Ooops
So yet again I cock up the Annual German Hoon, this time with a rather amusing little off in heavy traffic while joining the Brussels Ring Road. Damage to the bike purely cosmetic (it looks like - thank you, R&G crash bungs) but I was a touch impacted, having gone over the top and landed flat on my back.
This was last Friday afternoon and it was Friday evening before I could settle into an hotel (the Ibis - avoid if you can) at Brussels-Midi station (the bike being rideable but I having my doubts on whether I was, if you follow). Once adrenaline and the need to concentrate on getting the bike back to UK passed, I became aware of a certain shortness of breath. By the time I made it home via Eurostar and First Great Western, schlepping a tail pack, a rucksack, a pair of leathers and a damaged helmet, it was pretty clear that I was very short of breath, indeed. There being little point in going to Casualty on a Saturday night, Valerie took me on Sunday morning and to no-one's surprise, yep, three cracked ribs and a large pneumothorax with associated collapsed right lung. Straight off to Swindon, where I've been since, getting sorted. Discharged this afternoon into convalescence, blood pressure, cholestorol and lunch function all great and guaranteed not suffering any sort of infection after industrial strength antibiotic regime.
Big ups to latexiron and drpete for their sterling help, support and above all, good matesship during what was actually rather a fraught afternoon on the old Brussels Ring Road. Slightly smaller ups to the Great Western Hospital in Swindon - 5 star A&E department, they rock in terms of getting a chest drain in place, 3 star ward operation behind that, somewhat chaotic and still very much not keen on talking to patients (until same start gobbing off).