Every so often a post or a photo will appear on my Facebook newsfeed that encourages me to become a very annoyed human. Usually I don’t take anything I see on Facebook seriously but there’s one thing that is appearing rather frequently and I can’t help but take notice of it.
These posts/photos will usually follow the same pattern; they’ll encourage people to watch out for motorbikes while the comment section insists it’s the fault of a motorbiker if they are hit. I tend to ignore any moron who says something so idiotic but I find it incredibly difficult to ignore blaming everyone who rides a motorbike for accidents.
While on a road we would travel frequently my dad was hit by a car. He was riding his motorbike home, he was around 5 minutes away but the woman in the car wasn’t paying attention. She chose to speak to her friend rather than check the road was safe prior to turning into a popular café. She never saw my dad and he didn’t have time to stop. She cut him off, he hit the car and that was that.
My dad was taken to one hospital but after realising the extent of his injuries, he was quickly taken through to Edinburgh. While doctors worked their magic on him, there wasn’t a whole lot they could do. His kidney was removed and he suffered from a great deal of internal bleeding to the point where the whole family were called to wait around for what medical professionals believed to be the inevitable.
The thing is though, my dad is stubborn. He may have slipped away at one point but then he decided he wasn’t quite done yet. My dad pulled through despite the fact the odds were completely against him. He had 120 pints of blood pumped into him during his hospital stay and, despite not being back to his previous health, he still does his best to lead an active lifestyle. The accident has made him more vulnerable to illnesses such as pneumonia which can be rather frightening when it puts him back in hospital but he’s still determined to fight every single thing life throws at him. He won’t even stay in hospitals for very long if he can help it.
Unfortunately our family fell apart following my dad’s accident. Things were said that should have never even been thought and as a result, we stopped talking to my grandparents. I won’t go into the full details as they don’t need to be plastered on the internet but I can tell you that it wasn’t pleasant.
I wish I could tell anyone who seriously believes that all bikers cause their own accident this story. My dad went out for a leisurely ride on a Sunday afternoon and almost never came home again. He was on a road he knew like the back of his and had years of experience with motorbikes under his belt but it didn’t matter; the woman just never saw him.
Of course there are motorbikers who drive dangerously but the same can be said for car drivers, it just so happens a motorbiker has less protection. They may (hopefully) have their leathers and helmet on but if I could show you how little of my dad’s leathers survived his accident I would. All I ask is that anyone who dares get behind the wheel of any vehicle looks out for anyone on a motorbike. I almost lost my dad due to someone not paying attention and I’d hate for anyone else to have to go through the same thing.
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