Cam Lay Down! [Cam Posts His Account, Mon, 3 Aug]

[Bill Hagan]

I'm appalled by the cruelty this thread has taken. Cam has broken ribs and is not supposed to laugh!

It's OK; he's got a little button to push whenever it hurts.   

OTOH, there is a bit of flash-to-bang delay so he has to be a bit preemptive.   

Seriously, he is hurting, and hasn't "been here" (yet).

I'll warn him. 

Bill

[T in NC]

We wil be praying fow a speedy recovery.

[John in PA]

Our prayers added for a speedy, complete recovery.  JW and ML

[rboe]

To show our sensitive side we could start a joke thread. 

[rodekyll]

As someone I forget once said:  "You can't show your sensitive side when you're seated."

[Jim Rich]

Very sorry to hear this, poor old goat.     Heal well Cam.

[Lash]

Ouch. And Cam is an ATGATT guy too. At least he used to be.

I broke six ribs in 2000 on a slow low side. I feel your pain Cam.

Get well soon!

[Phil/TX]

Sorry to hear about Cam, get well soon buddy.
Phil

[Goosecoop]

Here's hoping you heal quickly and thoroughly! I've been whacked on my bike before and it kinda sucks.

[groundhog105]

Heal quickly. I've been there and it is no fun. Just don't laugh or take a deep breath.

[guzzisteve]

Get Well soon Cam, first couple weeks are no fun. I had same injuries in 04 from a crash.

[mojohand]

Cam's a class act. Thoughts and wishes for a speedy recovery!

[rodekyll]

Any updates?

[Bill Hagan]

Any updates?

Thanks for the reminder; will get asap.

Got a few texts in from Cam, who has not yet been able be here himself, tho I'll think he'll be pleased to see the outpouring of support.  I told him that several posts will require "pushing the button" or laughing will make him feel as if he were Adam and God was getting ready to make multiple Eves!  [Emoticon failure again?]

Anyway, I will send pix of his motorcycle, too.

Jack is, as mentioned, fine, with no follow-on concerns.

Bill

[Sasquatch Jim]

What a revolting idea! My relationship with the chickens is entirely platonic! What sort of disgusting, warped mind have you got!

Pete

 Great minds run in the same gutters.

[Bill Hagan]

Just got off the phone with Cam.

Cathy was there to ensure I didn't wear him out, and I can understand why: Cam can sure talk for a guy with one lung, tho he was clearly fading by the time we ended the chat.

He is clearly a "broken" man, in the sense of many severe fractures that will take a very long -- and painful -- time to heal.

First, here are two "after" pix of Cam's RT.







Interesting to see damage on both sides.  That was not, as I had supposed, i.e., the result of retrieving the bike for the tow-truck ride into town.  Cam doesn't yet remember what happened, and may never recall it, but Jack told Cam that one moment they were riding along enjoying the experience when BANG he (Jack) was sliding along on the pavement while watching the RT cartwheel down the road.

Cam says that this is the only set of controls he cares about just now.





The accident occurred on Old U.S. 91, south of Cascade, Mont., and north of Tower Rock State Park, near here: 47.203750, -111.780528

Oh, and it wasn't a goat.  It was a Bighorn Sheep, a beast just reintroduced into the area.





The sheep was, btw, dead at the scene. 

Cam was knocked unconscious and did not recover until in flight to Great Falls on the medivac helo where he -- Cam was always a bright lad -- realized that "something had gone wrong."  His first question when told about the wreck by the flight EMS team was about Jack. You can imagine his relief when he learned that Jack had walked away. 

Two points about that.

The state trooper told Cam in the ICU that there had been six motorcycle accidents that weekend. Only Cam and Jack had been wearing ATGATT, and only Jack had walked away from the wreck.

And, Jack found his dad lying unconscious face-down in a "deadman's sprawl."  Can only imagine how that must have affected Jack, especially when he could not get Cam to come to, and then to see him "life-flighted" away. 

Anyway, Cam has seen some of this thread, and will read it all as soon as he can.

He is concerned about his job (Cam is, among other titles, the State of Montana's apiary guy), and firewood (they go through 10 cords a winter), but also seemed to think all would be OK.

He said the thread would be all the cards and letters (or chickens!) he'd need but was touched by and grateful for all the support here.  Talking is tiring and difficult for him, so Cathy, his wife, doctor, and gatekeeper asks for no calls for awhile.  She'll update us as warranted.

Bill

[Edited to remove all those diamonds that appear when I compose in mail and paste here.  Doh.]

[ITSec]

What a revolting idea! My relationship with the chickens is entirely platonic! What sort of disgusting, warped mind have you got!

Pete

It's not the chickens we worry about - it's those other weird critters you hang around with!

[jackson]

Hitting a Big Horn is no small thing.  Cam & his son are very lucky to have survived the hit because these sheep can weigh up to 300 pounds.  Glad to hear that the son was not seriously injured and that Cam wasn't injured more seriously than he was.  Get well, soon.

[redrider]

It's not the chickens we worry about - it's those other weird critters you hang around with!Hold up there now, Friend. I take exception to that statement. Eeeeeeeeeeeehhhhh, maybenot.
Heal well, Cam.

[Yukonica]

Alright, Cam's hurt. Buck up you jerks and give the guy a bit of space for recovery. Laughing hurts him .... get it?
So, for the record: those of us who are thankful we aren't laid up with broken ribs raise both hands.

[Aaron D.]

Thanks for the update, Bill. Wow.

[Texas Turnip]

Bill,
Tell Cam to man up as I suffered more injuries than that when I hit a lounge lizard in San Antonio, TX

Tex

[Texas Turnip]

Mr. Bill Hagan,

Any updates on our friend Cam?

Thanks,
Tex

[Bill Hagan]

Mr. Bill Hagan,

Any updates on our friend Cam?

Thanks,
Tex

Thanks for the reminder, Ken.

Cam has no internet comnectivity at home as he lives in "serious country."  In Montana, that's saying something.

Anyway, Cam made me promise not to post the last pic he sent -- a selfie on the ride home a few days ago.  The combo of pain generally and self-inflicted by the photo-taking made for a visage that was hard to look at.   

He also claimed that Cathy was seeking out potholes and frost heaves for the fun of listening to Cam scream. 

So, yes, he's home, but is on the long road back, where pain will subside eventually, just in time for boredom and worry to take over.  At some point, too, suppose he'll go to the garage and look at the spine-frame LeMans and wonder when.

I'll see if I can get something more detailed, if needed, from him or Cathy in next day or so.

Best from the top of Virginia, where my only present pain is the knowledge that in a few short hours four grandbabies -- aged 8 and under -- will assault Iron Cross Junction and turn my my tranquil world upside-down!    Would make Cam laugh, which might kill him!

Bill

[Lannis]

Glad to hear that he's getting better and "putting a good face on it" if I can say it that way.

"Bighorn Sheep" being "reintroduced" to the area.   Probably going to be another stupid idea of bringing animals back where they no longer "belong", like wolves into suburbia.   I can't imagine hitting one of those things .....

Lannis

[rodekyll]

You're right.  Bighorn sheep have no business in the Montana wilderness any more than wolves, bears, or deer do. 

[Lannis]

You're right.  Bighorn sheep have no business in the Montana wilderness any more than wolves, bears, or deer do.

Probably time for a brush-up on word definitions.   If it was "wilderness", it wouldn't be "near Helena Montana" and there wouldn't be a paved highway with motorcycles on it running through it .... and if the bighorn sheep weren't there any more, there was a reason.   

Lannis

[rodekyll]

Time to brush up on geography.  If you're claiming that wolves are being re-introduced to 'suburbia', then an hour in almost any direction of Helena is certainly 'wilderness'.

[Lannis]

Time to brush up on geography.  If you're claiming that wolves are being re-introduced to 'suburbia', then an hour in almost any direction of Helena is certainly 'wilderness'.

In any case, when a wild animal in the road takes down one of my friends, especially an animal that wouldn't be there unless some idiot biologist had stuck him there, I'm in no mood to start hugging trees and joining PETA.

Lannis

[Cam Lay]

Bill said I was still pretty talkative even on one lung... This'll be short, since I'm also on one hand and still OCD about grammar and punctuation...

I'm a (slowly) walking collection of bruises, scabs, broken bones, and mild cognitive deficits. I was unconscious for 20-30 minutes, still remember nothing, and tend to ask the same questions over and over. The intake sheet from the helo crew notes that I did not know the day, year, my birthday, or what happened. Apparently I improved somewhat during the flight, enough to ask about Jack over and over. There are worse concerns, of course.

Jack seems entirely OK. He got off on the low side and slid, I stayed on long enough to high-side as the bike went into an airborne "BMW on a spit" rotation. There are lots of deep transverse gouges but very few along the long axis. Tumbled, not slid, to paraphrase that Bond guy... I came to a stop across the road from the home of an elderly retired surgeon who ran out and made everybody leave me alone until EMS got there. What a stroke of luck, except for Jack. He was reassured when they took one look and called the helicopter. "Nobody hurries for dead guys."
 
I do have a spiffy new cane, at least. Actually, it's my old cane from the last time this happened. And that brings us to risk. Known, quantifiable, estimable, unknown, and plain bad luck. If I thought it was unreasonable I wouldn't have had my kid on the back. Am I going to re-evaluate the benefit side of the equation once I feel like I can make a decision based on something other than physical pain? Absolutely.

Other observations, and then I have to go lie down.
1) Shoei makes a damn good helmet. Mine's DOT but not Snell, which means (I think) it's softer but not as good at absorbing multiple blows to the same spot. The whole left side is bashed and trashed, abrasions and fractures. There was enough energy there to knock me out for a long time, but it managed it properly. Yes, I know that all that has a big "under this specific set of circumstances" all over it.
2) MT Highway Patrol Trooper Dan Something-or-other found my glasses, took care of my kid until the ambulance got him, called my wife, sequestered and delivered all of my personal effects, and checked on me in the hospital after his shift.
3) ICU at Benefis Hospital in Great Falls is great. My plan is to visit them one more time, only, to drop off a bunch of honey after we harvest the bees this year.
4) I don't mind the sheep being there any more than I mind wolves and mountain lions and bears and all the other predators I share the immediate environs of my house with. They all have to be managed, in my opinion, but that is a discussion for another time.

The Goddess is here with my percoset. I gotta go.

Finally: thank you for all the kid thoughts and good words. I am moved to tears that I have managed to make such a good impression on such a gathering as we have here.

Take care,
C