Brainless, helmetless crash

The Bigfella

The Bigfella

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This video is graphic. Be warned.

Sunday night, MotoGP had just finished and we were flicking between Isle of Man qualifying coverage and the start of the Monaco procession. The noise of a sliding scooter is all too well known here. Haven't had one for a few months... but its a noise that we know instantly what needs doing.

This guy hit the gutter further down the moat than most.... he caught the gutter at the very first part of the corner at high speed. He then took out one of the recently planted steel posts with the reflective corner signs on them... with his helmet-less head.... coming to a stop directly opposite our entrance. As we got across the road to secure the scene - cars and bikes were still going past at speed - I made a wrong call... "he's dead" - he sure looked it and there was lots of blood from his head.

My phone log shows a 34 second call to the emergency number... 1669 - but it didn't connect for some reason. Not to worry, others got through. Cops showed up a bit before the ambulances.

We were talking to him... telling him to wake up, asking him his name... and he came around a bit. More "don't go to sleep" etc. We got a name.... but only a first name. Asked his second name... same. Where are you going? "I'm just going over there to get some food".

The ambo's got a bandage on him and somehow he got to his feet and wanted to scarper. More "I'm just going over there to get some food". He broke away from them and me - I was trying to stop him falling over, but he busted away and head-butted the ambulance as he fell.... dinging the mudguard.


Lessons? Don't assume that someone who looks dead is dead. Talk to them. Get a bloody decent flashing light to slow down the oncoming traffic. Wear your helmet.
 
This crash reminded me of one of the very few stories that my father told of his wartime experiences. He was a Provost... a military cop / despatch rider. Whilst directing traffic during what he described as "our glorious retreat without arms" through Greece, he was wounded by shrapnel from a bomb dropped by a Stuka. He copped a piece in the left temple, which knocked him out. Lots of blood from a head wound... and if you're not moving........ they came to the same erroneous conclusion as me. He's dead. They were under attack and he was left beside the road.

He eventually came to, recovered his motorbike and made it back to the allied lines only to become one of the 11,000 captured on Crete, spending the next four years in a holiday camp. The shrapnel was eventually removed in late 1945 in England - and a photo of him that appeared in the Australian media was altered to remove evidence of the wound.
 
The Bigfella said:
This video is graphic. Be warned.

Sunday night, MotoGP had just finished and we were flicking between Isle of Man qualifying coverage and the start of the Monaco procession. The noise of a sliding scooter is all too well known here. Haven't had one for a few months... but its a noise that we know instantly what needs doing.

This guy hit the gutter further down the moat than most.... he caught the gutter at the very first part of the corner at high speed. He then took out one of the recently planted steel posts with the reflective corner signs on them... with his helmet-less head.... coming to a stop directly opposite our entrance. As we got across the road to secure the scene - cars and bikes were still going past at speed - I made a wrong call... "he's dead" - he sure looked it and there was lots of blood from his head.

My phone log shows a 34 second call to the emergency number... 1669 - but it didn't connect for some reason. Not to worry, others got through. Cops showed up a bit before the ambulances.

We were talking to him... telling him to wake up, asking him his name... and he came around a bit. More "don't go to sleep" etc. We got a name.... but only a first name. Asked his second name... same. Where are you going? "I'm just going over there to get some food".

The ambo's got a bandage on him and somehow he got to his feet and wanted to scarper. More "I'm just going over there to get some food". He broke away from them and me - I was trying to stop him falling over, but he busted away and head-butted the ambulance as he fell.... dinging the mudguard.


Lessons? Don't assume that someone who looks dead is dead. Talk to them. Get a bloody decent flashing light to slow down the oncoming traffic. Wear your helmet.
Click to expand...
@ Sliders Corner 🤕
 
Well, the good news... he's just called in. He's on the mend, albeit with a dozen stitches in his head, some gravel rash and two black eyes.
 
Old Mate called around yesterday to survey the scene... and to put the post back in so he doesn't get sent a bill for a new sign. I played the video for him. Made him realise just how lucky he is to be alive. He got charged for careless driving or something like that and fined.

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