Tripwired Clothing

I am sad to say that a 3 tonne truck made an illegal U-turn and Wiehann (Johan Stemmet to some) hit it on the right hand back end with a F800S.

His left shoulder was badly damaged and his left femur was snapped.

I have just returned from hospital where he spent 9 hours in theater with the surgeons battling to save his arm.

He is in ICU under sedation and on a ventilator because his left lung was also damaged.

Thanks to all that prayed for him.

Double sadly is that in spite of thousands of warnings he did not wear any protective clothing apart from his helmet. Angry  Much damage could have been avoided had he worn his gear.

I am so sorry to hear about Wiehann, Colyn. I hope he comes through this safely. My thoughts and prayers are with you, my friend.

Sorry to hear. :(

Update ...

He came through the night ok and they will wean him off the ventilator during the morning. The pulse in his arm is good.

Thanks for the support.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you Wiehann and Colyn.

ATGATT - I always say that I will never be able to live with myself if I survive a crash by knowingly leaving gear already bought and paid for, albeit on the quad or the bike, at home.

FFS, make it a must & pretty soon it becomes just another habit & some of us know how hard it is to give up smoking ;)

Yep I agree Avon ... they should fine people for not wearing the right gear.

Here are some shots ...

Colyn eks baie jammer om hiervan te hoor , ek sal vir jou en Daleen en spesifiek vir Wiehann bid , Sterkte in die tyd man...........

Dankie TC ... ek waardeer dit baie.

Those are scary pictures, Colyn. It must have been very hard for you to take those shots and post them but they are a reminder to everyone that riding a bike carries special dangers and all precautions need to be taken.
I thank God that Wiehann is on the road to recovery now and hope that all turns out well for him and for your family.

Sterkte weereens vir julle Colyn.

My grootste vrees is dat dit met my kinders ook kan gebeur.

Weet nie hoe jy nog kon fotos neem ook nie - dis die laaste waaraan ek sou dink.

Ons bid vir julle vanaand - hou ons op hoogte asb man.

My eie onvoorsiene klein operasietjie verlede Vrydag is niks teen wat ek hier sien nie.

Holy Moly! Die bike lyk s-t-u-k-k-e-n-d!!!!  :o

En die foto van "Point of Impact".... die rooi stukke van die stukkende lig, lyk soos vleis wat daar lê!  ::) Eish!

Bly om te hoor dit gaan beter met hom! Mag hy volkome herstel!  ;)

Sterkte vir julle Colyn - ek kan net dink hoe jy moes gevoel het.

Ek hoop nie ek beleef ooit so iets nie.

Groete

Thank you all ... and as for the photos ... I had to do it and while I shot the scene it was ok but processing them really tore me apart.

Somebody is guilty and I wanted the evidence ... already the driver spilled a lot of bullshit on the police report ... bullshit clearly exposed by some of the shots.

UPDATE :

Today he is more talkative and he has regained some touch sensations in his left hand. The blood flow is good and the appearance of sensation has made me smile.

Thank you all for your support.

Here is a shot of him ...

UPDATE:

Wiehann is now out of ICU and he can move his fingers a bit. Thanks for your support.

PS ... Today I feel as if I took a fall ;)

UPDATE:

Today he is almost his old self apart from being in pain and obviously incapacitated ;) ... the swelling has gone down quite a bit on his hand and he can move his fingers more. They found that a small bone was also fractured in his left foot so they placed it in a cast.

I also got a better view of the actual extent of his shoulder and it is clear that his arm was basically ripped off his body by the impact.

He asked me to thank you all for the well wishes and prayers.

Thank you for your support.

Here are a few shots of the youngster ...

Glad to see he is getting better

Dankie tog vir goeie nuus eks bly dit gaan beter met hom sterkte vir julle!!!

Under these circumstances, let us count our blessings and be grateful - "Thank You! thank you for his live and his arm"

Today, things could have been much worse, but it is not....

"Wiehann, let's go fishing..."

Sterkte Colyn en Daleen

Hope Wiehann gets well soon. Was a big shock to hear of this.

The road to recovery is a hard one, I think it touches the people around us more than it touches us. Colyn, may you he the strength to guide him through this time.

Bly om te hoor dit gan beter!  :)

Mag hy volkome herstel!  ;)

Here are some shots of his arm ...


I will give him your messages. Thank you for your support.

UPDATE:

Today was a bad day for him ... I think the impact of the trauma has hit him and he is depressed. Medically things is improving and he managed to sit upright.

He is complaining of funny sensations in his arm and in general he is irritated. I was not well today ... most probably suffering from a little bit of shock ;)

Tomorrow I will go and spend some time with him and work on his frame of mind.

Thanks for all your support.

I can but echo what Werner said Colyn - you guys are constantly in our thoughts as well.

Eina pyn!  :o

Ai, daai seer en geirriteerdheid as jy bykom en die medikasie is al bietjie uitgewerk......nie lekker nie!  :embarassed:

Sterkte vir hom!

UPDATE:

He says thank you for all the good wishes.

He is in a better mood today and there is more movement in the arm. He also managed to take a short walk with one crutch.

All the drains have been removed and the wounds looks healthy.

Thanks for the support.

UPDATE:

My wife just came back from visiting him. She loaded him into a wheelchair and took him outside for a while then she washed his hair and the fisio gave the arm a long and good massage.

She says he is in good spirit now.

Thanks for the support.

PS ... The boy can be glad his mother is well qualified nurse ;)

Colyn, daar is ‘n ou Afrikaanse gesegde “soort soek soort”.

I think I have said it before, but the more I read and participate on this forum, the more I realise how true this is. Sometime ago I read the following:-

“WHAT WILL MATTER
by Michael Josephson

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear.
So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won’t matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.
It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought but what you built,
not what you got but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched,
empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew,
but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.
What will matter is not your memories but the memories of those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident.
It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.”

There comes a time in any man’s life, when you realise that all that’s left to do, is to try and give back something to the community to remember you by. Colyn, I salute you for posting Wiehann’s photo’s on the WD forum. We all know it’s a busy forum and that numerous people will be reading that.

You sir, know what matters and you are giving back. Respect!!!!

Now go tell Wiehann he better get well soon, he’s got great boots to fill one day………..

Thanks Avon ... I appreciate your kind words.

UPDATE:

The day is starting on a bad note ... the boy is vehemently against any form of medication basically all his life and that has led to him be very sensitive to medication ... one Panado is enough for a severe headache. Now things are not good for him ... they are medicating him with heavy artillery and it is disturbing his stomach in a big way. He is puking his lungs out and is feeling really horrible.

I am torn between the issues ... on the one hand he needs some medication but on the other hand this is like poison to him.

I just wish nursing staff and doctors want to take the time and just LISTEN when a patient wants to tell them how he feels.

Thank you all for your support and good wishes.

RANT:

Last week this time we were in knots waiting to see him come out of the theater. Up to this point everybody involved ... ER9111 Emergency crew, ER Staff and the two surgeons did what seemed impossible and we thank them for their commitment and professionalism.

The two days in ICU he was cared for well by highly trained staff but then things started slipping ... from the moment he was transferred to the ward things progressively went South. The boy's resilience and fighting spirit kept on surprising us and everyday their was progress. However ... his medical care by the nursing staff was nothing to be excited with. Fortunately my wife is extremely highly qualified and has a shoulder full of tags to proof it. She stepped in and started doing basic nursing care like getting his bowels to go, washing his hair, brushing his teeth ... cleaning his ears and nose and massaging his back and buttocks. All things that should be standard and basic nursing functions ... all aimed at keeping a patient comfortable.

Well yesterday morning she was called to Wiehann's doctor's rooms and got a scolding for interfering with the staff functions. Needless to say that by the grace of God I was not with her or that man would have been eating his own marrow. She was very upset when she git to Wiehann's room and he could see it. She told him what happened and he said ...

"Mom ... how do I get out of this place ?"

"Well ... they will only let you go if you are mobile." was all she could say.

Now this should make some goosebumps jump up in some that reads this ... it did for me when I saw it happen. By 14h00 the last blood transfusion lines were removed and all pipes and drains were already out. He gritted his teeth and got up onto the side of the bed. Took a crutch ... grunted and stood up and started walking out of the room ... down the passage to the nursing station ... gave them a wink and hobbled back to his room.

"Is that mobile enough ?"

Well the physio could not believe it and then last night around midnight he walked out of the hospital to the front parking area and when the security asked where he was going ... he said ... "I need some fresh air."

Well this morning the physio and occupational therapist did their sessions and reported to his doctor who then said he can go home. That was 11h00 ... my wife waited there till 18h45 for the doctor to come sign him out and was then told he went home. The nurse on duty "forgot" to take the discharge forms to him to sign.

Well I had to talk long and hard to the boy to calm him down.

These private hospitals are no longer care institutions but business entities and with the dillapidation of State Health we are at the mercy of these sharks. Gone are the days when nursing was a labour of love ... what really piss me off is that I will not see any discounts for services NOT rendered.

So ... hopefully he will be discharged early tomorrow morning or I may be in jail by midday.

END OF RANT.

Thank you all for your support and prayers.

PS ... It was a great moment when I sat in the cafeteria garden at exactly 12h30 and looked up and saw him hobbling through the door ... one week to the minute since he was pushed of to the theater. :)

Praise God ... he was good to us.

UPDATE:

Wiehann is now home and I will show some shots later ... Nelspruit CBD is without power for some reason that is not clear to us :( so my image server is currently down.

He is now walking without the crutch and he can close his hand completely.

Thank you all for the support and prayers.

Bly om te hoor dit gan beter!  :)

Sterkte!

A few more shots ...


He has more control over his hand and fingers now but still nothing in his upper arm. Thank you all for your support.

Ok Wiehann suffered a bit of a setback. On Wednesday he completed the Antibiotics and by Friday night his knee was badly swollen. On Saturday my wife took him to the ER and the doctor decided open the knee up again. He was running a high fever and his blood pressure was sky high.

They operated late yesterday afternoon and fitted a drain to his knee. He is now receiving antibiotics IV.

Thanks for all the well wishes.

It has been a while since I posted some shots. It is now almost one month since the accident and both me and my wife are showing signs of stress. The current relapse came unexpected and my wife is very upset.

On the 21 of March Wiehann asked me to make some Chicken wings for him. This is one of his favorites and one of my specialties.

The following shots was taken during the evening.


It was a great evening and it was good to hear him joke and laugh.

On the 24th I treated him to another one of his favorites ... Seafood ...


Here are a few shots of his recovery path ... some shots of the wounds may upset some but I am posting it so that we can all be reminded how frail a human body is and why it is vital that we stick to ATGATT.

Saturday the 29th of March was a shit day for us. He developed a severe infection in his knee, his temp shot up to 40 C and his blood pressure jumped to 190/140. My wife freaked out.

She took him to the ER and he was promptly admitted. Later in the day ... around 18h30 he went into theater to get the knee drained.


Today he is not in a good place ... he has a lot of pain and is uncomfortable.

Thank you all for your good wishes ... I will convey it to him.

As always, our thoughts and prayers are with you today.

Mine too, Colyn, for all of you as you are all suffering with him.

After all progress he's been making and strength he's been gathering, I hope this will only be a short relapse!

He should soon be home again, eating seafood! :coolsmiley:

Thank you ... I will give him your messages.

UPDATE:

The drains have been removed from his knee and he is mobile again. He is also in a much better mood today.

Thank you for your well wishes.

Nee hel! Daai dokter by Nelspruit Medi Clinic moet eerder in 'n slaghuis gan werk!!!  :tickedoff:

Hy't Wim se arm nét so lelik opgekerf nadat Wim sy bike in ET afgeskryf het!

Sterkte Wiehann! Gelukkig weet jou ma hoe om te help met als.  ;)

Ek verkoop GENUINE tissue oil as jy wil hê.....  ;)

Good to hear Colyn.

Vertel meer Cassie.

Thanks Vester.

Dit was in 2006, op die pad tussen Hazyview en Graskop.

Hy't seker so 10am sy ongeluk gehad, ou het van vooraf gekom IN Wim se baan, die ou het sy draai te wyd gevat. Wim moes sy bike optel deur die draai om dié ou te mis, ou het net aangehou ry, Wim is teen seker so 200km/h by afgrond af.  :(

Die ou se girl het hom MAAK terugry, toe is Wim se pel reeds by hom nadat Wim opgeklim het tot bo by die pad. Hulle het omtrent 2 ure gewag vir ambulans van Sabie af.  :tickedoff:

In ambulans het hulle hom nie mooi vasgemaak op draagbaar nie, het rondegerol (met gebreekte arm en sleutelbeen) soos hulle gery het!  >:(

8pm die aand het hulle by Nelspruit se Mediclinic die eerste keer vir hom iets gegee vir die pyn! PS. Hy was vroeër eers in 'n ander hospitaal waar hulle hom kamstig nie kon help nie!  ::)

Hy is die volgende oggend 8am eers geopereer.... En sy sleutelbeen se sny en 'staple' merke lyk nét so lelik soos Wiehann s'n...... Ek glo dis dieselfde ortopeed.......  ::)

Goosen ?

Kan nie sy van onthou nie...... Donker hare...... 30-something.......

Nee Goosen is baie ouer.

How about an update Colyn??

UPDATE:

All stitches, clips, drains etc. is out and the wounds are healing. Next week they will remove some of the metal from his shoulder then he can start with more aggressive physio.

Thanks for your support.

It is now almost 8 weeks since the accident. During these weeks there were some good days and some bad days. In general Wiehann is healing physically quite fast but he is frustrated with the slow pace of healing of the nerve damage.

I have switched modes and treats him "normally". In my mind he is now faced with the cold reality of his situation and life goes on. He needs to learn to function with whatever handicap he has and concentrate on doing what needs to be done to try and regain as much as possible function back.

So, I am not a very popular guy with the mother. The coldest and most cruel fact to accept by all parties is that it was his own two hands that were on the handlebars that morning and I am not going to take any blame for what happened to him. He is a very experienced rider and whatever the stupid driver of the truck did does not make me liable. I am sure many of you that went through similiar situations can understand the human interactions in this situation.

Here is a series of shots taken during the past few weeks. Every shot is dated and this is the last shots that will be published as "Crash" pictures ... life goes on.


To all of you that posted in this thread and prayed for him ... thank you from the bottom of my heart.

To Wiehann ... my son life is sometimes hard and the true steel in a man is only really visible when things goes wrong. I believe that you will recover and recover well ... hope that me and you can carve some curves again real soon.

Without trying to sound too "touchy feely" I just need to say the following here.

I have known Colyn and his family for quite some time now, it actually feels like a lifetime not because of anything else than for the real hard things we have gone through together.

One thing I am praying for now is that the unseen scars in Colyn and his family can heal as fast as Wiehann is healing in the physical scar department.

“Many men owe the grandeur of their lives to the tremendous difficulties”
Charles Spurgeon (English Preacher) 1834 - 1892

Jis ou Grote jy weet darem net hoe om my te roer ;)

It is good to see Wiehann is recovering albeit not at the rate he would like. He is young and the young heal physically much quicker than we oldies but the mental scars will remain for longer. Have courage and all will turn out as God wills.
All at BSC have been thinking/praying for all the family. Please be assured you are not forgotten, Colyn, but sorely missed.

Well today I have some good news to share ... Wiehann is busy regaining some motor function in his biceps and triceps ... I think the fact that I sold his bike two weeks ago has kick started his muscles ;)

Three weeks ago I decided to sell his Dakar because the recovery rate was really slow and there was no chance of him riding again soon. He got onto my LT wit bike on the center stand and took the handles ... telling me that he can hold it ... well needless to say .. a slight sudden jerk of the right hand bar by me and he lost his grip on the left.

He went with me when I collected my GS and he was really depressed. This morning he got onto the GS and called me.

"I want to show you something ..." he had a broad smile on hs face and had the handles in his hands. I tried the same maneuver and to my surprise there was real resistance.

He then proceeded to show me some of the exercises he has been doing the last week. I asked him why he kept it to himself and he answered ...

"I wanted the physio to check and confirm that it i snot my imagination."

Well guys and girls I thank you all for the prayers and good wishes that went up for him. I am going to have a great weekend ... same to you all.

Well

This is fantastic news.

That is indeed fantastic news, Colyn. I pray that things continue to improve at this rate although you may soon have to buy a new bike for him.

That I will gladly do :)