Deaf Biker's Unexpected Accident

 

                                                   By Harry Barnum

 

After Deaf Way II on Monday July 15th while riding my 1997 shadow LXV 600cc motorcycle in Burtonsville, MD, a car, which was between rt.- 198 west and rt.- 29 hit me.

I was driving straight ahead when the white Honda 1990 car crossed the road with a left turn right in front of me. I tried to squeeze my brake hard and I did push the horn but it was too late.  I hit her car on the right side of the wheel and went tumbling over her hood. I bounced on the hood and the landed on the other side of the car.

God was watching over me because the first person, a military man who came over to me, told me to stay still until the ambulance, the police, the fire trucks arrived. When the white Honda woman looked at me, I looked to at her and I said "WRONG YOU", but she did know then she was afraid of me. My head and body looked fine and I did not faint or blackout but I saw that my right arm was dislocated and my back felt sore.

When the ambulance arrived, they were going to take me to the elementary school to put me in a helicopter to fly me to Maryland University hospital in Baltimore, Md. But the ambulance wouldn't start so it was decided that the helicopter pilot would land at the accident scene to pick up me. The police at the scene were afraid because there were so many phone wires and he thought the helicopter would crash. The helicopter landed successfully and they brought me to the helicopter.  God guided the pilot to land in the middle of the road with no problem, wow. I was flown by helicopter to the Shock and Trauma Unit at the University of Maryland Hospital in Baltimore. I was looking around and smiling because I was riding a real helicopter.

There the doctors found that I had a dislocated elbow and my pelvis was spilt in two places. I was also bleeding internally and needed emergency surgery to avoid bleeding to death. JoAnne was rushed to the hospital as soon she got word of "Harry's accident". The ER doctors told her I would not walk for a long time. She thought I couldn't walk again.  God guided the surgeon's hands to insert a metal plate on the top of the two fractured parts of my pelvis and then screwed it into the bone. Then they were able to stop the bleeding. I stayed in the ICU until Friday, July 19th. I moved to Kessler Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital in Rockville.

At the ICU, I woke up and looked around the ICU room on Wednesday 17th, July. I was suffering pain from all parts of my body but I felt nothing from my right leg. It felt like a dead leg or a missing leg because I could not move my leg. I was unhappy because they pumped a lot of medicine and chemicals into my body.  When I woke up finally on Thursday, I was surprised that I still could not move my leg. I had to force myself to exercise my right leg. My leg was very difficult to move. I had to keep a very patient attitude.

When I moved to Kessler Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital in Rockville, MD, I had to go to physical therapy for my right leg for 2 weeks. The Kessler doctor said that I would be in the hospital for a month until I learned how to walk again. It was hard to learn how to walk because my body would lose its balance. It looked like a baby's walk, but I was stubborn and practiced walking 3 hours every week. I improved my walking, PAH!  Until On Monday July 22nd, JoAnne arrived to visit me at the Kessler and I wanted to show her what I could do.  I stood up from my wheelchair, walked over to JoAnne on the side of my bed and gave her a smack. She was shocked.  She couldn’t believe I was walking!  It was a miracle!  Some people still couldn’t believe that I can walk.  But I stayed at Kessler for only one more week and then went home on Saturday, July 27th.

After 1 day, I surprised everyone at FBDC by coming to church.  I also surprised my friends at EDB, Deaf Way II, and Gallaudet University when I walked in and said Hello, just like as if nothing had happened.

 I continued to improve. I am going to physical therapy and continue to get a little better each day.