A week later, I woke up in the ICU at Harborview Hospital in Seattle, and learned that I'd been in a serious bicycle accident.  You can read about the days immediately following the accident here (the caring bridge site that Kris used to share the news with everyone).

The accident occurred on a fairly busy street about 2 or 3 miles from our house.  I was going along at a pretty good clip (about 25 mph), when a driver who was lost and late for a job interview cut me off.  I hit his Ford F150 truck just behind the passenger door, and then rolled under the vehicle.  His right rear wheel rolled over my head.  Apparently I was conscious for a short time following the accident, but I recall nothing.  You can read a little about what I remember from the day of the accident.  Also check out my account of reading the police report from the accident.

My injuries included a collapsed lung, many broken facial bones, broken ribs, broken scapula and collarbone, and lost vision in my left eye.  More seriously, I'd incurred a Traumatic Brain Injury.  In addition to fractures in my skull, I'd damaged an artery on the left side of my head, which then started to bleed into the gap between my skull and dura.  This wasn't detected until several hours after I had been brought to Harborview.  I required a Craniotomy to stop the bleeding and save my life.  A portion of my skull was removed to permit my injured brain to swell and then heal.  I was placed into an medically-induced coma for about a week to permit this healing to take place.

I'm very lucky to be here.  Through an amazing combination of excellent medical care, good fortune, and wonderful love and support, I've been able to recover a good deal from this.  Today, I'm able to work, swim, run, drive, and to be a loving parent and spouse. 

I could not have done this alone.  My friends spent lots of time watching over me in the hospital and at home.  My colleagues at work demonstrated lots of support.  My brother spent a large portion of the summer up here in the Seattle area, spending time with me.  My parents spent hours with me, and with the kids.  My children were big helps around the house, and showed much strength in dealing with their dad's serious accident.  And my wife was amazing as a medical advocate, caregiver, and effectively as a single parent while I was waylaid for months. 

Six months after the accident, I ran a half marathon.  I didn't set any speed records, but ran the whole way and felt strong doing it.  In early April, about nine months after the accident, I completed my first post-accident marathon, in the beautiful Yakima River Valley.  The metaphor of rebirth after nine months didn't escape me.  I've gone on to complete ten marathons in 2009, proving to myself that I'm feeling as strong as ever.

Physically, I'm pretty much as recovered as I'm going to get.  Although I'm still recovering emotionally from the accident, I hit an important milestone by riding my bike to work along the same route I'd traveled ten months earlier, in May of 2009.

On Father's Day 2009, I spoke (via video) to the congregation of the Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church about my new perspective on being a dad that this accident has given me.  In July of 2009, we quietly observed the anniversary of the accident, and (six days later) of my waking up.

I've been given a rare gift.  I've seen and felt how much love I have present in my life.  Someday, I hope to have the strength and perspective to look at this as a positive experience.  Working towards recovery has not been easy, but it is an opportunity to appreciate life for all it is.

Following are some links to things detailing the journey through recovery :

• Kris' caring bridge blog from the days following the accident.  Check out the Journal and the Guestbook Entries - they're worthwhile and inspiring to read.  What I do is to click on each of these and sort by date, oldest entries first (that takes you through the events in chronological order).
• My first blog post following the accident.  I wrote this from my hospital room at Harborview, two days before going home.
• What I remember about the accident.  Not much.  I wrote this entry after I'd been home for a day or two, and was trying hard to make some sense of what had happened.
• Reading the police report.  Have to wonder whether the driver is more careful now than he was then.
• What made the difference in my recovery ?  This is where I try to say "thank you" to the many people who offered love and support along the way.
• The magic friendship bracelets that my girls made me.
• Visiting the Harborview Neuro ICU the day after Christmas 2009.  You can also read the letter I wrote to them.
• Running my first post-accident marathon in April of 2009.
• Running fast again in the Tacoma City Marathon, May 2009.
• Riding my bike to work again - finishing the trip I started ten months before, May 2009.
• Happy Father's Day, 2009
• One Year Later
• Photo gallery of my recovery.
• Blog posts for the first three months following the accident.
• Blog posts on recovery, dating from late October of 2008 until now.