A Bump in the Road – Part 2

My first thought was ‘Shit! Have I damaged the scooter?’, I quickly pulled the bike out of the bushes which was now missing a wing mirror. I then noticed that my left arm was in quite a bit of pain. With the scooter back between my legs and the adrenaline subsiding I realised I couldn’t bend my arm anymore. Head thumping and sweat pouring with my helmet still on, I awkwardly reached my right hand across my body to fish my phone out of my left pocket. Unable to get off the scooter, I phoned Lisa who was literally metres away inside the house.

Sheepishly I asked for a bit of assistance in the driveway. Fortunately Lisa works as an EMT nurse and jumped straight into action when I explained what had happened. I was terribly embarrassed by the situation but Lisa and Steve were super supportive and were much more concerned about getting me to the hospital. Within thirty minutes I was being attended to by the emergency room doctor. 

At this stage I was still pretty hopeful that whatever injury I’d done to myself was minor and that it wouldn’t delay my adventure too much. My arm was x-rayed and the doctor returned later to advise that I’d fractured my elbow and I would require surgery for it to heal properly. They couldn’t do the surgery in Broome and I would need to go to one of the major cities for the operation. 

I was devastated. Up to this point, everything had seemed like an embarrassing but strangely curious turn of events. Now I realised the impact of the crash – I was looking at months off the bike and my trip of a lifetime was on hold. I shed a few tears and gave my Mum a ring. It was good to speak to her and we had a little laugh at the fact that this was my second trip to the hospital in as many weeks.

After giving it some thought, I decided it made sense for me to return to Melbourne with my bicycle. I would try to get my operation done as soon as possible and recover at home with the support of family and friends. And so I booked an expensive one way flight from Broome to Melbourne. 

Belinda surprised me with a wonderful show of support from her and my friends. She had organised a fundraiser for me to help take the sting out of the cost of my flight home. Thank you again Belinda and everyone that chipped in – I am incredibly grateful for your generosity.

And so I arrived back in Melbourne with a busted arm and a heavy heart. Mum picked me up from the airport and we went straight to the emergency department at the Alfred Hospital. As it happened my Dad was visiting his own mother back in Northern Ireland.

It didn’t take long to be seen at the hospital and I was told I might have the surgery later that day. In the end called back into hospital the following day. I am super lucky to live in a country with such high quality public health care.

This was my first time going under the knife and I was morbidly curious about the inner workings of the hospital and having surgery. I was in a bit of pain coming out of surgery and stayed in for one night before being discharged with some drugs and a preliminary rehabilitation plan. 

So there I was – back where I had started the adventure four months earlier. On the one hand it was good to be home and great to see many of the faces I love. On the other I found myself struggling emotionally. I had gone from the ecstasy of living my dream to both literally and figuratively crashing back down to earth. 

At my six week follow up, the doctor advised my arm was healing more slowly than hoped and that I would need to stay in Melbourne for another six weeks minimum. The news was super disappointing but outside of my control. I attempted to focus on what I could do to aid my recovery. I tried to snap out of it by reminding myself how lucky I was to have been operated on so quickly, that I was likely to make a full recovery and I had lots of support from my family and friends. 

I decided to go back to therapy to work through what I was feeling. When I had set out on this expedition I expected there to be adversity, but I thought it would look like a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, perhaps running out of water or struggling through nearly impassable roads. I did not expect it to look like me breaking my arm on a moped and having to return home for months to recover. The counsellor I spoke to helped me reframe my situation. This was my current challenge and it was in fact part of the adventure. Taking a step back and looking at things a little differently made a world of difference to me. 

I was finally given the all clear to get back on the road at my twelve week follow up. Whether or not to continue the expedition was never in question for me – it was simply a matter of how long I would need to recover. 

In retrospect three and half months passed pretty quickly and I look back on this period with much gratitude. It was lovely to live at home with Mum and Dad again – I haven’t spent that much time with them in years. I was able to attend the funeral of my Uncle Terry who sadly died whilst I was back, go to many gatherings with friends and be both supported by and a support to the people I love.

Once I’d received the all clear, I booked a flight to Bali, Indonesia. As much as I wanted to pick up where I left off in Broome, the wet season was in full swing and completing the Gibb River Road would be nigh impossible. The Top End is in my backyard and I will be able to return with comparative ease. I decided I was content with the line I had cut through the middle of this grand continent and that Broome would be the end of the road for the Australian leg of my trip.

Life will continue to throw curve balls at us and we never know what is around the next corner. However, I strongly believe we always have a choice in how we respond to what happens in our lives. I’ve learnt quite a few lessons through this experience (including to stick to non-motorised forms of two wheeled transport) – it’s okay to feel crap sometimes, to be kind to myself and that this too shall pass.

And so I found myself counting down to another departure and suddenly short of time (there might be a pattern emerging here). Bring on Indonesia, my second country of the expedition and all that it holds!

I want to extend a huge thanks to all the people that helped and supported me over the last few months; Lisa and Steve for being excellent hosts, getting me to hospital and packing down my bike for the trip home (sorry again about crashing your scooter), Guy for working with Steve to get 70kg+ of my gear to the airport, Belinda for all your care, kind words and for organising the fundraiser, Mum and Dad for having me back at home and your unwavering support, the medical teams at Broome Hospital and the Alfred Hospital Melbourne for your amazing work and patching me up so quickly, Tom and Ando for your words of advice and getting me out on an adventure to the Sapphire Coast, Annie for getting me back on the bike with your tandem recumbent and to all the rest of my family and friends – I love each and every one of you!