Bike Accident Update

Many of you know that I was injured in a bicycling accident on Sunday (Sept. 20). I arrived home from the hospital today, so here's my first chance to give a more complete update on my situation.

We enjoyed an incredibly moving worship service at Fall Creek in the morning, and Heather and I spent much of the afternoon watching football. Then we decided to beat the raindrops on a brief bike ride. We rode together for about 30 minutes, then I dropped Heather at home as a light rain was beginning to fall. “I’m not that sweet,” I joked to Heather. “A little rain won’t melt me.” 

About 20 minutes later I zipped through Markleville, aiming to round one more block (in rural Indiana, a "block" is one square mile) and  head home. I approached the abandoned tracks that run kitty-corner across State St. and did my best to square off so that I would cross them at a right angle. But my front tire caught the second rail and slid left. It was like hitting a patch of ice. The bike went out from under me in an instant, and I crashed on my right side. I was probably going about 14 m.p.h. at the time.

I knew immediately that this was more than the usual bump or bruise you might get by falling in the driveway; the pain in my hip was excruciating. Fortunately, an approaching motorist saw me fall and stopped to help. Other folk stopped or came out of their houses to assist. 

One of them graciously offered to call Heather, but mistakenly told her that I’d been hit by a car. Heather arrived within minutes but didn’t learn until we reached the hospital that I’d simply fallen on the tracks. By then she had told several people the mistaken version of the story. Being the victim of a hit-and-run accident sounds more intriguing, but there was no motor vehicle involved. I simply slipped on the tracks and fell. Yes, I was wearing a helmet.

I was taken by ambulance to St. John’s hospital in Anderson, where initial x-rays showed two fractures in my pelvis and a possible fracture of my right femur, near my prosthetic hip. A CT scan revealed that the femur had multiple fractures and that it was unclear if my prosthetic hip had come loose from the bone. This is still a concern. The physician feels optimistic that it has not come loose, but we should know for sure in a couple weeks. 

Either way, the treatment for the next month and a half will be the same—physical therapy and no weight bearing on my right side. “This is gonna hurt like heck for six weeks no matter what we do,” the doctor said. Gotta love that candor.

Obviously, my activities will be limited in the next few weeks, though I don’t yet know the extent. I’ll keep you updated on my progress; in the meantime, thanks to each of you who have responded with concern and prayer. Times like these make me deeply grateful for the communion of saints.

I'm grateful, too, to the good folk who stopped to lend a hand. I was in a great deal of pain when I fell, and couldn’t roll myself over or untangle my legs from the bike. I received help in the form of blankets prop up my aching leg, a hand to hold (literally), and even a shot of whiskey to ease the pain (which I declined :-) All of us could probably stand to open the shades a bit more often and connect with the people around us. 

Those of you who know me well can affirm that I don’t jump at spiritual explanations to mundane problems. Yet while we might easily explain this accident by the ordinary factors of rain and railroad tracks, I can't help but notice the close connection between this event and the very powerful worship experiences we’ve had at Fall Creek in the last two weeks. Undoubtedly, our enemy would be delighted to see that spiritual momentum reversed. Let’s not allow that to happen. Let the Holy Spirit direct worship at Fall Creek whether or not I am there to lead or not.

I'll keep you posted as I learn more about the impact of this injury on my schedule. In the meantime, keep doing what you've been doing so well these several months--being the church.

PS: The photo is me, in the emergency room, pointing to my livestrong t-shirt. I was hoping for a phone call from @lancearmstrong. No luck so far ;-) 

Continue Reading >