was a retired woman traffic cop).

Right leg broken (3 places), broken ribs, 3 operations, 3 titanium rods now permanently inserted, total knee re-fabrication.....so far!

It's been 8 weeks now and I've had to shut down my business (was self-employed), cancelled a 2 week Sth Island trip on the bike with our mates we do every February, with a probable further 2 to 3 months of bed rest before I am up and about. My Harley (which won "Best Custom Bike" at a show the weekend before the accident) won't be back on the road til at least March 06, with about $15k of damage. Thankfully we were both insured! She has also been charged with careless use of a vehicle causing injury.

And what did this woman do? She sent me store-bought flowers and a card in hospital - apologising for hurting me! Since then she has refused to return any calls to her cellphone or her business number even after being told exactly who was calling. Her last excuse (in October) was she had an all-day conference and wouldn't be able to call me back til after work. I have her full name, address, phone numbers, all of which have done me no real good.

Meanwhile our Xmas, holidays, our business, and any immediate plans for our future are all on hold. Such is life eh.

Please be careful out there people, and take nothing for granted!

Cheers,
Bruiser

PS, Thanks to the local GP who I'm told immediately closed down his practice and spent almost 2 hours attending to me while I lay unconscious wrapped around a wheel under a parked car after the accident. You sir, have restored my faith in human nature!

[Sniper]

Sorry to hear Bruiser. Get well soon mate.

[skelstar]

Dude, good to hear you are on the mend.

[Virago]

Jeez Bruiser, what a shocker! I wondered where you'd disappeared to...:no:

It sounds like you're over the worst, but still have a lot of healing to do. Keep us posted about your healing progress (and also that of your lovely Wideglide....). In the meantime you can always talk bikes at least!

[Calo]

I rode past the scene not long after it happened (ambulance was already there) and wondered what the hell was going on. :no:

All the best for your recovery, mate.

[skidMark]

sad to hear mate at least your still alive thats the main thing.

Is there much damage to bike?.

Get well soon aye mate.

Cheers: MA

[Goblin]

So sorry to hear of your misfortune, that has to hurt in all areas of life...:weep: I feel your pain. Old bugga that hit me didn't even say sorry:mad:. Told me I shouldn't have been on a bike.
Good to hear the GP had a heart and helped you to survive.
The Random Riders are a cool bunch of people to ride with, did their inaugrual Poker Run and had a blast!:2thumbsup Looking foward to the next.
All the best with the healing process and best wishes to you and your family for the new year.

[froggyfrenchman]

Its great to hear that youre on the mend, but that is some real shitty luck right there! You could get her to start talkn to you by getting some biker mates to ride round to her house, stop and have a smoke on the footpath. ocasionally pointing up the driveway and shaking heads. Ill bet she awnsers any phone that rings straight after seeing that

[Bruiser]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. One byproduct of all this has been 2 months to think about, dream about and contemplate some very nasty scenarios involving that woman lol.

A bunch of guys from the Waikato Random Riders came up to see me (on their harleys) in hospital the weekend after the accident and gave me a signed a letter to make me feel better. The following weekend during a Radom Riders cruise around the East Coast one of these guys, Kels, was killed just south of Whakatane at a railway crossing. Kels was the same age as me, leaves a wife and 3 boys and a business in Taupo. He will be remembered by everybody at Random Riders.

From that day forward I have refused to take delivery of an message even remotely resembling self-pity!

Regards,
Bruiser

[crashe]

Good to see you back on the KB site again...

[StoneChucker]

Welcome Home Bruiser, not sure if you've read any of what happened to me, but I know what you must feel like, and I know what you mean about thoughtless, insensitive drivers! It really grinds my bones when I think about those drivers, and what life would be like if they had just used common sense and driven like they're supposed to. However, thats not often, as whats done is done.

I hope your recovery goes well, it's a long process. After 6 months, I'm still really weak, not able to bend over properly, lie down in certain ways, etc... These careless drivers don't think/realise/care about how much they actually change your life, whether you have a permanent injury or not.

I also hope you're able to get your business back up and running to the level (or better) that it used to be when you're feeling able. You're probably also now dealing with ACC. They are a blessing (we have nothing like that in SA), but believe me they can also be a curse. Don't be afraid to fight for what you believe you are entitled to. I probably shouldnt go into it, but I will say, if your case manager is completely inept/inadequate, they are not infallable. (My CURRENT case manager is absolutely brilliant, so your experience unfortunately will vary).

Hang in there, and I'm looking forward to seeing you post that you're back on the road again soon.

Regards,
David.

[Vagabond]

At least your'e on the mend, get well soon and back on two wheels.

PS all the best for 2006

[Badcat]

PS, Thanks to the local GP who I'm told immediately closed down his practice and spent almost 2 hours attending to me while I lay unconscious wrapped around a wheel under a parked car after the accident. You sir, have restored my faith in human nature!

hey bruiser, sorry to hear of your accident, glad you're still with us though!
the doctor wasn't dr wong was it?
he's my GP on college hill.
k

[ajturbo]

From that day forward I have refused to take delivery of an message even remotely resembling self-pity!

Regards,
Bruiser

good one matey!!!

i got a txt last night, from a good friend who was feeling a bit down and sorry for themselves, things not going smoothly, sure was a bummer, but then i reminded them that at least they had that specical (sp?) someone, even if they were pissing them off!!..

self pity?
get over it!.. move on,

there is always someone that YOU know worse off than yourself!!!
:eyepoke::shake:

[Colapop]

You've got a good amount of time to plan your next outstanding, show stopping custom job for your ride, B.

[Pixie]

SUE HER ARSE!!
sorry i forgot we live in the land of no responsibility

[sunhuntin]

jeez, bruise. glad to hear you lived to tell you tale. and as colapop said, heaps of time to plan the new design!

i had someone do the same to me. got hit by a car. no insurance for either of us. cops didnt charge [she showed "remorse" and said shed pay everything] last we heard from her was her partner abusing dad saying we wont get a cent from them. luckily i wasnt overly injured, just royally pissed off.

mend quick, dude.

[ducatilover]

fucken hell thats a bit rough! best wishes on your recovery mate. hope you get back on yer bike

[boomer]

glad to see your up and about :niceone: Get well and best wishes for teh future

[madboy]

Sorry to hear of the bin, but with your attitude it sounds like it'll all turn out okay.

[Hitcher]

Bruiser, I hope your recovery goes well.

[DEATH_INC.]

Shit man, that sux! Makes my few scratches feel miniscule (though I'm a bit jealous of yer Titanium ) All the best and get better quick eh!
Don't worry about the driver,they're always full of remorse at the time but then they get over it, and yer nothing but an inconvenience after that. Maybe send her some photo's of yer leg etc....but don't hold yer breath....

[Bruiser]

Hi Bruiser... didnt know it was a KB'er that was invoved in that crash.
Hope your recovery goes well. Hate to burst the GP's bubble but you were only on scene for 15 minutes at the most, and he got politely "asked" to move to one side by the Advanced Paramedic on his arrival.
Was a nice bike for a Harley too.

Hi Medic,
Thanks for the correction. And it "is" a nice harley, heh heh. One of the biggest bonuses was someone finding my $2,500 bracelet at the site, and the cops returning it to me in hospital.

Also lost my nice watch, as well as the cash contents of my wallet at the accident site. And a brand new Shoei Fliptop helmet (4 days old) and obviously now ruined.

So now all I have to do is get the $3,500 hearing aid replaced by the hospital (who lost it and have agreed to replace), get all that custom work repaired and get well enough to pick it up off the stand. Then watch out!

All in all a very expensive accident. Which is one of the issues I wanted to discuss with the woman who hit me. I guess she worked out that which is why she is avoiding me like the plague lol

Cheers,
Bruiser

[Lou Girardin]

Are you insured? If so, let them chase the cow.

[Bruiser]

Are you insured? If so, let them chase the cow.


The harley was fully insured, as was her 4WD. Unfortunately only the vehicles involved were insured. The $15,000 damage to my harley is covered, and both the bike and I will be up and on the road about the same time, which should see me riding it about March 2006 :-(

I haven't had contents insurance in over 30 years so am well ahead of that game, but it still hurts when it hits. Its the risk you take. Would be nice to be able to cheaply recover my non-vehicle losses and expenses from the idiot woman, (Over $10,000 in lost or damaged personal belongings, and over $25,000 so far in lost income) but, as someone else previously stated, this is NZ and those wonderful ACC laws mean either I pay to sue her privately, or I pay - either way, game over, I lose.

Sigh

Bruiser

[Brett]

You lost the cash contents of your wallet??? I take this as meaning it was uplifted and stolen from you? If that is the case, that makes me friggen sick. That some asshole sees fit to steel from someone seriously injured.

Sucks to hear bout that dude killed after visiting you, just goes to show death can be so close.

Glad to hear you are on the mend, good luck!

[Biff]

Holly shiite mate. I'm glad you're still here to tell the story. The very best of luck with your recovery.

[oldrider]

Sad to hear of your bin but nice your perkin up again.
My young nephew had a similar attack on him in Auckland.
Car failed to stop at a compulsory stop, smashed him to bits.
The cops booked him for no headlight! (on a hard wired cruiser)
based on the evidence of the errant cage driver!!!!! :angry2:
It's taken me a long time to get over that injustice but he has so I guess I can too. :shutup: Stay well, Cheers John.

[RiderInBlack]

Gee that really makes me feel like taking an early morning pass somewhere (where did you say she live). Think my muffler might be loose too:innocent: I pretty sure there is good burnout pad close to there to. It probably a good poker run route too.

Dam she is lucky that us bikers are not as bad as we make out.

Sad to hear about the Wide Glide (my mate Pilgrim loves his one), but they do repair a lot easier than bike with heaps of plastic shite on them.

Glad to hear you'll healing mate. Hope to see you out on the road again sometime:niceone:

Doug and "Roxanne"

[Bruiser]

You lost the cash contents of your wallet??? I take this as meaning it was uplifted and stolen from you? If that is the case, that makes me friggen sick. That some asshole sees fit to steel from someone seriously injured.

Sucks to hear bout that dude killed after visiting you, just goes to show death can be so close.

Glad to hear you are on the mend, good luck!

Woke up in hospital day after and did the limb-check thing, then the bling-check thing, as you do lol. Thats when I found all the cash missing from my wallet. I have a vague recollection of someone in the ambulance asking for cash, and me looking for my wallet, but nothing more, and so who knows!

Perhaps someone thought their need was greater eh.

Cheers,
Bruiser

[Virago]

Hi Bruiser,

How's the healing progressing? Hope you are still making good progress day by day.

[Bruiser]

Hi everybody,
Thanks to all who have made the last 9 months bearable with your emails, comments here and to those who also wandered over to the Random Riders (http://randomriders.org.nz/forum/)website and did the same.

I am 8 weeks into a 12 week physio course paid for by ACC. I put in an hour two days a week at the gym, and another 30 minutes water-walking downstairs in the pool. This and time has improved my leg to the point I am mobile, flexible and although still a little weak, at the point of climbing on my Harley again. The doctors tell me I'll have the pins and needles in my right leg for the rest of my life. Ahh well, I'm luckier than many who have had accidents this bad, so not complaining.

The final payout for repairing the bike cost her insurance a few pennies shy of $19,000, including air-brush work. I've takent the opportunity to have the motor totally freshened and worked on by my mate and harley magician, Wally at Wally's HD's (http://wallyshd.co.nz)in Tokoroa. We've put KB 9.5:1 hig comp pistons in, Crane EV27 cam, Mikuni K42 carb, free breathing kit and Wally had done alot of work to the heads to clean them up. Should be wicked down low compared to before... gotta have something to show for all this eh!

Finally afer nine months the Harley was started yesterday and today Wally will be taking it out for its first run-in ride. As he's in Tokoroa and I'm in Auckand I'll have to wait for his call to find out how it went, but he's only running her in to no more than 80 kph so it will be a slow trip for him.

I have a few pics they took yesterday so will attatch them to this post.

Costs of this accident.
For those who are either uninsured or self employed, please read the following and make sure you protect yourself as much as possible or you'll be in the same boat.

Immediately after the accident it was realised that returning to an upstairs office was impossible, and returning to work at all for a few months was not going to happen. So friends boxed up everything, the landlord advised of our moving out, and the company was put into recess. As I was self-employed and hadn't had 12 months evidence due to it being a newly registed company, acc baulked at paying 80% of my income and instead quoted me chapter and verse of the statute (a word they love to use as a weapon). My income therefore over the last 9 months reduced from pre-accident net of over $1,000 wk to acc payment of $247 pw.

Over nine months therefore I have lost something like $28,000 in personal income and my website company (http://webexpress.co.nz)has lost about $65,000 in lost income due to my inability to open the doors. None of this is recoverable off the woman who hit me due to our ACC laws.

Oh, and while we're on the subject of her.... after avoiding being served with her summonses for careless use causing injury she finally appeared in court 6 months after the accident and pleaded not guilty. This after writing me a note and delivering it to the hospital reception with a bunch of flowers the day of the accident. The note said" Bruce, sorry for hurting you and I pray you get well soon".

Anyway she got back to court last month and pleaded guilty, and last week the judge adjourned the sentencing so he can read a victim impact statement and reparation report the courts have prepared after talking with me. Probation Service recommendation in their report stated they recommended she be required to pay me reparation of $10,000.

So who knows what she'll get sentenced to or if the judge will award "reparation" but he is now informed of my losses and costs so I'm hopefull.

So, there's the story. ACC have a self-employed policy where you can buy additional income protection regardless of how much levy you pay. I only found this out after my accident unfortuntaly.

Once again thanks for all your kind words and advice during my recovery, I feel blessed to be part of a community that falls in behind its' members when they have been hurt.

Hope you enjoy the pics of the "new" harley. As some will know I spent alot of time here asking questions about airbrush artists and finally found the guy who did artwork on another Harley in the Waikato that is our personal favourite. He agreed to do ours and at an extremely good price!The airbrush work is totally different now The artist is Brad Walters (http://custompaint.co.nz) of Whangarei. and we are stoked with his interpretation of a WW2 fighter scene accross the bike, but you be the judge.

Apologies for the novel but I'm now able to update on most of the issues at one go and thought it was a good opportunity to do so.

Regards,
Bruiser

[crashe]

Bruiser - welcome back to riding......
yep 9 months is a long time, but the main thing is that you can still ride.

Good luck with the final outcome with the judge's decision. Let us know how that all went.
Great pics of the bike, good to see it back on the road again.


Question: Is the waterwalking really helping your leg?
I came off my bike 5 month (16 Feb 2006) and damaged my knee
I can now bend it but still cant kneel on it.... and when riding long distances like I went up to Russell last weekend on the way back the knee was giving me hell... so I was wondering if waterwalking would help my knee out?
I have used up all my physio sessions bar 1 in another week.

[Goblin]

Great to see you back in action! Bummer about the huge loss and fucked up attitude of the woman who hit you. I hope the judge will see the light and award you reparation, even though it would only be a tiny percentage of your loss.

The bike is looking great!! You wont be hard to find at the Random Riders Poker Run. I will be sure to come and say gidday:yes:

All the best to you in your recovery.

[paturoa]

.....and we are stoked with his interpretation of a WW2 fighter scene accross the bike, but you be the judge.....

cant tell from your pics - got any close ups?

when do you think you'll be back on the bike?

[Bruiser]

Bruiser - welcome back to riding......

Question: Is the waterwalking really helping your leg?
I came off my bike 5 month (16 Feb 2006) and damaged my knee
I can now bend it but still cant kneel on it.... and when riding long distances like I went up to Russell last weekend on the way back the knee was giving me hell... so I was wondering if waterwalking would help my knee out?
I have used up all my physio sessions bar 1 in another week.

Thanks crashe. As I haven't pushed my leg too hard, and am yet to throw it over my bike after the accident, I can only tell you about the improvement water-walking has made to my leg off the bike. The fact is water-walking is low-pain, I follow it up with a couple of lengths of freestyle with full kicking just to exercise the leg. Out of the pool afterwards the leg knows its been pushed abit, but I am positive the results have been worthwhile. Maybe not as great as an hour's exercise but wothwhile all the same.

I don't regret the 30 mins twice a week and if it gets me stronger quicker then that works for me.

Hope this helps.

Feel free to call me if you want to chat about it - (09) 813 6622.

Cheers,
Bruiser

[Vagabond]

Good to hear your'e on the mend, time does help, although I still get aches and pains, and it's been two years since I broke my back. Them plates and screws are staying put as i don't wanna have them opening me up again!

Wish you a speedy recovery mate!

[Bruiser]

cant tell from your pics - got any close ups?

when do you think you'll be back on the bike?

I'll be going down next sunday 6th Aug to Tokoroa and riding it back. Will be sharing the ride with my son in law as a back-up rider just in case - he's insured to ride it as well.

I have attached some pics Wally took of the metalwear before he put the bike back together.

Cheers,
Bruiser

[BeakerRAT]

Bloody heck Bruce, I had no idea. Total shocker! We've been on a few rides together with Dayne and the crew. Sorry to hear about the ordeal you've had to go thru. Good to hear you are on the mend and going to be back out there soon on that lovely bike.

Onwards and upwards mate,

Roy

[Bruiser]

Bloody heck Bruce, I had no idea. Total shocker! We've been on a few rides together with Dayne and the crew. Sorry to hear about the ordeal you've had to go thru. Good to hear you are on the mend and going to be back out there soon on that lovely bike.

Onwards and upwards mate,

Roy

Great to hear from you. Dane has dropped in and said hi, and I'm looking forward to another hit-out around the kaukapkapa loop with you all soon.

Feel free to drop in for a coffee, especially if you're 2-wheeling!

Cheers,
Bruiser

[Bruiser]

Good to hear your'e on the mend, time does help, although I still get aches and pains, and it's been two years since I broke my back. Them plates and screws are staying put as i don't wanna have them opening me up again!

Wish you a speedy recovery mate!

I was told that if I pushed my leg too hard before the bones healed around the titanium rods I might have to have them replaced. This apparently calls for opening up the leg (top and bottom) pulling out the old, broken, rods and inserting new ones. On top of this is the need to get through the healing process all over again.

After nine months I'm pushing as hard as I believe I can to get thel leg fixed, but am always conscious of the risks. I NEVER want to do this again.

Cheers,
Bruiser

[Harry33]

Mate sorry to here about your accident...Nice bike and great tank :rockon:

[crashe]

Thanks crashe. As I haven't pushed my leg too hard, and am yet to throw it over my bike after the accident, I can only tell you about the improvement water-walking has made to my leg off the bike. The fact is water-walking is low-pain, I follow it up with a couple of lengths of freestyle with full kicking just to exercise the leg. Out of the pool afterwards the leg knows its been pushed abit, but I am positive the results have been worthwhile. Maybe not as great as an hour's exercise but wothwhile all the same.

I don't regret the 30 mins twice a week and if it gets me stronger quicker then that works for me.

Hope this helps.

Feel free to call me if you want to chat about it -.

Cheers,
Bruiser

Cheers will do......

[R6_kid]

love the paintwork on the tank man.

[Bruiser]

love the paintwork on the tank man.

We had 5 quotes for the same theme... prices were almost too close for the Auckland quotes to be a coincidence.... one was almost twice the price of those... and the guy we chose was about half of the others....

He did another bike that is our favourite airbrush work by far, so we're delighted to get him to do it and equally happy with his work!

Bruiser

[Warr]

...............
So, there's the story. ACC have a self-employed policy where you can buy additional income protection regardless of how much levy you pay. I only found this out after my accident unfortuntaly.

Bruiser
Hi there, sure sounds like a big chunk to miss out from working and being screwed but the ACC.
What is this "Additional Income Protection" is it something you can nominate to have with ACC?

[Bruiser]

Hi there, sure sounds like a big chunk to miss out from working and being screwed but the ACC.
What is this "Additional Income Protection" is it something you can nominate to have with ACC?

ACC have an optional extra cover for employers/self-employed where you pay more than the standard levy and get additional cover.

Wish I'd known - I'd be about $28k better off right now!

Bruiser

[Zapf]

ACC have an optional extra cover for employers/self-employed where you pay more than the standard levy and get additional cover.

Wish I'd known - I'd be about $28k better off right now!

Bruiser

The question then is if they are going to ask that you have to prove that you'll have made that $28k. (fairly concerned as I am self employed as well)

[Bruiser]

The question then is if they are going to ask that you have to prove that you'll have made that $28k. (fairly concerned as I am self employed as well)

And the answer is no you have to prove nothing. If you take out this extra cover with ACC it is a fixed contract which requires no proof of income. Treat it like any other commercial income protection cover.

Cheers,
Bruiser

[Warr]

Thanks for the info Bruiser.
I am self employed and are in my 3rd year of trading, so are paying tax and all that.. Among with ACC levies hopefully based on my type of industry.
Have been on the phone to ACC and they said I'd be covered at the 80% level in the event of an accident. When I asked about some extra cover laldy said there was something called cover+ where you nominated a cover amount and were paid 100% at that rate. I havent checked out the web site as to what that costs, but to know I'm covered at the 80% level os ok as far as I can see. Unless you think of something that I havent :)

[terbang]

Why is it that it is allways a woman in a 4 wheel drive involved in these sort of things. Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that its some perfectly manicured woman in a 4WD that seems to be the one to tailgate you?

[Goblin]

Why is it that it is allways a woman in a 4 wheel drive involved in these sort of things. Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that its some perfectly manicured woman in a 4WD that seems to be the one to tailgate you?
Thats because they think their shit doesn't stink and that they are above everyone! Especially the dirty biker people!

[Bruiser]

Hi all,

The bike finally arrived (Wally rode it up from Tokoroa) and I took it out for my first ride in 10 months a couple of weeks later, just local, about 70k's and taking it very easy.

A mate (on his Heritage softail) and I then had a hit-out a few weeks ago. Coming out of a sideroad onto TeAtatu Rd I missed the gap in traffic and stupidly lost traction on putting the feet down. Pushed out my bad (still limping) right leg and it collapsed under the bike and I. We were at standstill by then but I couldn't help the harley going over, although I did have the presence of mind to push the bars (14" apes) around to square so they took the weight of the bike as it fell over onto my right leg - ouch!

Chris lifted the bike so I could get my right leg out from under the bike and we put it back on the stand. A quick check shows only a couple of almost invisible scratches on the new V&H bigshots bottom pipe. The right handlebar saved the paint and chrome - whew!

Having said that, I did manage to sprain my right ankle and pop a tendon, which put me back on crutches for four weeks :-(

Oh, and the chick who hit me finally had her day in court, convicted, $230 court costs and ordered to pay $3,000 to me as reparation. Her lawyer and I had already negotiated this one (she only had $4k in the bank so it was about the best I could hope for) and the judge rubber stamped the deal. She wasn't fined because the agreement was that any fine came out of the 3 grand and the judge thought my need was greater than Helen's - so, all to me. She has since paid this into the court and I will recieve it in a week or two.

Anyway I've got my website design/hosting business (http://webexpress.co.nz) back up and running from a spare room at home, and am putting in a few hours a day (anybody need a quality low-cost site? hehehe) and although still limping I'm looking forward to getting back on the bike bloody soon!

Cheers to all who have kept my spirits up with your posts of advice and good wishes here.

[sunhuntin]

good to hear she got fined...might think twice next time.
loving the paint too...looks good!

hopefully you wont be on crutches too long this time!

[paturoa]

good that u didnt scratch the tank paint job - thats a stunner!

[Macktheknife]

Good save on that awesome paint job Bruiser! Bummer about the fall though. Hope you are doing ok soon.
Cheers
Mack

[Colapop]

I'm actually surprised that you'll get the money. Maybe I'm a cynic but 9 times out of 10 the f*cking loser who gets convicted pays the 'reparation' at $5 a week and even then there's the courts money that gets paid first so it's unlikely you ever get to see the money (can you tell I've been/am on the receiving end...) Excellent, you've done well to see it through. A few more weeks won't hurt too much eh?

[Bruiser]

Good save on that awesome paint job Bruiser! Bummer about the fall though. Hope you are doing ok soon.
Cheers
Mack

Thanks Mack,

Yeah it almost makes me feel a bit better about being so bloody stupid as to take it out when obviously my leg wasn't up to it.

I am off crutches now for a couple of weeks and about where I was before the fall. Should be able to get back on the bike in a few more weeks but this time I have had various threats from the war department and a business partner against doing so until I can run around the block, and its a bloody big block! lol

Still, that next ride will be so sweet, and I will never take for granted having the harley in the garage and a body up to riding it as and when I want!

Cheers,
Bruiser

[Bruiser]

I'm actually surprised that you'll get the money. Maybe I'm a cynic but 9 times out of 10 the f*cking loser who gets convicted pays the 'reparation' at $5 a week and even then there's the courts money that gets paid first so it's unlikely you ever get to see the money (can you tell I've been/am on the receiving end...) Excellent, you've done well to see it through. A few more weeks won't hurt too much eh?

The court assures me they have been paid the whole $3k plus court costs and I can expect a cheque anytime soon. I made sure in my report to the court that this was already agreed, and her lawyer agreed. I'm still pissed about it only being 3k but its better than a boot in the arse and I can sure do with it after 11 months of $247 a week from acc!

Thanks christ I have an understanding and supportive lady. Taking her to Rarontonga in December to say thankyou.....of course the fact we're going with a fishing mate and his wife and will be doing a bit of gamefishing is purely coincidental ;-)

Cheers,
Brusier

[Bruiser]

After 4 stays in hospital with infections in my bad leg. The one involved a 2 week stay at North Shore hospital to have the infection operated on again, with a second op to have the titanium rod pulled out of the right tibia. It turns out that the rod was the cause of the constant infections from the get-go. It isn't going to be replaced!

I'm now back home again and on crutches and the leg looks it will finally be free of infection. Now got an IV in my arm which is ported into an artery just above the heart, and a portable pump feeds antibiotics into me 24/7 for the next 6 weeks to cure the last of the infection. Heres hoping!

So although not quite out of the woods yet, after over 2 yrs 3 mths since the accident it is surely time to start looking forward to getting some serious riding in again.

While I've been recovering it occured to me that I should give something back to the biking community (which also gave me something to do to while away the recovery), so with a mate we set up a website to help fellow bikers in trouble. It is early days but we hope that it succeds and is useful. The details are in my signature at the bottom of this post.

We decided not to re-open the office and instead have set up a small home-office which will see me out. Over the 2+years we are down about $125k in income, with a loss of enjoyment which you can't put a price on, however we treasure what we have, and are hopeful that the worst is now over. Once the antibiotic pump is gone and the leg repairs heal from the last infection and operations we are looking forward to getting back out on the Harley and making up for lost time.

The promised written apology from the woman who hit me never arrived, but having said that we've decided to let it go and just get on with our lives.

Thanks to all of you who have kept in touch, and who've offered your support during the recovery. You KB folk are without doubt responsible for keeping our spirits high over what has been a very trying period in our lives.

We are eternally grateful!

The coffee is always on for any KB'er passing by our home in West Akl. Just PM me for details.

Regards,
Bruiser and Marsha

[Colapop]

Good site man. Keep that recovery going.

[Winter]

Oh my!

Bruce, I've just conncted the dots! I knew your name looked familar.

I spoke with you way back in 2006. We spoke of things which shall remain unmentioned but involve lawsuits with NZ's favourite online auction sites.

My Last name is Lamb ;)


Anyway, Awesome to hear your getting up and getting on! Its the only way to go. - Forwards.

I'm picking up a new bike tomorrow,which wil see me riding for the first time since my off in November 07. The doctors have said my bones are finally up to it!

All the best mate!

[crashe]

Wow you have been throu it all....

Good luck with your recovery......


Yep it sure does take time for injuries to heal.......
Im back working on my knee injury after my accident in Feb 2006



PS: Saw your bike in at Henderson bike shop a wee while back......
what a awesome paint job.....

[trump-lady]

Hi Bruiser,
You dont know me or I you. I have never seen your thread before but read it as you do.... anyways I am moved by your posts and your love for bikes and positivity. You are a reminder to me that life is good and with a positive attitude, good friends and family anything can be overcome. I clicked on your link to your website and after reading a few threads I joined immediately. I think your site is a wonderful idea, something positive arising from such a horrible state of affairs. While kiwi biker is wonderful it doesnt offer purely what you do and although the idea is here and support theres to much "other stuff", to much stuff on many topics and is overly moderated. I commend you and cant wait to be an active member :)

[FROSTY]

Hey Bruiser. Seems we maybee almost neighbors.