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One of our members, Art Biegunajtys ('96 Kawasaki green & white ZX-6R),
was involved in a serious motorcycle accident on June 29th, 2001.
His girlfriend Jesika informed us of the accident.
We're not sure if he ever rode with anyone in the club, but Jesika says he had talked about the club alot. We encourage you to send him Get Well Wishes via Jesika's email address: rychiepoo@hotmail.com (she'll print them out and take them to him). Remember to sign it as a Colorado Sportbike Club member if you're on our mailing list. It turns out that a couple of members do know Art. One of them, Thomas Boot (aka GXRBoY33), has set-up another email account where you can send your Get Well wishes to: Art_ZX6R@hotmail.com. Jesika has set up a website (jesika.allhell.com) dedicated to him, with complete details of the accident and updates on his progress (check out the "What's New Page"). Webmaster Bob's comment: It's pretty incredible, I recommend reading it Here is a summary of what happened, based on Jesika's emails & website (current as of 9/04/01): | ||
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We aren't exactly sure what happened - we just know he was on his way home at around 2 AM on June 29, 2001 and there where no other vehicles involved. They think he was only going about 35 mph, despite the fact that there were 69 feet of back-tire, and 29 feet of front-tire, skid marks. That's when he seperated from the bike and went head first into the curb. The bike slid on it's right side into the curb about 10 feet away from where he hit. He had a severe head injury - his head was cracked open on the left side by the impact - but no other injuries. Art's been riding for about 5 years. He did not have a hemlet on - he didn't think he needed a helmet that night because he wasn't going very far from home. In fact the accident happend about 3 blocks away from home. He was taken to Denver Health hospital and had emergency surgery on his brain. They took out a large piece of his skull to allow for the swelling. They also removed part of his brain - the part that controls speech, comprehension, and the right side of his body. After 5 1/2 hours of surgery, doctors gave him only a few hours to live. His few hours tuned into a few days, and after almost 3 weeks in ICU at Denver Health, he was moved to a beginners rehabilitation hospital in Aurora. He stayed there for 2 1/2 weeks getting started on physical rehab and working with a speech therapist to try to come up with a way to communicate. He has a trach tube in so he could not talk. After getting some hand signals down and him being able to sit up in a wheel-chair, we moved to Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital. Art celebrated his 26th birthday there on August 11th. He has since started standing with assistance. Because his right side does not work, he needs support on that side. He has recently started talking a little bit, even with his trach tube in. He is supposed to go next week to have a plate put in his head to replace the part of skull that was taken out. He is doing very well and I know he hopes to ride again soon, but his bike is totalled and he has no movement of his right hand as of now, but I do hope he will be able to get back on a bike again. Thanks for your time and thoughts. Ride Safely! Jesika | ||