End of an Era

10 May 2015

Dear Phyllis,

Well I did it. I believe I have just had my last motor bike ride. I was going to school Tuesday morning riding Pammy's bike. Our highway is four lane with a place for U turns about 400 meters from the entrance to our muban (housing area). I was doing a very conservative 40km. A car did a U turn about 50 meters in front of me. All it would require is moderate braking or go around. Suddenly the rear wheel locked and I went crashing to the highway. Fortunately there wasn't a car behind me – or I didn't see one – but instantly there was a crowd of people standing around me. Apart from jamming my right shoulder and losing a fair bit of skin from several places on my body, I was confident there there was nothing serious wrong. I told every one, “I'm okay”. Someone helped me get to my feet and someone else picked up the bike and wheeled it to the side of the road. A fellow who spoke fair English said, “Just a minute, we'll have an ambulance here”. I replied, “No, you won't. I'm going home.” Man howdy did that start a squall. I have been riding with no drivers license for several years and I knew if the police showed up I would be in jail for several years. (That is slightly evangelistic but I would be in trouble with the police.) I was panic stricken to get out of there, but he took the keys to the bike. I started to walk home but three men grabbed me. Finally I said, “Call my wife”. He got Pammy on the phone and pretty soon she showed up.

Then the ambulance came. Another big problem. I said, “Go home. I'm fine. I don't need an ambulance.” Forcefully, I got loaded in the ambulance. Then a very kind policeman showed. He was probably 50 years old and was more like a friendly mailman than a police officer. He chatted with the men standing there but never spoke a word to me. He saw my cowboy hat and must have assumed I was a tourist. He took a picture of my expired Japanese drivers license which is fine as no one can read Japanese and assumed it was a good license.

My first surprise came when we got to the hospital. I was really surprised how difficult it was to get out of that ambulance and extremely difficult to sit in a wheel chair. They took me in emergency and a nurse began to wash out and disinfect five or six places on my body that were bleeding. Then they took me down to X-ray. I protested, “I don't need an X-ray. No broken bones”. I was shocked when ten minutes the X-ray man came out and said, “You have a broken arm”. He showed me the X-ray and it was a small crack on the ball of the humerus joining the shoulder socket. It was amazing that the shoulder socket didn't shatter.

I looked up and was startled to see my dear friend Pascal standing there. He had come to the house and learned that I was in the hospital. I was wondering how we were going to get home. The kindness of the Lord broke my heart and I wept and wept. At the time of the accident there was enough adrenaline to keep me going, but two hours later my body was starting to behave poorly. Pascal had driven us home and got a chair for me to sit in. The simple things in life became major crisis. How can I get my buckle undone? How can I get my pants off? It wasn't funny. Privacy prevents me from describing detail, but Pascal performed some of the greatest acts of love I have ever seen in my life. I weep to think about it.

I learned from cutting my hand 15 years ago, when you have a serious injury, that the entire body closes down and all the energy goes to the wounded part. Around noon I tried to go up stairs to my bedroom. I nearly died. I got to the landing halfway up and felt like I had just run the Boston Marathon. My entire body was drenched with sweat. I was sick to my stomach, and I was so faint that I was within a hair of passing out. Pammy got me a chair, and after five or ten minuets I recovered composure enough to go on up the remaining steps. But again I was so shot I was seriously faint.

Being bed was awful. If I kept my arm totally immobilized the pain level was tolerable. But any movement, the pain level made any attempt to move or sit up utterly prohibitive. Pammy made several attempts to help me get out of bed but all were to no avail. Pammy went to bed around 10:30 but I hadn't been to the bathroom for over 12 hours. I remembered the story of a fellow who got his leg pinned under a tree and cut his leg off to get extracted. I vowed, “If he can do it I can do it.” It was awful, but after 15 or 20 minutes of excruciating squirming and wiggling around I was finally able to drop down out of the bed on my knees. Again I broke out in sweat and got horribly faint. Once on my knees it was more manageable to pull myself up to standing on my feet. Oh hallelujah. My strength reservoir that night was about five to ten steps.

Recovery has been slow. Today is the 6^th day. My mobility is about 10%, but that is fantastic. That is 10 times better than I was Tuesday and Wednesday. Singha and his wife came by to see me this afternoon. You would have a hard time convincing me that they didn't float down out of a cloud on white wings. Angels with wings could not be more wonderful. We hugged and cried until we wet each others shoulder. They went and bought supplies and then came back to cleanse and change the bandages on my wounds. There is still considerable bleeding and those patches hadn't been off since Tuesday. The right elbow is particularly bad and I have gotten a lot of blood on every thing I have sat or laid on since Tuesday.

I say this may be my last time on a bike. I have come to a major intersection in life. I have always maintained I hadn't aged a day since I was 30. The cause of this accident is 100% neurological. It was just an old man that has no business riding a motor bike. When the rear wheel locked it felt like someone else had done it and my reaction time was too slow to release it. For the first time in my life I feel permanently grounded. I had every intention of riding for another 10 or 15 years, but if in a moderate situation that is the way I handle it then it is sayonara. I'm okay. I'm fine. Jesus will be here soon and I will get a new body.

Arigato gozaimasu, bill

PS: Oh Jesus is WONDERFUL! I cannot tell you, I cannot tell you, I cannot tell you HOW WONDERFUL JESUS IS!