Cindy's Bike Accident

This is my sister Cindy with her grandchildren Hallee, Colt and Jayden.

This past year Cindy has been training to enter bike races with her husband Kelly.

Kelly has been bike racing for a couple of years and Cindy has been following him in their car for support.

This year she wanted to do a few bike races herself and has been training with her new fantastic racing bike.

Her first race was near Rupert Idaho on Saturday May 14th.

The story of what happened:

It was windy that day. When it is windy, bike riders 'stream' where they go in a single line and take turns at the front. This is an example of streaming.

That was what they were doing this morning. One of the riders put on the brakes. The next rider braked. Cindy didn't have the time to brake. 15 miles an hour ---- tire to tire --- you get the idea. Shoe are clipped into the peddle. She went down hard right on her knee. The riders around her got help. 

Cindy and Kelly on their two seater bike. 

Cindy, who is a nurse started barking out orders to those around her. She knew it was serious and she needed to go to the hospital.

But...... she was in rural Idaho.. (not good).

We were very concerned and wanted to get her at least to the Pocatello Hospital. But they couldn't do it without huge expense and problems with the insurance company.

Can you imagine something worse than being in a rural hospital? That sounds scary. 

When she arrived they were concerned at how swollen her led was from the trauma. 

A few x-rays later, they found out that her left knee was shattered ... and a broken right thumb (broken right in half). Her knee was in a totally different place to where it should be. Her knee took the full force of the crash (along with 15 miles of power). 

Her Tibia was shattered.

4 1/2 hour surgery later, she was the proud new owner of a 16 inch incision, 2 plates, 14 screws, and a bone graft in her left knee. She also had to have 2 pins/screws in her thumb. The surgery was just the beginning. She is non-weight bearing for 3 months (a walker) and in crutches for 3 months after that. 

The surgery had to happen at Minidoka Memorial Hospital in Rupert Idaho.

The tender mercies of the Lord:

We have been touched on how many tender mercies that we are constantly given. This accident was no exception.

First, the people that surrounded her were her friend Lisa, who is an RN, a very tall big man, who is an RN, and an EMT. Because of their knowledge, they did everything right.

Second, one of Kelly's friends and fellow riders showed up late. He had managed to make it to their group and needed to rest before going on. The second the accident happened, he called Kelly. Kelly didn't answer, so he was able to bike like I'm sure he never had before and reach Kelly to tell him that Cindy was in an accident. Otherwise, it may have been hours longer before he found her.

Third, when Cindy met the surgeon, she felt peace overwhelm her. After the surgery, she found out that the surgeon's specialty is trauma orthopedic surgery. He has great experience and was on rotation from Cassia Regional Medical Center in Burley.

Fourth, the anesthesiologist was on rotation from Pocatello and is a long time friend of Cindy's and was able to help Kelly give her a blessing.

We do not believe that any of this was a coincidence. Cindy had the best care possible. All of the staff were LDS and that was a comfort to her. There were so many that stopped to see Cindy and Kelly and see how they were doing who did not even know them. Sometimes the Lord has something that he wants us to learn.

Cindy continues to amaze us. She is getting around slowly, but surely and doing more and more each day. As an independent person, she is asking for help and letting others help and serve her. We have  been following this blog and it gives us courage to do hard things. That is Cindy's new mantra: "I can do hard things." 

Our constant prayers are with her for a quick recovery with no ill affects from the accident. 

We love you Cindy!