Update from my friend on the motorcyclist who crashed Sunday...

[JulesMaximus]

Fuck...

He is still unconscious.
• He is not currently breathing on his own. He is on a breathing machine.
• He sustained multiple face fractures which will require surgery once they determine the extent of the brain swelling and any brain damage.
• He sustained a neck fracture.
• He has swelling on the brain which is currently being evaluated with a pressure gauge on his brain which must remain under 20 (?) over the next few days. This is being closely monitored for the next several days. If the pressure stays down then they will perform the surgery to address the multiple frontal face fractures.
• They will be assessing any brain damage, which will be determined over the next few days.
• Breathing tube will only be removed if over the next few days they can determine he is able to breathe on his own. This is a slow process, patient process.
• Doctors operated on his right foot last evening, which was broken. His knee is injured but does not require surgery.
• His hand does not need surgery.

His Aunt brought me to the ICU room and I visited with him. I brought him a card and balloon from all of us and read it to him aloud and told him we all know he will pull through this like a tough biker dude!

His family greatly appreciates our prayer and support.

Edit-Details

 

[PricklyPete]

Very, very sad.

 

[Vic Vega]

I hope he pulls through.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Kid is 23 years old...fuck I'm depressed right now...:'(

 

[ayabe]

I'm very sorry.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Was he wearing gear?

 

[Howard]

Was he wearing gear?

I think so. A helmet, at least.

 

[Eli]

Unfortunately, this is probably why I will never bother to own a motorcycle. A car accident is scary enough, you're pretty much just fucked on a motorcycle. Just not worth it I guess.

I hope he pulls through. It sounds like he will, but I hope he makes a full recovery too.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Sad to hear. I hope he pulls through and immediately sells his bike (or whatever's left) and grabs a 250cc, or gives up on them in general. Prayers and thoughts to his family and friends.

 

[amdhunter]

Damn. Hope he pulls through. 23 is really too early to move on.

 

[RockinZ28]

Glad I made the mistakes in my youth in automobiles and never got more than an ache.

Hope he pulls through and is still functioning normally after a while, but yea F getting a bike in SoCal, I drive by, or hear about a bad motorcycle crash or fatality on the radio on the freeways way too often in L.A.

 

[halik]

Wow, how the hell did he end up with facial fractures with a helmet on?

 

[skyking]

From the other thread, it was a pretty bad crash and his visor was gone, something probably intruded into the opening.

 

[exdeath]

Fuck... indeed.

 

[alfa147x]

Fuck... This makes me never want a motorcycle

Hope this guy gets well soon

 

[Meghan54]

He may remain unconcious for a while because the MD's are probably keeping him in that state with a barbiturate coma due to his brain swelling.

That "20" you mentioned is his intracranial pressure (ICP), measured in mm of Hg (mercury). They're trying to keep it below 20mm Hg (normal is 5-15mm Hg)....above that and the brain first compress and then, as the ICP continues to rise, will try to find an "escape" route, usually through the Foramen Magnum, the opening in the base of the skull that the brain stem exits the skull and transforms into the spinal cord. Compression will compromise his brain's vascular perfusion, or how the brain's blood vessels flow blood and feed/keep the brain alive.

Once the brain "escapes", or herniates, through the foramen, his life is over, unfortunately. So, they put him into a barb coma to keep him as still and quiet as possible to minimize external forces acting on and increasing his ICP, much like being quiet and still drops your blood pressure and activity raises it.

What's going for him is his age. Youth does have a few benefits. If he was older, his chances would be almost nil.

I wish him good luck and do sincerely hope he pulls through. Sad to hear about this, though. It brings back memories of my days working in Neuro ICU....which wasn't exactly the unit with the best results, unfortunately.

Good wishes for him.

 

[halik]

He may remain unconcious for a while because the MD's are probably keeping him in that state with a barbiturate coma due to his brain swelling.

That "20" you mentioned is his intracranial pressure (ICP), measured in mm of Hg (mercury). They're trying to keep it below 20mm Hg (normal is 5-15mm Hg)....above that and the brain first compress and then, as the ICP continues to rise, will try to find an "escape" route, usually through the Foramen Magnum, the opening in the base of the skull that the brain stem exits the skull and transforms into the spinal cord. Compression will compromise his brain's vascular perfusion, or how the brain's blood vessels flow blood and feed/keep the brain alive.

Once the brain "escapes", or herniates, through the foramen, his life is over, unfortunately. So, they put him into a barb coma to keep him as still and quiet as possible to minimize external forces acting on and increasing his ICP, much like being quiet and still drops your blood pressure and activity raises it.

What's going for him is his age. Youth does have a few benefits. If he was older, his chances would be almost nil.

I wish him good luck and do sincerely hope he pulls through. Sad to hear about this, though. It brings back memories of my days working in Neuro ICU....which wasn't exactly the unit with the best results, unfortunately.

Good wishes for him.

Wow good info. MD?

 

[GuitarDaddy]

As much as I love bikes and grew up on bikes I swore long ago never to ride again becuase of incidents just like this. I watched a very close friend slowly die in the hospital over the course of several months from such a brain injury, and still kept riding. Then my first cousin went down and sustained a brain injury, and in the cruelest twist of fate he survived in a coma state for 4yr, 7mos, and 18days, entered the hospital at 225lbs and weighed 78lbs the day he died. Somewhere during that time I sold my bike and haven't gotten on one in over 20yrs now.

 

[halik]

As much as I love bikes and grew up on bikes I swore long ago never to ride again becuase of incidents just like this. I watched a very close friend slowly die in the hospital over the course of several months from such a brain injury, and still kept riding. Then my first cousin went down and sustained a brain injury, and in the cruelest twist of fate he survived in a coma state for 4yr, 7mos, and 18days, entered the hospital at 225lbs and weighed 78lbs the day he died. Somewhere during that time I sold my bike and haven't gotten on one in over 20yrs now.

Helmets?

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Helmets?

Friend Yes, Cousin No


The really crazy thing about my cousin is he had no other major injuries only scrapes and bruises, no broken bones, nothing. Within a couple of weeks his scrapes and bruises healed and he had no outward signs of injury. Just scrambled his noodle and he never regained conciousness.

 

[TraumaRN]

Wow, how the hell did he end up with facial fractures with a helmet on?

Helmets can only do some much, if his head smashed into something hard and flat on the frontal aspect of his helmet it's still enough to cause injury. Also he's probably alive because of that helmet at this point because given how devastating his injuries sound right now, if he didn't have a helmet on he would have probably been dead on scene.

@Meghan54 nice explanation of ICP. You must be in the medical field as well. I'm a trauma/ER nurse so I unfortunately have to deal with this on a regular basis.

 

[MrWizzard]

Wow, how the hell did he end up with facial fractures with a helmet on?

Gear only does so much. My sister has a friend who was a little to reckless and powered his bike into the back of a semi, he had full gear on, and it was not pretty.

If you are good enough to ride a bike and keep control you still have to worry about all the other cars and people out there who cannot drive.

This guy may pull through but from what they are saying likely have some form of brain damage. :-( I have seen people beat the odds though.

 

[soccerballtux]

Lets hope he pulls through this better than he pulled through that turn he took

 

[ayabe]

Even the best helmet is only good up to a point and it can cause other complications like a broken neck instead of a broken skull. Lots of variables in play.

 

[thescreensavers]

Damn, this is the main reason I wont buy a bike.

I hope he pulls through.