SPEED

Sure, no problem at all.

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"Zoomsplat" -Wingers"

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meeoch

Hey, all,

Want to let you know that Mitch was in a major motorcycle accident on
Saturday, Feb, 10th, at 10:00am. He was heading through Palomar, a
windy mountain road, when the front wheel lost traction and he went
down going about 40 mph. His bike slid into the guardrail and burst
into flames while his body slid into oncoming traffic. Mitch went
towards an oncoming Suburban and went feet first underneath it. His
helmet caught the bumper of the suburban, catching his head under the
bumper, allowing him to be dragged until it came to a complete stop.
The SUV slowly reversed back and Mitch was motionless. The riders
were the first heroes in that they helped cut off his leathers and
spine protector to see if there was bleeding. They also carefully
removed his helmet, which was already broken all the way through on
the bottom left side (that covers the jaw). On that side, the D-rings
that hold the strap tight had dug into his left jaw, causing
bleeding; there was also blood coming out of his nose. The riders
kept Mitch contained when his body came to, as his mind was scrambled
from the impact, making him come out swinging, literally. It took 8
guys to get Mitch into the helicopter that transported him to the
hospital. Let me say that he was riding in full leathers (with armor
built in), boots, gloves, plus a spine protector that he wore for the
first time that day (thank goodness, cuz that likely kept him from
being paralyzed).

The riders looked for contact information, but his cell was burning
in the trunk of his bike. All they knew was my name from the
insurance papers but had no way to contact me. Because of this, Mitch
had gone into the ER and gone to the critical care unit before I ever
knew what happened. I was at dance rehearsal until 2:30pm and, by the
time I left, I knew something was very, very wrong (Mitch was too
late getting home). I cried all the way home and ran to the computer
to check accidents in Palomar, as well as called his best riding
buddy (who was not with Mitch that day, unfortunately). While looking
on the internet, I checked caller ID and saw that Palomar Pomerado
had called. Having no idea what that was, I called back only to get a
busy signal... 6 times!!! Finally getting through to the ER, the
nurse promised me that Mitch was alive and asked me not to drive
alone. So I ignored her, jumped in the car and sped the 45 minutes
there. Sadly, there was a fatal crash on the way, which stopped
traffic for another 45 minutes. Finally getting to the hospital
around 4:45, I found Mitch's room and could hardly recognize the
swollen face with the tube coming out of his mouth.

The doctor told me that he had 3 fractures; the bridge of his nose
and left sinus cavity were from the helmet being pushed up into his
face (due to its contact with the suburban). The other was a C7
vertebrae fracture on the left lateral, so it was a stable fracture
(not at risk for affecting the spinal cord). Amazing there were no
broken bones. The big concern was the concussion. Because Mitch was
so combative at the scene, the helicopter medics had to "intubate"
him, which means stick a tube down his through to get oxygen in. His
aggressiveness from his head trauma made his breathing too shallow to
get enough oxygen. Because he got a tube down his throat in an
environment that was not sterile, he quickly developed pneumonia in
his right lung. He was placed in an induced coma and was expected to
wake up the following day after ceasing the sedatives.

The nurses were the second heroes because they responded every time I
asked them a question or panicked when his BP would drop (72/34) or
temp would raise (103.9). His condition was considered "stable but
critical" yet something scary happened at least every hour throughout
the night. Needless to say, there was very little sleep as I believed
his vitals had to be monitored 24 hrs/day. The nurses were great but
they had other patients, of course.

On Sunday morning the sedatives were ceased by 6am, and the doctor
expected him to begin waking up late that morning. Nothing. Nothing
all day. Sunday came and went and he had a terrible night of high
fevers resulting in an ice bath. So we expected him to wake up
Monday. Still nothing. The doctor was concerned and I was out of my
head. He was in a real coma, no longer induced. Every time his eyes
or body stirred I would tell him where he was and that I loved him
and that he was okay, but there was never any recognition. After all
too long, he opened his eyes around 4:30am Tuesday and recognized me.
I had to explain what happened but he couldn't speak due to the tube
in his mouth. He tried to write questions but had no strength to hold
the pen. Later that day, they took the tube out when he was strong
enough to breathe on his own. Even later he stood up for the first
time and by the end of the day had stood up 3 times (even did a
little dance the 3rd time, vintage Mitch). It was the most amazing day!

When I told him that he was in a motorcycle accident, his slowly
whispered, very labored response was that he remembered going home,
parking his bike in the garage and calling me to tell me he was home
and safe, like he always does. I had to show him his ripped open
helmet before he believed me (the medics brought it to the hospital).
Each day he moved better, got stronger, became more aware, and talked
more. He is truly a miracle and the nurses called me after we were
able to go home Thursday night just to tell me how wonderful it is to
have a happy ending come out of the critical care unit, as it's rare.

Now Mitch is awfully sore but walking with increased balance and is
back to his entertaining self. His short term memory will be affected
for a bit, but is expected to make a full recovery. His right eye has
a retinal hemorrhage and sees a grey spot in his vision, also
expected to fully recover within the next year (likely sooner).

I am forever indebted to the riders at the scene, the riders that
helped after the fact, the amazing nurses who came whenever I
screamed for help, and for everyone who prayed and sent out positive
energy for Mitch's recovery (the third heroes). I truly believe that
positive energy helped bring him out of his coma. I apologize for not
informing all of you, as I stayed at the hospital holding Mitch's
hand from Saturday-Thursday, going home only once to pick up more
clothes and take a shower. We are very lucky to have come out of this
horrific nightmare alive and well.

Love and health,
Dionne

IN A PREVIOUS POST I SAID, "I WAS NOT LOOKING FOR CHARITY", WELL I WANT TO TAKE THAT BACK!
MY ROUGH CALCULATION IS, SINCE WE WERE "IN BETWEEN" OUR COVERAGE AS MY WIFE IS MOVING JOBS, WE ARE LOOKING AT AROUND $38K IN MEDICAL BILLS!!!

I'M NOT TOO PROUD TO ASK FOR ASSISTANCE HERE, AND I WANT TO THANK THE INDIVIDUALS THAT HAVE COME TO OUR AID ALREADY.

WHATEVER YOU CAN GIVE, PLEASE USE MEEOCH@MAC.COM FOR PAYPAL, OR PM IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEND SOMETHING PERSONALLY.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR FINANCIAL AID!!!

CHEERS,

MITCH

Gwyneth

Mitch ~ Thank you for this post. It brought tears to my eyes. I'm glad to hear that this is a happy ending, and will be doing my small part to help whittle down that ER bill. Never be too proud to ask for help, since your fellow riders are more than happy to lend a hand and offer support.

meeoch

It has been 2.5 weeks since my accident, and I wanted to give y'all an update.

First off, I'm doing great! The swelling in my hip and knee is down considerably and my range of motion is nearly back. My neck and shoulders have no more pain from many laps in the pool, and I'm finally able to find comfortable positions to sleep at night.

Dionne and I have been humbled by the number of people that have reached out to us in our time of need. To date $1K has been contributed to the "Meeoch Medical Fund", and I have been cleaning out the house and became an ebay whore in the process. Bills are coming in slowly, but I plan on speaking directly with the head of billing at the hospital to find an "acceptable amount" settlement that we can handle.

The insurance is working on pricing out the bike and gear, so hopefully that amount will be a welcomed surprise.

Again. Thank you to the moto community that was there to assist me at the scene, extended their prayers and energy and took the time to contact us and contributed what they could.

I'm proud to be sportbike rider, and proud to call you all my friends.

Cheers!

Mitch Heiner

Fred S

Thanks for the update Mitch! I hope everything falls into place financially for you. You already have the friends and family portion of your life covered. I'm glad your "rehab" is coming along too. Working past those injuries is going to make you that much stronger in the end.

SPEED

Very good news indeed! It's good to see how quick you are healing.

__________________
Live to ride another day!"
"Zoomsplat" -Wingers"

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Dawn

Mitch, we are happy to hear the update!!!! Glad you are healing up!

Pics are going out in the morning mail.

lovinmyf4i

Good to hear you're doing well!

__________________
-Chip

"Word to your momz, I came to drop bombz"

'07 Triumph Daytona 675 (street) - '01 Yamaha R6 (track)

husker4life

good to hear your getting better... I'm sure if you were to have a garage sale everyone could come up with some stuff to donate and then you could keep the money????? Does that sound good to you? EVERYONE???
Because I have entertainment center and stereo to Donate..... plus som other stuff... Just an idea.. Its a way that everyone could help.. I'm sue everyone has some treasures laying around the house that really don't use anymore....

meeoch

Isn't it amazing how FAST the bills come.... but conversely how SLOW the $ comes from insurance!!??

I'm doing very well, and have been in the pool frequently to work out my left leg and shoulder. My hip is returning to normal size, but my knee seems to be more tweaked than I originally thought, as there was most likely some contact of the Suburban and my leg. I'm thinking one of the tires gave my leg more than a little kiss. So, now that we have killer medical insurance again (wish the timing was better on this one ) I'm going to get some MRI's to see the damage that the hospital missed, as they were busy looking for life threatening problems.

The good news is that my vehicle insurance is fantastic and they are working with me on every detail, so I should be getting a healthy check from them to put in the pockets of the hospital and Dr.'s.

Dionne has been a champ through this whole ordeal, and I have been spending a lot of time with her to assure her that this nightmare is almost behind us.

I received the CHP report, and they found the cause of the accident to be front tire failure. That sounds like the only cause I can think of/be comfortable with, so be careful with those Pilot Powers 2CT's out there!!!
I know that road very very well, and I would not have gone TOO HOT into a corner, so loss of contact of the front is the only reasonable cause I can think of.

To date, the "Meeoch Medical Fund" has grossed over $1500 and I am eternally grateful to everyone that has been moved by our story, and has taken the time to contribute their hard earned $ to our bills. The moto community around the WORLD, yes, even riders from the UK, Canada, Germany and Italy have reached out to us, and we want to express our gratitude to you all!!!

Dionne and I would like to thank all the local riders personally at the

Yardhouse at the Irvine Spectrum on Sunday 3/18 from 1pm-3pm.


I will post up another thread about this, and hopefully a majority of y'all are available to attend.

I wish I could meet up with everyone this weekend for the MOTOGP Opener, but Dionne and I will be up in Portland getting some things squared away at our new place for the move at the end of April.

Cheers to everyone involved in my recovery with their positive energy, thoughts and prayers. You truly have made a difference and an impact in our lives. I continue to dream of carving corners on my bike almost every night, and I hope that someday I can experience the feeling that all of us appreciate.... on a track that is!!!

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