The Accident

A strange thing happened to me at my CrossFit workout.

First, I want to talk about the wins we've had. One of our members had suffered a major heart attack 3 years ago. The kind of heart attack that the paramedics had to revive her... a hospital stay and cardio rehab. After rehab she came to our gym against her doctor's orders and started to work out.

She was careful. Her workouts mimicked the work out of the day but were scaled back for her abilities and not stress her heart. In one year of doing physical supervised exercise 3 times a week, she has gained strength and improved her vital readings to the extent that her cardiologist was stunned. Her story is worth celebrating.

Another friend of mine had her ankle crushed.

The repairs involved metal screws and rods in her ankle. Her Achilles tendon also had to be re-attached. For the next few the years she suffered pain and anguish and the loss of joy of riding her horse, hiking with her daughters, and doing all the things she loved dearly. After two years of consistent work at our gym [one baby step at a time], she can jog in a workout. She can walk without pain, and she is 99% back to her previous self. She is dedicated to our Mobility Class as well as showing up the to the gym.

Our coach joined 4 years ago, she was tired of all the extra weight she carried around. Her husband bought her a gym membership and she started out. Her goal? It was to lose all the baby weight she'd gained after her 10th child. I've watched her slowly transform over 4 years. She is amazing in many ways as she has now trained for and is one of the coaches in the gym.

She has lost 70 pounds and says she has a little ways to go. 

Her empathy and coaching skills are amazing. [All of our coaches posses these skills]

None of these journeys were quick fixes like we see advertised ... DO THIS or Do That! And you will see a difference in weeks! 

No. This is a common sense and well guided way to seek better health overall. 

We have an average array of people in our gym. 

From 18 to 80, some are great athletes working to become better athletes. Some of us have fitness and health issues. 

The coaches are careful to help us tailor our workouts for each of us specifically.

Some days, it is like herding cats.

On to the Event of the Day.

I was looking forward to the workout yesterday. It was a kettle bell workout combined with some runs after each group of 20 kettle bell swings. 

The runs were our choice, 200 meters, 400 meters, or for those who couldn't run, they could walk 100 meters or ride the stationary bike or row.

I love the running part as I've always loved running. The kettle bells? Meh, but it was going to be hard and challenging which are things I like. I'm considered elderly and I was safely the eldest person in class. 

A group of 5 of us took off from the gym to run/jog our first 200 or 400 meters. All was going just peachy, I was behind the young and fast girls. When we came to our turn around [we run on a bike/hiking path alongside the highway] ...

it
happened.

I got hit hard by something in my right calf. I'd been jogging on the edge of the path next to the grass. I ducked in an instant [reflexes?] and saw a woman and her bike go over me in  my peripheral vision.

She hit the ground hard on her right side. She was wearing a biking helmet which kept her face and head from hitting the hard trail. Her bike went over me and landed somewhere. 

I stayed in the crouch because I was not sure what the H-ll just happened. In an instant, the other gym folks who had been running ahead of me turned back to help. One surgical nurse, one Nurse Practitioner, and one Hot Line Nurse came to the woman's aid. 

Another gym member ran to call 911 when the lady said she couldn't get up and was in severe pain. 

I squatted next to her. Her pain was obvious. Her husband had parked his bike and was standing there in distress also. He didn't know what to do and couldn't figure out how to operate his wife's cell phone.

First the squad car arrived. Then the first team of first responders along with a Firefighter that had been at the gas station across the highway. Another fire department vehicle responded and I just backed away. I am not an EMT.

I decided to walk back to the gym and gather my wits. I was pretty shook up. Jesse walked back with me and asked if I was okay. I said I guess I was. I looked down and pointed to the bruise popping up on my calf muscle and said I guessed she clipped me there.

Jesse gasped and looked at my back. She exclaimed, "Dam girl, you have tire tracks across your shirt in back!"

Followed by "ARE you okay?"

 

I felt okay, but still in shock of what I'd seen. I grabbed my water bottle and decided to walk back and tell the police officer what happened.

Two gym gals went with me. I explained to the officer that I was jogging when I got hit from behind on the right side of my calf and ducked. The lady went over my right shoulder and the bike went over my left.

The cop's eyes got huge and he touched me gently on the shoulder. ARE you OKAY??? Those bikes weigh like 40 lbs! The gals pointed out the tire tracks on the back of my shirt. I made my statement, you know, name phone number, date of birth.

The lady was still on the ground and they were waiting for an ambulance. I looked over at the bikes and noted that they were e-bikes. The kind of e-bikes, when you pedal, the electric engine kicks in and shoots you forward. Did she pedal instead of braking? I'd never know.

I might add that this couple was in their 80's and I recognized them from many other days when we have worked out and shared the trail together. 

I walked back to the gym. There was nothing I could do. I felt horrible and so sad. What if she broke her leg and her arm? Or worse yet? Her hip? 

The gym members were calling me super woman and amazing among other accolades for just getting up and being okay after such a wreck. I felt none of that and felt only a deep sadness as I heard another set of sirens coming down the highway.

I gathered my stuff and wrote out my workout results. 1 round of 20 Kettle Bell swings 26lbs and 200m run in 16 minutes. Only one partial round completed due to bicycle accident.

My afternoon plan had been to explore The Richland County Pine River bike trail. But I wasn't in the mood. Plus my back muscles were stiffening up. I stretched and iced the areas and thought about that lady the rest of the day.

Gym members kept texting me to see if I was okay. I was. 

They were calling me super woman and Speedbump Val. 

I was waiting to hear any news about the lady who hit me. 

And of course, I did a reenactment of the accident with my Legos...

[we didn't carry kettle bells on the workout]

The last word I heard on the lady that ran me over was that she was assessed with a broken shoulder and a broken hip and was taken to the trauma center immediately for surgery.

I am so sad.

I know that I wasn't at fault as bicyclists are to yield to pedestrians but I think this lady just made an awful miscalculation. At her age, it may have great ramifications.

So yeah. I am sad.