Not long after my bicycle accident last Sept. 19, I heard that Boston Globe reporter Bella English had crashed on her bike the same day. I know Bella a bit. We’ve been in touch off and on over the years, and we even had lunch at India Quality in Kenmore Square once. So I reached out to her via Facebook.
It took a while for her to get back to me, and I heard from others that her injuries were much more serious than mine. Now she has told her story — about her fractured skull, her memory loss, vertigo and cognitive difficulties, and her rehab for multiple broken bones.
Best wishes to one of the Globe’s stalwarts. The good news is that Bella is on her way to a full recovery. Amazingly, she says she may hop back on her bike again. Not me.
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Rachel Alembakis
Geez, Dan. I managed to miss the news of your spill in September. I’m very sorry to hear that you were injured, and I hope your rehab is going well. We’re moderately enthusiastic bikers in our household; the husband bikes to work through Melbourne at least two or three times a week. I bike for sport (we live out the back of a great bike trail), and in theory, I should be able to use my bike for about 80% of my daily errands, but our particular locale is extremely hostile to safe biking and I’m very wary of biking on the streets with a young girl and a toddler. Without using your suffering as a stepping stone for my local politics, I’m really disappointed that Melbourne (and our local council) are so reluctant to install the infrastructure to support bikers.
Please excuse that – I hope you’re continuing to mend.
Dan Kennedy
@Rachel: No reason for you to be minutely informed about my life. Great to hear from you. But take it from Bella and me: it’s not a matter of if, but when.
Rachel Alembakis
@Dan, I hear you, which is why I don’t bike on the street with my girls; those aren’t statistics I’m willing to trifle with.
Dan Kennedy
@Rachel: I don’t want to turn you into a former biker (well, actually, I do), but I hit a speed bump in an empty school parking lot; Bella hit a pothole. Neither one of us was run over by a car. I suppose a nice, leisurely ride is OK. Both of us were going like hell.
Ron Newman
The only time I’ve ever broken bones was when I fell off my bike on a narrow temporary pedestrian bridge in Somerville. Since it was a December day (a few years ago), I suspect that I hit ice, but I don’t know for sure. Cracked ribs hurt.
Doug Haslam
As a rider myself (I do the PMC every year with friends), stories like Bella’s – and yours- get to me. I have been relatively fall-free (touch wood) in the last several years, but I know it can happen. Glad she – and you- is recovering.
And I hope she gets back on the bike.