The crash

That dreadful phone call...

I was about to fix myself breakfast and a cup of coffee when my cellphone rang. "Sam, please hurry, Michelle is hurt!"
There was a panic-stricken voice at the end of the line. By the time the call was made, my wife was already in the hospital.
Some good samaritan took her to the emergency room after she crashed her bike during a leisure ride.

The cracked helmet...

Head protection, why it's important

I never ride without head protection. I don't preach about this, it's just pure common sense. There are folks who don't care about head protection and I am not going to go into that... Michelle had a bad fall, the right side of her face was scarred and she suffered a concussion. Her helmet saved her from a severe head injury.
Upon closer inspection, I found a crack on the right side of the helmet. The plastic cover on the side was delaminated.
Clearly, the head protection has done its job. Similarly, I had a bad accident more than 12 years ago. My Shoei full-face helmet saved my head.

A costly affair

Five days and four nights in the emergency room, treatment, a cat scan, X-ray and all that private hospital mumbo-jumbo costs nearly RM15K.
Thankfully, she had insurance that covered the huge sum. Apart from a laceration on her right knee, there were no serious injuries. 
But a follow-up MRI scan did yield good results. She suffered spinal injuries from the crash.

The road to recovery...

It's been more than three weeks since the crash. Michelle is recovering well. She is now able to walk without assistance. The rest of the months to come will be focused on physical rehab.

A cautionary tale...

Nothing prepares you for an accident. But when you take the necessary precautions, the risks of heavy injuries will be lessened. And as a rule of thumb, I don't cycle with people who want to go further, be the fastest or simply out there to prove a point. They either get hurt of put other people in harm's way.