Mark, I haven't checked the site in a while and I couldn't believe what I was reading. Sorry to hear about your mishap. We hope you have a speedy recovery, but like Dave H. wrote, take your time and listen to what the doctor says. You'll be in our prayers Mark. Take care. Bob & Dan:3gears:
I talked to Larry today, Mark is resting about as well as can be expected, the calls and well wishes are getting through and are appreciated. Get well soon, Mark
Mark, I'm keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. I know you'll bounce back quickly, but like Bob mentioned, do what the doctors tell you! Hopefully the clutch leg and shifting arm came through okay!!!! Dan
Best wishes Mark. Make sure you specify OEM parts to the doctors. Post an update when you're well enough. Everyone here is pulling for you.
Mark was the first one to reach out to me and offer any help when I started in pure stock. I will never forget that. Get well soon Mark.
Jim, I went and visited him a couple of Sundays ago. I stayed for a little over 2 hours before I left for home. That about wore him out but I have to say he is much better than where he started from. That many broken ribs and punctured lung, it is hard for him to talk, breathe, move around, ect.. but did pretty well all considered. He is trying to get totally off the pain meds so he can start getting back into a little work and be able to drive. He has several months to go and hopefully back in full swing by race season :3gears: Jody
Thank you everyone for your support and prayers. They have been helpful and meaningful to my family and me. These first four and a half weeks have been a challenge. Today was my first partial day back in the office. Driving was very uncomfortable but it is nice to not be a shut in and have some independence once more. It was a pretty freak accident that left me with virtually a crushed right chest cavity. The final count left me with seven broken ribs with a total of 13 breaks. The worst ribs were broken in four spots, three spots and one with two breaks. Several were sizably displaced and when I was breathing would moving in wrong directions complicating things further. Additional injuries were a bruised, punctured and collapsed lung. Several bruised ribs, torn muscles and several severed nerves were thrown in for good measure. My fortunes though were amazing. I missed hitting my spine with the main impact by about two inches. With all the damage caused I do not even want to imaging what the outcome would have been had the impact been just a touch to the left. I am no longer symetrical nor straight but I can live with that. The blood has cleared up in my lung and healing has started but I have a long ways to go. Until we see how the healing takes place the doctors say I am still boarder line whether I will need surgery to plate my ribs. If the displaced ribs do not bridge well then they will need to be plated. And as they are broken front, rear and on the side they say the cut will be from arm pit to the bottom of my rib cage. I am hopeful this will not be the case. The other issue we will not know for another several months is if they will need to go in and freeze out the nerves that are severed. In general though the past couple days have been much improved. With little exception I have made progess each day. In total if I can escape any further surgeries then I have a healing time of 16 to 20 weeks to be fully healed. Again thank you for your prayers. A few more to help ward off any surgeries would surely be appreciated. Without any surgeries than I should be back in the saddle and racing in June. I also want to thank Jody, Bruno, Donny, Scott, Ross, Vince and Ron for checking in with me the past month. It was nice to hear from them. Happy New Year, Mark
