DefinitelyDressage.com

A dear friend of mine's father was in a motorcycle accident on Saturday. He lost control of his bike going 80 on the highway, and is in the hospital in critical condition with extensive injuries. The doctors are saying things could go either way at this point. Right now they can't do much until his stats start to improve. I just left the hospital after taking a long lunch to sit with her, thankfully the hospital is less than a mile from my job so I was able to go and sit for awhile. I've known them both for quite some time, she is more sister than friend to me. Her father is known as "General's Driver" in the biker community because he took his dog General, with him everywhere. General was with him during the accident. I don't know a lot of the specifics of what exactly happened, and I wouldn't want to speculate. But I know my friend is dealing with a lot of guilt and feeling as if she could have prevented this. In all, a sad and difficult situation, and I'm sure she would appreciate all the prayers/jingles they can get.

Prayers and jingles. Motorcycle accidents are so very frightening.

Did General get hurt? That is a very high speed accident, Hard for a body to go through it. Jingles and prayers.

Prayers and jingles. So sad and scary. Should we assume that General didn't make it? Seems like a loyal little dog couldn't make it through such a tragedy.

JIngles!

Jingles. I hate motorcycles. And I've owned three of them over the years.

~~Jingles~~

So sorry to hear of this tragic accident - may God look over and heal her....

I was at the hospital until 1 am last night. He was still in the same condition when I left.
She is holding up, but yesterday was a really rough day.
The biker community is amazing, I cant believe the support that is rising up from this group.
The family is not releasing a whole lot of information at this point that I can share publicly, especially regarding General, but as I'm able I will fill in the gaps.

Jingles and prayers being sent.

Jingles for everyone involved. You are playing such an important role to your friend and her family now, offering your support and presence, so be sure to take care of yourself as well.

DH has ridden motorcycles his entire life; has 3 Euro bikes right now (not a Harley guy, in any way). He rides one of his motorcycles into town several times a week, and I am thankful that he "dresses for the crash", as they say, with helmet and full gear every time. Fingers crossed that your friend's dad was wearing his helmet, too.

Texsuze,
He was wearing a helmet but he still has a small brain bleed and broken bone in his face. This was the last FB update that she posted, for anyone interested.


"For all of those not on my dad's facebook page:

I am so sorry for the lack of updates. Things have been crazy and hectic. My dad's injuries are extensive and the doctors keep finding more and more issues. Currently he has several broken ribs that are overlapping each other in his chest as well as several more ribs broken near his spine, he has a broken clavicle, two broken vertebrae in his back, bruising and bleeding in his brain, some slight internal bleeding, his sinus wall has collapsed, one of the bones in his face is broken, he has a broken finger and sutures in his hand, and we just found out he has blood and air between the sack in his lungs that is preventing him from breathing and his kidneys are not functioning properly so there is a possibility he will have to go on dialysis.

They are considering placing metal plates on his ribs to seperate them back to where they are supposed to be, but cannot do so until he gets better. He was doing so well this morning. He was not in as much pain. He was very alert and joking with the doctors and nurses and all of his visitors. Around 12pm this afternoon he started to have a lot of trouble breathing and his pain became more intense. By 6pm his oxygen levels were still not up enough so they had to put him in a medically induced coma and intubate him, along with inserting a tube for food and a pick line to administer meds quicker, a tube to monitor his blood pressure, and as of about 10 minutes ago a tube in his chest to drain the fluid and air out of his left lung. He has taken a step downhill and is considered in critical condition, so he is definitely not out of the woods and he is no longer stable.

The nurses say he can still hear you, so if you come to visit him we request that you speak very positively around him. The nurse indicated that the more positive he is, and the more he has to look forward to the quicker his recovery will be. My dad and I very much appreciate all of the support and prayers that everyone has sent our way. Thank you all so very much for everything. I will try to keep everyone updated as much as possible, but please understand that I am incredibly swamped with everything needing attention and I really am trying to answer questions and messages as quickly as I can."

{{}} to everyone related...

Jingles!!!!!

The family is now allowing information about General to be released.
As many guessed, He did not make it. General rode in a pouch on her dad's chest, which is where the majority of the impact hit him. They believe it was instant, and that the little guy didn't suffer at all. We aren't sure yet if he knows that he is gone, but we DO know he will be devastated either way when he wakes up. General was already getting older, and going downhill a bit, but to lose him this way is unexpected. She worries the loss of him will hinder her dad's recovery, so as of now, no mention of General is being made in front of him.
He is still in a medically induced coma, but his kidneys had a better output yesterday. His oxygen levels have improved some and they are reducing some of the medications he is on. The doctors were "impressed" with his blood work I'm told. I think we're all relieved to have any sort of good news and improvement.
I am at work today, but will heading back to the hospital to sit with her after I get off.

continuing to offer wishes for good healing. it is sad that he lost General in the accident

I agree. Continued jingles.

Any update on this gentlemans condition? I hope his family is holding up.

He is still about the same at the moment. He has developed Pneumonia, and they are treating with an antibiotic. He was not strong enough to go into surgery as they hoped on Friday, but he has not gotten worse. He has been making tiny steps forward. Over the weekend he was over breathing the ventilator so they turned it off for awhile and just let him go. He kept his oxygen levels pretty good, which is saying something considering all of his broken ribs. The surgeon showed my friend (his daughter) and I his x-rays. It hurts to even see them, there are several ribs that "stacked" to where one piece is laying on top of the other.
His daughter found this news report that was done on him and General. She is currently working on contacting news outlets, since there are so many people who he knew and touched who still have no idea what has happened. She hopes to raise awareness for the causes he supports, and just let people know what happened.

http://wsls.com/2016/05/26/general-arrives-as-run-for-the-wall-goes-through-roanoke-valley/

Ah, that news report is heartbreaking in context. Jingles he pulls through.

Well, he is still in ICU, but he has been making small steps in the right direction. He has been awake enough to answer some questions (are you in pain, etc) by raising his eyebrows. He knows people are there, and he knows who they are. He has followed people with his eyes, and head. Wednesday he went in to have fluid drained off his right lung, and for a tracheotomy. They pulled approx 2 1/2 liters of fluid. I haven't been back yet to see how he is after the procedure, but will be stopping by tonight.

The local news did a story
http://fox4kc.com/2016/09/29/motorcycle-crash-leaves-metro-veteran-severely-injured-claims-life-of-beloved-dog-general/

Also, a group who does documentaries made this video with footage they had, after hearing of what had happened.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_0YAtvLB1g&feature=youtu.be

Thanks for keeping us updated and for the info links. If he can just pull through this phase of all the acute injuries, he will hopefully ride onward to recovery.

DH will be riding his Norton Commando tomorrow morning, helping lead a group of motorcyclists for a short ride around the beautiful Texas Hill Country, in an annual fundraiser for Navy Seals (he is not a veteran).

For anyone interested in his progress, there has been a lot of improvement since removing the fluid from his lung and putting in the trach. He is awake, and does know about General now. They moved him to a more long-term hospital, and expect him to be there a couple more months. This is the most recent update from his daughter.


"Dad is doing great! He certainly hasn't lost his sense of humor. He has so much to say, but not enough energy to get all the words out. We are trying to keep him from talking too much and exhausting himself.

Today was a huge day! After a month of being stuck in a hospital bed, dad was finally able to sit up and move to the edge of the bed. It was only for a few minutes and he needed a lot of help, but he did it! While the nurses were putting on his big chest brace he had a huge grin on his face and he said "I'm a turtle"! The whole room burst into laughter. What a day! What a great, great day!

Over the next several weeks he will be working on getting stronger and breathing on his own again. I can see the finish line in the distance. We are getting there one step at a time thanks to everyone who is in this race with us. We will go far in this journey together and I can tell you now that we will never be the same when we arrive at the other side.

I will be posting another update tomorrow afternoon. We are having a meeting in the morning around the hospital's policies and procedures. Apparently this hospital is very different from the last, so they have a few concerns, but hopefully we will all be on the same page tomorrow."

Excellent news! Thanks for the update!!

Thank you for the update. He will continue to be in my prayers.

Thank you for the update. It is amazing that someone could be doing so well after such a catastrophic injury. I'm so happy for him and his family.