It's one of those moments in time that you just can't forget and move on with life. To this day I have flashbacks when I travel the same intersection. It probably was the closest I have ever come to death and maybe that is the cause of the permanent mark on my memory bank...
It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and I had spent a couple hours in my garage changing the oil and filter on my custom 1999 Harley-Davidson Nightrain.. Previous postings on the bike will show you what a show-stopper it was.. It was a beauty wrapped in glossy black and lots of chrome...I couldn't take it anywhere without it becoming the center of attention.
I finished the oil change and cranked it to warm up the engine and also to check underneath for any leaks. I opened the door to the house and told my wife I was headed for the service station to fill up with gasoline so the Nightrain would be ready to carry me to work the next day. I wiped my hands with a Harley-Davidson bandana and thought to myself,.'the service station is only four blocks away,...I don't need no stinkin' helmet.' With that thought ringing in my head, I tied the bandana around my sweaty brow and eased the Nightrain down the drive-way and onto the city street.
Man,...those Screamin' Eagle pipes sounded good as the old Evolution engine revved up and I shifted into second gear. I never get out of fourth gear in the city limits as I refuse to be one of those knuckle-heads that allow their bikes to lug down and chatter the valves.
I stopped at the stop sign on Morton Street and allowed a couple of cars to go by before I joined the traffic flow heading west. Two blocks and I would be at the Chevron Station and safe from the crazies they allow to drive cars these days... I never made it!
Pottsboro Road intersects Morton Street at the same time as Layne Drive joins them both. The car in front of me turned into the Comet Cleaners just before the intersection and I slowed to allow him time to make the turn. I had just down shifted to second when I spotted a Ford Taurus coming from Layne Drive....and it was coming pretty fast. I moved to my left and got into the inside lane of Morton Street,..but the Taurus kept coming. My brain flashed me an instant message..'gas on this puppy and get through the intersection.' I twisted the throttle and the modified engine jumped at the chance to be free of the city confines. Still, the Taurus struck my Nightrain on the rear wheel and sent me spinning on the left side of my bike. The Lord saved me from the impact and pain as suddenly everything went black....
I remember a woman's voice screaming and me being jostled around. A fire station was two blocks away and the paramedics were on the scene within sixty seconds. A scrub nurse by the name of Hawkeye was the first person I saw when I opened my eyes.. He told me I had been in an accident and they were going to take good care of me. I had no memory of what happened and could not understand what was going on. The staff at Texoma Medical Center reacted professionally and with great speed. I looked down and a female nurse had a pair of electric scissors and was cutting my blue jeans down the front of both legs to expedite their removal. When she finished with the jeans she headed for my tee-shirt... Whoa! I pleaded with her as it was a brand new Kevin Harvick shirt I had on for the first time..
She granted me that favor and cut it off by going down the side under my arm and across the shoulders. You can see the blood on the front of the shirt and on the jeans. One of the paramedics had gone thru my wallet and found my home address and called my wife to notify her I was at the hospital.
I had road rash on all four limbs, a dislocated shoulder, a cracked skull, concussion, and two teeth knocked out by the pavement when I hit the concrete. I also received seventeen stitches above the left eye where my mirror stem stabbed me. Doctor Buckner told me if I had been going just a little faster the stem would have taken my eye out, and if I had been going a little slower it would have struck me in the temple and turned out the lights permanently.
The paramedics stayed with me to relay the story back to my wife and me. The Ford Taurus actually had run two (2) stops signs to hit me, and luckily the car behind her was a police officer on his way to work. He turned out to be the perfect eye witness (he too was a Harley rider). Another man who witnessed the accident was just exiting the Comet Cleaners and was one of the first to reach me. He got the woman driver to stop screaming and also used a pillow case to wrap my head in an attempt to stop the blood flow. Paramedics changed the bandage when they arrived and said it was squirting pretty good. I had to spend most of the day at the hospital, but was allowed to come home that night. The very next day the insurance agent of the Ford Taurus came by my house to see the damage to me and let me know his policyholder was at fault and they would cover all expenses.
My wife was my nursemaid for the next week, along with our Fox Terrier Tinkerbelle. It took about four or five days for my left eye to open again, but my dentist told me I had to wait six months for the swelling in my mouth to go down before he could install new teeth. So much for me,..but what about my Nightrain?
My thanks also go out to my buddy Mike Putman,..he dropped everything at his Cycle Shop to get to my bike before the city wrecker could damage it even more. His shop, along with Harley-Davidson, repaired my bike back to showroom condition. The bike won a couple of shows after the accident, and my new teeth work great... so I guess all's well that ends well.
This was taken one week to the day after the accident. I also owned a Honda Magna and I rode it to the bike shop to see how the Nightrain was coming along. Both of us fared as well as could be expected, and now Momma won't let me leave the house without my helmet... She also wrote to Kevin Harvick and told him about the accident and how hospital officials had to cut off my shirt.
Harvick sent me a new shirt and an autographed cap as a replacement...
... and Momma made a pillow out of the old shirt and jeans from the accident....
Thank you Lord for watching over me.
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