Testimonials / Letters - Letter 81Hi Draggin Jeans While negotiating a right-hand bend on my Piaggio X9 250cc Maxi Scooter I made a misjudgement and ran off the sealed road onto a narrow strip of loose gravel and hoped that I could regain control but was unable to do so because, to the left of the gravel, there was a steep bank which I then was travelling along and down at the same time. I could not tell you what happened next except that I could hear a rushing of air and shortly afterwards I parted company with my machine which ended up on its right-hand side with a fair amount of damage to the fairing and other plastic components. I considered myself fortunate that the bike did not end up on top of me and I was also pleased that three other riders in our riding group gave me assistance, got me to hospital and let the other riders ahead of us know what had happened. In the process of the accident, before my landing, I apparently did a few rolls through the air and sustained a grazed left knee although without any damage to the jeans material (except towards the back of the leg) the Kevlar in the left knee area only shows signs of blood staining and although the wound to that knee was much less severe it still took several dressing sessions before it could be left without the need for further dressings. In the case of the right knee the wound was deeper, took much longer to heal and although the jeans material and the Kevlar were both worn right through I don't doubt that the Kevlar did save me from an even worse wound in that area. The worst pain I had was from a fracture to the ulna in the right arm near the wrist and it was several days later that, apart from three minor fractures in a hand and foot, I discovered that I had lost partial control of my right shoulder and an x-ray scan showed that I had ruptured three tendons in that area. Only now do I feel that I may be able to ride again but not without the proper protection even if I only start with a spin around the block Regards to you from Dave Stevens |
