Ambulance Ride
One day in September 2002 I was cycling to work. I got to the High Level Bridge here in Edmonton (Alberta, not North London) and started down the hill on the multi-use trail.

Next thing I know I'm in the back of an ambulance and the paramedic is asking if I have health insurance. One quick trip to the University of Alberta Hospital later and I'm admitted to the ER - amazing how a head injury helps you jump the queue.

It seems I taco'd the front wheel of the bike on something and went over the handlebars, then skated down the hill on my face. If I hadn't been wearing a helmet I wouldn't be here now, as the doctors pointed out when they came to see me:

D1: Oh you fell off your bike?
D2: On the High Level Bridge?
D1: We treated a guy who did that last week!
D2: He was a doctor, you know.
D1: Yes, and he wasn't wearing a helmet.
D2: He died on me, on the operating table.

Way to help with the healing, guys.

Anyway, to this day I have no recollection of half an hour of my life, no witnesses came forward, and I managed to halt traffic for a good long while.

I got ribbed by my friends over in the UK ("Was it a moose? Did a beaver scare you?"), and my friends here ("Stop using your face as a brake"). For the next few days the wife had to wake me every two hours to make sure I wasn't dead, too. That was fun for all concerned...
(kiwanotree Meh, Fri 3 Sep 2004, 16:42, Reply)