my best friend aisha & i left my condo around 10:45pm. our first stop of the night was shangri-la, where we had a couple of drinks thanks to our buddy kenji. we hung out & shot the shit for about an hour.
a few minutes before midnight we got on our way to malverde. we started out riding west on 6th st., had a green light as we approached the north-bound access road of i35. i crossed the 1st light w/aisha trailing me by about 2 bike's lengths. the 2 outer lanes [of 3] on the south-bound access road had cars waiting for their light to turn green. about 5-10 feet from the intersection, from my peripherals, i saw a car coming on the middle lane. it seemed like it was going 40-50 miles an hour, never even slowing down for the red light or after it hit me. it was so fast, i barely had time to think "OH SHIT!!!". my inability to stop had NOTHING to do with the type of bike i ride, a fixed gear. there was just no way anyone could've stopped that fast, w/that short a distance.
i hit the side, towards the rear end of the car. from what aisha tells me, i went airborne & may have even done a flip! i landed on my back, got a big scratch directly above my tail-bone, my right hip is swollen, my left hand has some nice scratches, broke the 5th metacarpal on my left hand, and some bumps/scratches on my face/head.
i was taken to brackenridge hospital, where they performed a ct scan of my head & neck & x-ray of my hand. unfortunately i don't currently have health insurance, so i took a trip to mcallen, texas [where my parents currently live] so i can see a hand surgeon that my dad knows & is willing to give me a discount on his services. my 3 hour stay @ seton industries has cost me $3,000+.
i wanna thank everyone at the scene who was kind enough to help & provide information to the authorities. i'm hoping that the austin police department is able to find the driver so i can sick reposa on him/her!
UPDATE! received the bill from brackenridge hospital = $15,553.25
dept. of labor's 2009 poverty guideline for a 1 person household = $10,830.00
minimum wage $7.25 x 40 hrs. x 52 wks. = $15,080.00 [before taxes]
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That's awful! I don't know if it's too late but maybe you could work out a discount or a payment plan with the hospital. They usually will do this if you negotiate ahead of time (but in this case you obviously couldn't). Also, ask them if they know of charities that might be able to help, like one that specializes in accidents. I had a friend who got a large portion of her hospital stay covered by charity when she got really sick.
ReplyDeleteHealth insurance in this country is ridiculous. It's almost impossible for someone to afford reasonable insurance without an employer covering most of the bill (which I don't have and self employed people don't have either). Why the hell does three hours in a hospital have to cost $15,500? If that was me (and right now I do have insurance although I'm going to cancel it) I would still be left paying $7,100 out of pocket. It's almost not even worth it.
Anyway, I hope they find that guy so you can sue the hell out of him and I hope you feel better soon!