So I had a really bad weekend. I was supposed to go to a moped rally in Michigan, but although I ended up getting all my paperwork in time, my ride fell through. So I missed it and was really upset about it.

Then I had a call for an interview for my dream job. It’s doing research for a documentary production company and it’s on Tuesday morning. I thought that since I was kinda sad about the moped rally and my roots are coming in, I’d just go get some hair dye, dye my hair and spend Saturday night watching a movie with the dog. Well………………..

…………..I took my keys and my bank card (no phone, cigarettes or cash) and got on my moped and rode down to College Street. I was heading for Shoppers Drug Mart to get hair dye at about 45 km/h when a woman driving in the opposite direction illegally turned left right in front of me. I had about 2 feet between me and her moving car, which unfortunately was not enough time to brake and swerve out of the way. I went head on into her car, smashing my moped into the front quarter panel and hitting my head on the hood. I got pinned between my bike and her car, and couldn’t get up. Some nice people who saw the whole thing picked my bike up off me and carried me to the sidewalk. I couldn’t stand on my right leg; any time I tried to put weight on it, it just buckled and I fell. I couldn’t see properly; everything was blurry and I got really hot, sweaty and nautious. Someone called an ambulance and they came and whisked me away to the hospital. I had to leave my moped there. Luckily, I had given one of the witnesses a friends number and I found out later that she had come and picked my moped up.

The ambulance took me to Toronto General, but I didn’t know where I was until I had been there an hour. I couldn’t call anyone because I didn’t have my phone and didn’t know anyone’s numbers so I was really worried about how I was going to get home when they let me out. The police came and took my statements and informed me that the woman who had been driving the car had been charged with reckless driving causing bodily harm. The doctors x-rayed and prodded me and then x-rayed and prodded me again and then finally released me at 6:30 in the morning. I had been there since just after 10 o’clock at night. Happily, my friend had called every hospital in town and found out where I was so she came and sat with me and drove me home and helped me in my house.

Here’s the damage: I have a ton of bruises. The left side of my hip is purple, as is the front of my thigh. I had my keys on my belt loop and when I hit the car they gashed into my leg so my pants were covered in blood and ruined. The right side of my neck is rock hard, which kind of worries me and I can’t move it. I can’t nod my head properly, it hurts too much. My right arm is terribly sore and not moving quite the way it should, and my right hand was pinched really hard so when I move my wrist too much it sends a shooting pain through my hand. But here’s the real kicker…the ligaments in my right knee are torn and there are three pieces of bone chipped off my kneecap floating around in there. The doctor thinks my knee might be fractured but he couldn’t tell properly in the x-rays so I have to go and see a fracture specialist in the morning.

Either way, I’m off my roller skates for a while and also off my bikes for a while. I haven’t even seen my moped. My friend took it to my work, so it’s sitting in the back room at Andy Poolhall. I have a giant splint on my leg from my ankle to my thigh. It’s keeping my leg straight because if it bends it sends an uncontrollable wave of pain through my kneecap.

I’m really angry about this. I wasn’t doing anything wrong. The girl that hit me was some young girl from Kitchener who was driving in Toronto for the first time. I would think that if you were driving here for the first time, you might exercise a little extra caution. I’m so broke right now, and last night I had to fork out money for the splint and prescription. I lost my shift at work tonight because I can’t walk and tomorrow I have to take cabs to and from the hospital. I can’t afford this. My moped will also need fixing and I will need a new helmet, as they are only intended to take one impact. So all in all I’m going to be out quite a lot of money that I don’t have.

I’m hoping insurance will take care of it. I don’t have collision on my bike, just liability, but my insurance claims woman told me that if the police said it was so clearly her fault that her insurance should cover things. I have to wait for the full police report and talk to her insurance company before I’ll know what’s going on. I hate that this happened. I think it really stinks. I’m in a lot of pain, I’m losing a lot of money and my moped is fucked up. I’m still going to go to my job interview because I really want it, but I’m going to look like an idiot hobbling in on crutches and a splint. I feel totally gutted. I don’t know when I’m going to be able to skate, ride or even walk. And all because some fucking idiot didn’t bother to check for oncoming traffic before she turned. If any of you drive, please watch for others on two wheels. It really sucks that a lot of drivers don’t notice motorcycles because when things like this happen, it isn’t the irresponsible car driver that gets hurt. It’s the girl on her way to the drugstore obeying traffic rules on her little moped.