The crash.
I had never been in a bike crash involving another vehicle in my entire life.
The first one was so bad, it almost was the last one too.
But fortunately, I’m still here to talk a bit about it.
- When and where ?
October 2023, while going back home at night after a group ride in Paris.
- What?
I got hit by a car. My fault apparently, according to the police who saw some videosurveillance footage (I never saw it).
I was told that I crossed an intersection at full speed, without checking the incoming traffic (which is weird and unusual, riding recklessly was not my style at all…). I have many questions that will never be answered, but now it’s done, and I can’t do anything about it anyways.
Bad things happen I guess.
- The Collision:
I lost all memory of this moment.
I can’t remember anything from it, I don’t know if I felt pain or anything else after it, or even if I saw the car at some point.
All I know is that I got hit at “high velocity”, ejected from the bike, and that I immediatly lost consciousness.
The emergency services arrived on location quickly and rescued/saved me. I got a head trauma, with internal bleeding, a few broken bones, and I was in a coma for approximately 3 weeks, with tubes everywhere, even going though my skull into my brain…
- The awakening:
I woke up at hospital, three weeks after the crash. I was feeling like I fell asleep 30 seconds ago, but I had been “asleep” for three weeks.
Some people and friends were around, they explained to me what happened, and why I was there.
I understood the situation, but I had nothing to say about it. I was like “ok, so what do I do now?”.
At first, I couldn't walk at all or even stand up without being helped and held in place by someone.
I was struggling to talk (mainly because I had a tracheotomy to help me breathing), and I could only open my left eye.
I was sometimes transported by my friends in a wheelchair, here and there in the hospital, I then slowly started to walk again while always being held and helped by someone. I also remember falling to the ground a few times in my room… Getting back up was almost impossible.
Also, for several months, every liquid tasted like soapy water, even regular flat water, which was a bit annoying…
- The awakening, part II:
When I woke up, I quickly realised that I could have been gone forever if I didn't wake up, and that I wouldn’t even have been aware of it…
It is a weird thing to say, but I was just gone during these three weeks, just like when we switch off a TV after watching a movie.
It is either ON or OFF, there is no in between… I felt like I had been dead for three weeks, and I now feel like I know how it is to be dead…
I also realized that if I hadn't woken up, all my pictures would have been gone forever quickly.
My website hosting wouldn’t have been renewed, making everything on it disappear.
I would have done all this “for nothing”.
I don’t do it with a particular goal in mind, I just do it because I like taking pictures of nice bikes, but I don’t really like the idea of everything disappearing so easily and quickly if I would die.
So, I decided to create a book during the long months of recovery, containing almost all of my pictures (over 1400 pictures).
A book that will continue to exist for some time after my death.
- Material damage:
My bike (the Salsa Warbird featured here before the crash) got destroyed. Both wheels are broken too.
My helmet also got badly damaged and cracked. The two parts of my bike were only held together by the rear brake line…
I didn't even get to keep this bike in one piece for an entire year...
The medical staff told me multiple times that I was lucky to still be alive, and that wearing a helmet helped for sure.
Without a helmet, I would be dead.
EDIT:
Several months after the crash, I went to pick up what was left of the bike. I initially thought that I coud reuse some of the components (especially the groupset), but pretty much everything it broken. The left shifter is dead, the derailleur is dead too, the crankset is bent and touching the frame… Only the seatpost and the stem are OK I think… Even the stem top cap is broken, which I find a bit mind blowing.
- Physical damage:
The accident happened almost 8 months ago as I write these words.
Today, I can walk freely again. I can still sense some little balance issues, but they are not very annoying.
I can even ride bikes again.
As you can see on these pictures, my right eye is not really where it is supposed to be anymore.
It doesn’t move much or follow what I’m looking at, especially vertically.
If I don’t place something in front of it to obstruct its view, I will see everything in double, which is quite annoying.
So I had to adopt the “pirate style”, probably for the rest of my life.
My pupil stays permanently dilated, and doesn’t react to light anymore like it should.
The sunlight hitting this mask on my glasses can be annoying and blinding in some cases, this is why it is black.
Actually, the “eye situation” is not as bad and annoying as it seems.
I also have some short term memory losses, and I trend to mix days, events or conversations up.
The most annoying damage is that I struggle to talk a lot. It is 100% neurological.
Having to repeat myself several times to say what I want to say or what I am thinking about is very annoying.
- Current situation:
May 23 2024.
It took me six months to be able/allowed to get back home. Before that, I was in two different hospitals.
I am currently still going to a rehabilitation hospital three times/week, since january.
But at least I can get back home when I’m not at hospital.
I will keep going there until they decide I've regained most of my abilities.
- Insurance:
In France, road traffic accidents involving a motorised land vehicle are governed by the Badinter Law of 5th July 1985.
This law provides a very protective scheme for some categories of victims (like a cyclist hit by a car), granting them compensation almost automatically, in the event of personal injury (if these injuries were not done purposefully).
Therefore, my injuries/disabilities caused by the crash should be entirely covered.
The compensation will take my progress/recovery into account, so it will take some time.
I was told that the driver stopped after the collision, he even got placed in custody for some time, until he got “cleared” by the police.
- Conclusion:
This accident happened 8 months ago as I write these words.
I'm a little disappointed in myself, for being the only one responsible for it, since it was so avoidable (if it really happened as I was told).
I just had to pay attention, and brake, which is not supposed to be a difficult thing to do…
But somehow, I didn’t.
As I say since the accident, I am happy to still be alive.
I can still walk, think, talk, and ride a bike. I could have ended in a wheelchair, or in a wooden box.
Even if I have a few problems here and there, I just deal with it. Everything is alright. It could be worse.
I only have my track bikes left for now. had to slightly adapt them to my situation, by adding brakes, and switching to a much easier ratio since my body is still very weak. I was used to ride 51x16t, but I now use 44x16t. It somehow feels more difficult to use than the 51x16 I was used to…
When I woke up at the hospital and leaned that I got involved in a serious cycling accident, I initially thought that it happened with my brakeless Cinelli. I was really surprised to learn that it happened with my only “normal” bike, the only one that had brakes and a freewheel…
- JULY 2024 EDIT:
I have been riding my bikes at least once a week for the past three months.
BUT, I somehow managed to get hit by cars TWICE already, while riding my Cinelli, now equiped with BRAKES!!…
It was both times the driver’s fault. They just cut me off like I didn’t exist, when I had the right of way, and riding on the bike lane…
Fortunately, I could feel it coming, I managed to slow down enough to not get hurt too badly, but I still ended on the ground… It makes me doubt even more about the crash from october, and what I have been told about it, because it seems very similar to those two new crashes…
