Lao2stroker
Senior Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2011
- Bikes
- I have too many bikes....
In a very unfortunate turn of events, fellow rider and member of RAN, R1100R has had quite the accident on tour last week in Myanmar. PLease send him your well wishes for a speedy and full recovery as well as Im sure he'd be happy to give more specifics on exactly the care he received. I will also Ccp his updates as he sent them to me.
Many people ask about medical care and what to expect in Myanmar. A young German intern working near where Derrick went said the worst thing she had seen was a patient being ventilated with a pen tube, in a legit hospitol. She said your best bet was a snake bite, they care treat those well.
Anyway, on to the story....Day 2, leaving the high alpine forrests of Kalaw, we set off on very remote trekking trails. Our fellow member is all decked out in his trekking best:
R1000R
Bunny ears and all we set out for the day and saw children so hungry and unashamed, so innocent:
But life was good...albeit simple and antiquated they were a happy people and there was work to be done, drying the chilis:
Cooking the lunch:
And we even got invited to a village wedding ceremony, a very simple and small affair by most metrics:
The brides maids:
Like I said, an idyllic location far from everything, on a beautiful and blessed day. Until......
Notice the ledge to the right of the bike....this would be the last stop we would see R1100R.
At another ledge like that,he stopped his bike to take a photo, only to put his right foot down......onto air.....he tumbled over the edge, bike and all. Here it was....luckily he didn't have to roll too far as there was some vegetation there.
No one knowing he was there, he lay alone for maybe 10 minutes. Some youths heard him yelling and came and drug him and the bike up the slope. A bullock had also come along by the time I came back and found him, a full 15 minutes after last having seen him. He was famous for taking 100s of pictures, a real passion, and ultimately, his downfall. After assessing his injuries to be collarbone and scapula broken, we made a sling and set his shoulder. I did not suspect his lungs damaged or broken ribs. He seemed to breathe well...but as you can see from the next pic, the bullock hard with rigid suspension elicited "I THINK I'M GONNA DIE" in only 2-3 minutes....It was on the back of the bike with me from here to the road, a good 15 minutes.
The hands that rescued him:
Waiting for a light truck to take him to Taungyi, the capitol of Shan State, to a private hospitol. SOrry to say, we had experience with them last year, also a collarbone. But having been thru it all before, I had total faith and confidence in both my partner who would escort him from here and the medical care he would receive.
Heavily medicated, we said our goodbyes and sent him on his way:
And on to the next chapter of his adventure in Myanamar
Likewise, Tron and I set off into the mountains, searching the ancient monastery in the dark, 40KM to go... our cook set off way long before, having no contact with us. Where would we end up......
What follows are R1100R's emails on his condition. I will also forward him the link, I am sure he would like to fill in the details of his adventure. Please wish him your best! He can't wait to get back on and RIDE!!!!! The vrill in this one is strong!
Eric, still in hospital, hard to type with left hand. Wife just brought
me a pc. Clavicle was in 5 pieces, one nearly pierced the skin, which
had turned black and doc was worried was already necrotic ... titanium
plate and ten screws now. The (five in total) broken ribs pierced my
right lung and caused a pneumothorax; my right lung was 75% collapsed,
hence the extreme pain especially when not in a vertical position. I
have a suction tube in my chest now (inserted with a device like a 10
inch icepick) to help inflate the lung. I'll be here at least another
two days. More later when i get home and can use Outlook instread of
this broswer and the pin is not so bad. I had to be wheelchaired on and
off the plane. The operation was about 5 hours after i arrived. Morphine
at last!
and then,
As i recall, the bike (engine off) toppled over on the shoulder, which
was only a couple of feet wide. Hence no damage to the bike. But it
launched/pivoted/catapulted me head first down the embankment. i think
my feet stopped 4 feet away from the bike and my head 6 feet even
farther away, meaning 10 feet lower down since the slope was about 45
degrees. So only my upper body was injured as i smashed down on my back
from a height of ten feet or so.
I look forward to the pics when you get back home. And of course
finishing the trip when i am better.
And lastly,
I was discharged from the hospital yesterday. My lung seems to have made a complete recovery, but there will be another X-ray next week to check. 330ml of bloody fluid was pumped out of it--coincidentally, the same volume as a can of beer. I have had so many X-rays during the past week that when I was typing an Xmas email I accidentally typed Merry Xray! The shoulder is fine now but I get a backache from the ribs when I lie down, so can only sleep for half the night, but I'm lucky to be alive--if I'd collapsed both lungs, your guest would be a ghost.
My god, that last night in Yangon was torture. I was so mangled that I could not move at all when I was laid down to sleep. As a result I ended up with pressure sores on my lower back (like a quadriplegic), which healed in the hospital. In Yangon it took three men to get me out of bed by tilting up the mattress until I was nearly vertical. For US$350 for one night, at least the hotel could provide that service! My US$1300 cash was nearly gone by the time I left.
So you can see things are gonna be a long time healing for him. At least he can type, we can see that!!
Good luck and we'll see you soon. All the best from Laos!!
Many people ask about medical care and what to expect in Myanmar. A young German intern working near where Derrick went said the worst thing she had seen was a patient being ventilated with a pen tube, in a legit hospitol. She said your best bet was a snake bite, they care treat those well.
Anyway, on to the story....Day 2, leaving the high alpine forrests of Kalaw, we set off on very remote trekking trails. Our fellow member is all decked out in his trekking best:
R1000R
Bunny ears and all we set out for the day and saw children so hungry and unashamed, so innocent:
But life was good...albeit simple and antiquated they were a happy people and there was work to be done, drying the chilis:
Cooking the lunch:
And we even got invited to a village wedding ceremony, a very simple and small affair by most metrics:
The brides maids:
Like I said, an idyllic location far from everything, on a beautiful and blessed day. Until......
Notice the ledge to the right of the bike....this would be the last stop we would see R1100R.
At another ledge like that,he stopped his bike to take a photo, only to put his right foot down......onto air.....he tumbled over the edge, bike and all. Here it was....luckily he didn't have to roll too far as there was some vegetation there.
No one knowing he was there, he lay alone for maybe 10 minutes. Some youths heard him yelling and came and drug him and the bike up the slope. A bullock had also come along by the time I came back and found him, a full 15 minutes after last having seen him. He was famous for taking 100s of pictures, a real passion, and ultimately, his downfall. After assessing his injuries to be collarbone and scapula broken, we made a sling and set his shoulder. I did not suspect his lungs damaged or broken ribs. He seemed to breathe well...but as you can see from the next pic, the bullock hard with rigid suspension elicited "I THINK I'M GONNA DIE" in only 2-3 minutes....It was on the back of the bike with me from here to the road, a good 15 minutes.
The hands that rescued him:
Waiting for a light truck to take him to Taungyi, the capitol of Shan State, to a private hospitol. SOrry to say, we had experience with them last year, also a collarbone. But having been thru it all before, I had total faith and confidence in both my partner who would escort him from here and the medical care he would receive.
Heavily medicated, we said our goodbyes and sent him on his way:
And on to the next chapter of his adventure in Myanamar
Likewise, Tron and I set off into the mountains, searching the ancient monastery in the dark, 40KM to go... our cook set off way long before, having no contact with us. Where would we end up......
What follows are R1100R's emails on his condition. I will also forward him the link, I am sure he would like to fill in the details of his adventure. Please wish him your best! He can't wait to get back on and RIDE!!!!! The vrill in this one is strong!
Eric, still in hospital, hard to type with left hand. Wife just brought
me a pc. Clavicle was in 5 pieces, one nearly pierced the skin, which
had turned black and doc was worried was already necrotic ... titanium
plate and ten screws now. The (five in total) broken ribs pierced my
right lung and caused a pneumothorax; my right lung was 75% collapsed,
hence the extreme pain especially when not in a vertical position. I
have a suction tube in my chest now (inserted with a device like a 10
inch icepick) to help inflate the lung. I'll be here at least another
two days. More later when i get home and can use Outlook instread of
this broswer and the pin is not so bad. I had to be wheelchaired on and
off the plane. The operation was about 5 hours after i arrived. Morphine
at last!
and then,
As i recall, the bike (engine off) toppled over on the shoulder, which
was only a couple of feet wide. Hence no damage to the bike. But it
launched/pivoted/catapulted me head first down the embankment. i think
my feet stopped 4 feet away from the bike and my head 6 feet even
farther away, meaning 10 feet lower down since the slope was about 45
degrees. So only my upper body was injured as i smashed down on my back
from a height of ten feet or so.
I look forward to the pics when you get back home. And of course
finishing the trip when i am better.
And lastly,
I was discharged from the hospital yesterday. My lung seems to have made a complete recovery, but there will be another X-ray next week to check. 330ml of bloody fluid was pumped out of it--coincidentally, the same volume as a can of beer. I have had so many X-rays during the past week that when I was typing an Xmas email I accidentally typed Merry Xray! The shoulder is fine now but I get a backache from the ribs when I lie down, so can only sleep for half the night, but I'm lucky to be alive--if I'd collapsed both lungs, your guest would be a ghost.
My god, that last night in Yangon was torture. I was so mangled that I could not move at all when I was laid down to sleep. As a result I ended up with pressure sores on my lower back (like a quadriplegic), which healed in the hospital. In Yangon it took three men to get me out of bed by tilting up the mattress until I was nearly vertical. For US$350 for one night, at least the hotel could provide that service! My US$1300 cash was nearly gone by the time I left.
So you can see things are gonna be a long time healing for him. At least he can type, we can see that!!
Good luck and we'll see you soon. All the best from Laos!!
