The day of the accident I was angry over the fact that my brother was letting Mark ride the motorcycle but not me.  I said to him that Mark wasn't an experienced rider and he should let me ride too--after arguing a bunch, he finally let me go.  I went north to County road "B" and back, which yielded two miles.  When I got back, I wanted to take it for one more ride.  He argued that he had to go meet his friend Charlie near Osseo and that he'd be leaving soon.  He finally let me go and advised me that if I crashed it, I bought it.  

Well, going south wasn't a problem BUT going north I was probably going too fast for a right bend in the road and hit the grass and when towards the ditch.  It wouldn't be a problem but there was a lot of bumps and my bike did a 180 degree turn when it hit a big pile of muck.  That's when I got launched off the bike into a swampy area and had my injury.  When I flew off the bike, I was flying off in a centrifugal motion (that is what my Dad surmised) and my brain could not sustain the impact.   It was then my brain had a hemorrhage which caused a blood clot.  It happened on the left therefore the effect was the right side of my body. That meant everything was paralyzed to the right of symmetry.  My right lung was collapsed.  It was hard for me to breathe.  The one who discovered me was Jerry and his wife Janet.   Jerry was traveling north on Hixton road when he saw me just lying there.  He immediately called 911 from a cellular phone he had just gotten just days before.  His wife stayed there with me and he drove up to my parents place and asked them a few questions and they knew exactly who it was.  My Dad immediately drove down there and my brother Shahn went along.  He had to push my chest occasionally to keep me breathing.  The First Responders got there around 20 minutes after the call was made.   Then the Flight for Life arrived 10 minutes later.  They flew me to Luther Hospital in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  After about two hours with the injury, I had the operation that most likely saved my life.  I do not remember anything from the injury, but I do remember everything from before the BIG TRIP, but that's NOT what you are going to read about.  This is the first picture taken a week after the surgery.  I was pretty doped up, sleepy and I lost a lot of weight! I weighed 135 pounds shortly after the accident.  And I normally weighed around 175 lbs.!!!

The first three weeks were in Luther Hospital. I do not hardly remember anything from those three weeks!  Of course, this is when I had the most people visit me.  For the first 7-9 days or so I could not even speak!  The first thing that I solidly remember is the transfer from Luther Hospital to Sacred Heart Hospital.  I suppose it was the fact that it was a slightly traumatic experience and I could tell from the pictures and can remember being very tired at the time!  When I was admitted to Sacred Heart, I was still using thickener for thin liquids.  And I was unable to walk yet.  Within the first week, I was walking with a four-legged cane and a therapist holding on to my garter belt in the back.   I didn't realize this at the time how many people there were supporting me!  My Dad took it into his own hands and started an Internet account with Netcom and spread the word that I was OK.

They had to add thickener to thin liquids for the the first 6 weeks or so, the reason being that I would choke on the thin liquids.  When I was in the hospital, I knew when I was ready to start on the next step toward recovery...  Week #9, I was transferred to Learning Services in Middleton, WI (just 15 miles west of Madison) where I started walking on my own (with a cane).  I was there for three months.  When I was cut loose from that place, I was able to walk without a cane, but I was still pretty shaky at that point.   Then I was at home (rural Fairchild, Wisconsin) for the next 7 months.  The second of January I obtained my license again.  Mid January '96 I threw the cane into the back seat of my car and have not used it since!  I made substantial gains during those seven months, though they were not nearly as fast as I would like them to be!   I moved back down to Chicago on June 11th 1996, and of course I had to pay back my Educard bill (My Grandma was very helpful in response to that!) before they would let me re-enroll.  I enrolled again in November of 1996.  Since I was out for more than two consecutive terms, I had to fill out a book and a half of paperwork!!!  My first term back to DeVry was pretty good, aka two "B"s and an "A"! The Second and last term yielded less desirable grades.  But I passed and that is all that matters!!!  I Graduated with Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering Technology in June '97.