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[ST] STer down



Dear Listmates:

A new lister, but certainly not a new rider (25 years experience), went down
Saturday.  My husband, Jeff Wagnon, and I were riding on Lookout Mt. Parkway
near Desoto Falls.  In about turn two from Canyonland Park he hit a patch of
gravel in the road.  He lost and then regained control of his Triumph Sprint
ST, but then could not make the lean for the curve.  He hit the grass and
saw a guard rail straight ahead so he hit the brakes.  The bike slid out
from under him and went down a ravine behind the guardrail, landing
perfectly UPSIDE DOWN against a tree.  Jeff landed RIBS FIRST into the guard
rail with such force that he went airborne and landed back face and belly
down near the road.

I was following him on my Kawasaki ZZR-600.  I did not see the wreck, but
rounded the curve and saw a body on the side of the road.  I immediately
pulled over to help.  While pulling off I had this series of thoughts - My
first thought:  Oh no, a rider went down, my second thought:  Jeff went by
so fast he didn't notice the poor guy, My third thought:  Oh my God it's
Jeff, God please don't let him be dead.  He LOOKED dead lying face down, not
moving at all, no sounds.

I ran toward him and then I heard him moaning and sounding like like he
couldn't breath well.  I knew I could not roll him over for fear of making
things worse.  I also knew I shouldn't take his helmet off, so I didn't know
what in the HELL I was going to do if he needed CPR.  I ran back to my bike
and grabbed my cell phone which, of course, had no signal.  I dialed 911
anyway and prayed that it would go through.

It did go through, but on some kind of emergency frequency and it kept
cutting out where the 911 guy couldn't hear me or vice versa.  I knew we
were on Lookout Mt. Parkway about two curves from Canyon Land Park, but that
didn't seem to be enough info for him.  I flagged down one car and asked the
lady to find a mile marker and call it into 911.  She did not have a phone
so she said she would have to find one.

A few minutes later I flagged down another lady WITH A CELL PHONE and told
her what to do.  She wanted to call me back with the mile marker, but I told
her I had no signal so she should just go up to the next marker, call it
into 911, tell them Janice sent the info and come back and tell me.

She did as told, praise the Lord.  Meanwhile 911 kept disconnecting because
of the temporary emergency frequency so I kept calling 911 until I was
assured they knew where to go.  I stayed by Jeff.  He started talking and
asked me to take his helmet off.  I took his helmet and his gloves off
because he seemed like there was no spinal problem and it did not hurt him.
I held his hand until the EMS people got there.

He asked me to climb down the ravine and take the key out of his bike, but
as I said, the bike was PERFECTLY UPSIDE DOWN and getting the key out was
impossible.  The lights were still on, but the motor was not running.

Jeff ended up having three BROKEN ribs, and not all in a row.  His entire
left side hurts like HELL everytime he tries to sit up, lay down, or stand
up.

We came home the same night because all he has is VA insurance and they
would not take us to the VA hospital.

Now, he's on the couch, sitting during the day and laying at night and
making either transition from up or down is unbearable.  Since coming home
and getting in the house, I have not been able to get him in a standing
position.

Jeff was very lucky and despite the pain, we know that God took good care of
him and saved his life.  At ER there was a little blood in his urine, but a
cat scan revealed no internal organs ruptured.  IT COULD HAVE BEEN SO, SO,
SO MUCH WORSE AND I JUST PRAISE THE LORD HIS INJURIES ARE NOT
LIFE-THREATENING.

His bike is most likely totaled but we won't know for sure until the
adjuster looks at it.  I rode mine back from the wrecker today.  We were in
a State Park and they would not let it sit there until I could ride it home
so it got towed, too.

No medical coverage with our Progressive insurance so we are just praying VA
will pick up the tab.

We will be trying to keep our self-employed law office running in the
meantime.  I have moved the computers and a few essentials home so I can
take care of Jeff while he's recovering and he can answer those tricky law
questions I get asked from time to time!  ;)  He's the lawyer and I'm his
only employee.

Please keep Jeff in your prayers and please watch out for gravel in curves!

Thanks so much,
Janice Wagnon

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