Back to Back to Back Biking Accidents

Last Monday, July 28th, my brother, Neal, was involved in a trail e-bike accident.  I spoke with him on the phone today to see how he was doing and to find out how the accident occurred. I found out that this was really his 3rd accident in recent weeks. Neal had surgery a few months ago to remove his knee after it became septic with bacteria and he has not been able yet to have the surgery to implant a new knee on his left leg. He just has a plastic piece inserted in there. He can barely bend that knee. However, he decided to see if he could ride his bike even with a bad knee and tried it out in his back yard. It didn't go so well and he fell and broke four ribs on his right side. A few weeks later, he was in his boat and caught a fish, but in trying to land the fish, he tripped over an ice chest and landed on those same broken ribs and re-broke them. He never did go to the Emergency Room for those. Then, last week while biking down a trail called Cow's Tummy, he had an accident when he was about 4/5 of the way down the trail. On that trail, the curves were reinforced with berms. While going around one curve, and not going too fast, instead of curving, his bike went straight up a berm and flipped Neal onto his left side. He laid there for a while in pain and knew he had to get back onto his bike even though his elbow was bleeding quite a bit. Fortunately, he wasn't riding the trail alone that day. A friend, Kathy, that he sometimes fishes with was there, too, but she was quite a ways ahead of him. When she looked back and couldn't see him coming, she waited for a while and not seeing him, decided to go looking for him. By that time, Neal had gotten back onto his bike and started heading down the trail. He saw her coming after him, but yelled at her to move out of the way because he said he couldn't stop. They both arrived at the parking lot where Kathy, a retired physician, checked him out. Neal felt his clavicle and could feel the bones moving so he knew it was broken. Kathy took him to the hospital to get checked out and Lynda met him there. It turns out that he broke more than his clavicle. He also broke seven ribs on his left side. Neal refused to stay in the hospital. Evidently, he is slowly recovering from his injuries, but is in a lot of pain.

The next day, on Tuesday, my brother-in-law, Scott, was riding his e-bike somewhere in Bountiful on pavement. Unfortunately, the road had recently been resurfaced and as Scott was trying to make a right-hand turn, his bike slid out from under him on some loose gravel and he went down hard. Someone saw Scott's accident and went to help. He called Gayle so she went and picked Scott up and took him to the Emergency Room at the Hospital in Bountiful. It turns out that Scott broke seven ribs on his right side (both front and back). He also broke his collarbone in many places, his shoulder blade, and the acromion (on the shoulder blade). The acromion plays a crucial role in shoulder movement. Fortunately, no surgery was needed to repair any of the broken bones. The orthopedic surgeon thinks that Scott will heal without surgical intervention, so that's good. Scott needed to stay in the hospital for a couple of nights, but is now at home trying to recover from his injuries.

I think it's crazy that both Neal & Scott had similar accidents just one day apart. Because of these two accidents, Neither Neal (and Lynda) or Gayle (and Scott) could attend our annual Burton Reunion held last Saturday (August 2nd). Gayle and Phil were in charge so she felt bad about not being able to attend, but Scott needed her to be close to help him with his needs.

Both patients have a long healing road ahead of them. We are all hoping that they can heal quickly and get their lives back to normal again.

REMIND ME TO NEVER GET ON A BIKE! 

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UPDATE: (August 5, 2025)

My siblings and I received a text from Ann this morning letting us know that yesterday while on vacation in Vail Colorado, Kent and Matt were just starting out on a bike path and it had a sharp turn and Kent lost his balance and tipped over, resulting in a broken right hip.  Unfortunately, this is his second time to fall off his bike and break a hip. It was his left hip last time. Fortunately, for him yesterday, there were a couple of construction workers right there at the accident site with a hydraulic truck. They lowered the tailgate so Kent could get up and sit on it until the ambulance arrived. Tender mercy, for sure.

Kent is scheduled for surgery today to replace the broken hip. Looks like the hex on our family continues to bring bad luck. Three bike accidents in just one week. Unreal!

I have issued a family decree that no family members over the age of 60 are allowed to get on a bicycle ever again. Enough is enough! 💔 I, somehow, don't think it will be obeyed, though. It's so hard to hold these men back from biking since they love it so much, but there comes a time when you need to weigh the enjoyment vs. the risk.

[Here's a crazy coincidence for you - Kent broke his left hip on his mother-in-law's birthday 7 or 8 years ago and now he broke his right hip on her birthday again -- August 4th! What are the chances of that happening? Ann said "If I didn't know how much my mother loved Kent, I'd wonder if she was up to something!"] (Ann's mother is deceased)