"The deer struck me broadside on the right, which push me into oncoming traffic"
"On Wednesday, March 15th, 2006, my partner and I had completed another routine shift with the Fire Department-based Paramedic Unit. Now if running into burning buildings, extricating crash victims from their vehicles, or saving the life of a heart attack patient is not exciting enough, in our free time we love to ride our motorcycles.
On this particular day, both of us chose to ride our machines to work and our homeward ride soon turned into anything but uneventful. a deer jumped from the roadside and directly into my path of travel. Not a big deal, or so I thought. I pulled in the clutch lever and started to brake in a straight line.
What I did not see, and what [my partner] reported to me later, was a second deer that jumped out right behind me, and a third deer that stopped, readjusted its path, [and then] appeared to have attacked me. This deer struck me broadside on the right, which pushed me into oncoming traffic.
My attempts to recover were unsuccessful as I wobbled about four times before [suffering a complete] loss of control. The bike and I slammed the road hard on our right side. As my machine slid off the roadway and into a telephone pole, I was able to roll right to get away from this skidding piece of metal and plastic. My ride was a total loss when it nailed the pole, bending the frame, not to mention the extensive damage to the right side.
Fortunately, I had several factors working in my favor. First I was traveling at about 30 to 35mph [48-56kmph]. I had excellent pre-hospital care within seconds of hitting the ground, and I was wearing leather chaps, vets and a jacket. Additionally, I had on my work boots, leather gloves, and an AFX Full-Face Freedom helmet.
Granted, I spent a couple days at a local Trauma Center Intensive Care Unit with a soft tissue hip/pelvic, injury, a fractured rib, and a pulmonary contusion. I did not have a head injury that could have been fatal. Sure, I had other safety gear, but I give full credit to my [helmet] for preventing a serious, if not fatal, head injury.
Thank you for helping to keep my brains intact and saving my life. I look forward to a full recovery and [to] resume motorcycle riding by the end of April. Of course, it will be with an AFX helmet on my head."
