Well, the Dempster claims another victim.
I left Inuvik, NWT., 30 min after publishing my last blog with the plan to do the 400 km south to Eagle Plains, the half way point to Dawson City, where I would spend the nite. It was a beautiful ride in beautiful weather preceeded by a day of rain. As usual there were a number of slippery sections which caused the beast to fishtail, and as usual, with 3 or 4 counter steers, it was easy to regain control...except for the last one. In the blink of an eye, I was sideways and suddenly flipped over the high side of the bike causing me to be thrown violently to the road landing on my Nikon which was strapped around my neck, and then the beast bounced on my back before doing another flip and then landing in the ditch.
With difficulty I was able to get to my feet and off to the side of the road. It was incredibly difficult...and painful... to breath, which I figured was a result of being winded as well as suffering a cracked rib or two.
I proceeded to pick up a number of my personal items strewn over the Dempster as a result of one of my bomb proof aluminum cases being torn open.
10 min later, the first pickup heading north stops to help me out. We tie a rope to the beast's wheel, and with his pickup, he drags it to the road, but it's still too heavy to get upright until 3 more cars stop, and the men help stand the bike up. I learn I am still 110 km north of Eagle Plains, when another southbound car stops with Phillys and Sharon from the EP Hotel. They recognize me from my stay there during my northbound leg 3 days ago, and offer to drive me with my belongings to the hotel. They inform me there's a construction camp 3 km south of where we were, and if I could ride, they would follow me, and I would leave the beast there. The moto started despite rolling over 3-4 times, no mirrors, a smashed headlight, a vaporized windshield, the "instrument cluster" hanging by the wires, and the wheels packed with mud and sand. After an angonizing 15 min ride, I left the beast at the James Creek camp and rode the rest of the way to the EP Hotel, arriving there around 7 pm on Sunday.
My breathing was still very difficult and it was impossible do speak more than a few words without having to take another breath, not to mention the searing pain across my left chest and back.
The next morning, Monday, I called the Dawson Health Center to arrange a visit...but how to get there...it was a 12 hour round trip by ambulance! Walker, the nurse there, figured out a solution. He arranged to have a Yukon Government pickup truck drive me south, while he dispatched an ambulance northbound and we would meet half way. I would be transfered to the ambulance, for the rest of the trip to the DHC, where I arrived around 7 pm, fortified with copious quantities of nitrous oxide (laughing gas).
After the xrays, the true damage was revealed... 4-5 fractured ribs, with one sufficiently splintered to have punctured my left lung...missing my heart by centimeters. This caused a collapse of the lung, as well a significant laceration and bleeding of the surrounding tissues.
It was important to remove this blood and fluid from my chest cavity by the insertion of a 1 inch tube forced into my chest cavity through the lats, and between 2 ribs. This was quite a painful ordeal despite only local freezing.
The DHC insisted I be transfered via emergency air medivac to the Whitehorse General Hospital, 600 km away, for close observation, and a CT scan. Around midnight, through a rain storm, I was ambulanced the 40 km to the Dawson airport, where I was met by a medical airplane for a flight to Whitehorse, where I was met on the tarmac in the rain at 2 pm, for the ambulance ride to the WGH.
On arriving at the hospital, I was immediatly given a ct scan, and only when my condition was stable, was I assigned a room.
The plan was to stay at the WGH until no more blood was draining from my chest tube, which would signify the mending of the lung and surrounding tissues. This was a waiting game, as there is no real treatment for this.
Last nite, Sunday, the chest tube was finally removed, and I was discharged this morning. Tonite I'm at the BestWestern in Whitehorse, from where I leave early tomorrow by rented SUV to make my way to Dawson City, and hopefully continue on the Dempster to Eagle Plains, where with the help of Stan, the general mgr., will arrange the shipment of the beast to MotoInter in Montreal, along with much of my no longer needed baggage.
Since I'm not allowed to fly before 10 days. I will make my way to Montreal Via the "Marine Highway", using the Alaska and B.C. Ferries, from Scagway to Vancouver, where I will take the train to Mtl.
This should get me home by mid Sept.
Stay tuned...
Cleaning the ambulance for me.
At the Dawson Health Clinic emergency center before being transfered via emergency medivac airplane to Whitehorse General Hospital at 1AM.
At the Dawson Health Clinic emergency center before being transfered via emergency medivac airplane to Whitehorse General Hospital at 1AM.
At the Whitehorse General Hospital
