Accident- Mike Sweger

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Dan Engel
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Mar 04, 2006 2:02 am

Accident- Mike Sweger

Post by Dan Engel » Sun Jul 02, 2006 8:43 pm

I wanted to let everyone know that Mike had an accident today, and that he is OK now although he is at UVA hospital.
Mike and I split off from the breakfast ride group around Moyers, WV. After some spirited riding for about 20 minutes Mike hit some gravel in the middle of the road. He started fish tailing badly and was trying to hold it altogether, but he was ultimately thrown from the bike and slid under the guard rail landing in the ditch. I was right behind him and started slowing down when I saw him fish tailing. Even though I had plenty of time to react when I hit the gravel, I still felt very uneasy when I hit the gravel. When I got to Mike, he was moaning about his back hurting and his leg hurting. Externally, the only apparent damage was some road rash on his knees. Some people came along and went to call the rescue squad, while I stayed with Mike. When the rescue squad came, they tended to Mike and drove him a few miles to a spot where the medivac helicopter came to pick him up.
I called Cindy to let her know what happened and that they were taking him to UVA. When I got to UVA he was in the operating room. I was able to see him briefly after the surgery with Cindy. They had to remove his spleen, but other than the road rash on his knees that seems to be the extent of his injuries. His spine is fine.
I can tell you now that Mike is a better rider than I am, and if I had been in front, I would have gone down also and probably a lot quicker than Mike.
The bottom line is that Mike is going to be OK, the BMW K1 bike is totaled and we both learned a lot from this accident.

Dan Engel
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Mar 04, 2006 2:02 am

Post by Dan Engel » Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:05 am

I just wanted to add some details about Mike's condition since Sunday. They have done some more xrays, and it seems like Mike has some broken bones. He has a broken shoulder, 2 broken vertibre and he has broken both legs below the knee. He also has a cut on his heal. The nurse pointed this out to me and asked about what Mike was wearing on his feet. I told her that he had some good motorcycle boots and that they did not appear to be damaged. So that cut may be from a compound fracture in his heal. However no word from the hospital on this yet.
Mike's recovery is going slowly, as he is still on the breathing tube. If anybody would like to drop him a line, his address is:
Mike Sweger
C/O UVA Hospital
PO Box 801443
Charlottesville, VA 22908
I will write more when I know more.

Kevin
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2004 4:02 pm

Post by Kevin » Thu Jul 06, 2006 11:39 pm

Dan - thanks for the update. I don't know Mike, but that's irrelevant. Thoughts and prayers go out to Mike and his family. Keep us posted.
75 R75/6
02 R1100SBX
01 GSX-R 600

aelder2259
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:49 am

Message from Mike's Sister

Post by aelder2259 » Thu Jul 13, 2006 5:17 pm

First I want to say thinks to Dan for being with Mike and getting him medical help quickly. I shudder to think how long he would have been laying along the road if he had been by himself.

I've been following Cyndi's (Mike's wife) posts on the BMW MOA forum. Today was the first day they had him sitting up. He was alert enough to try and talk to her, but with the trach, his voice doesn't quite work yet. From this point on, I think he'll improve quickly...he's a stubborn cuss and very strong-willed...things that will work in his favor while recovering.

I know that once he starts feeling better and is more alert, he's going to be mightly pissed about his K1. That's all he could talk about since he got it (and it is a beauty). Guess it's still uncertain whether it's been totalled or not. In any rate, I made a photo book of it to send to Mike. The caption of it is "You know you're a biker when...all the pictures you take have your motorcycle in it". http://images.kodakgallery.com/servlet/ ... 3_0_BG.jpg
Anita Elder
(Mike Sweger's sister)

AntonLargiader
Posts: 256
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2004 7:43 am

Post by AntonLargiader » Mon Jul 17, 2006 7:26 am

Can't access that picture. If it's a good one, send it to me and I'll post it somewhere.

I hope to go visit Mike today, if he's still here in the hospital.
R1100RS, R100R, K75RT, R100PD, R100GS, XR400R, R75/5x2, Jetta TDI

aelder2259
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:49 am

Post by aelder2259 » Mon Jul 17, 2006 2:18 pm

Image
Anita Elder
(Mike Sweger's sister)

AntonLargiader
Posts: 256
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2004 7:43 am

Post by AntonLargiader » Wed Jul 19, 2006 6:43 am

I just stopped in to see Cyndi and Mike (I'm local to UVa hospital after all) and he's in pretty damned good spirits. His legs are all bandaged up after the reconstruction and a coupla tubes stick out here and there, but he's alert and talking well. Sounds like he's in some pain but he never even got as far as a morphine drip. Now just on an injected pain med a few times a day.

We talked about that day's ride and the circumstances of the crash, I gave him some Bike mags that we had lying around, and so forth. They think he'll be there about another week before he heads off to rehab, but they were moving him this evening to a less critical area of the ICU. This will be his second move (I guess that's sort of like critical to guarded to good).

He said it's only in the last two days or so that he's been really aware of where he was and what day it was. When he was more heavily sedated he thought he was in Hawaii and a few other places. Well I guess that would be better than hot, humid Virginia!

I'll go back in a day or three to rotate the magazines. He and Cyndi think a K12LT is in the future.
R1100RS, R100R, K75RT, R100PD, R100GS, XR400R, R75/5x2, Jetta TDI

aelder2259
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:49 am

Just talked to Mike

Post by aelder2259 » Tue Jul 25, 2006 11:43 am

After reading Aton's post on the BMWMOA site about his and Dan's visit to Mike, I decided to give him a call.

He was a bit loopy from some pain meds (he must have really been hurting to administer them himself!). His mouth/throat was also very dry, making it difficult to talk clearly. He said a drain tube from his spleenectomy had come out and it caused his back to really hurt. His pancreas was also causing his sugar levels to spike, so to give it a rest, they still hadn't allowed any food or liquid by mouth (in fact, they were feeding him through his IV instead of the stomach tube since the pancreas wouldn't have to work as hard). I think he said they were going to give him some food/water later today. His doctor also told him their goal was to have him transferred to a rehab facility before his son, Nik, leaves on Saturday. He didn't sleep well last night because of the back pain, so we didn't talk long (he was very tired). But he's in great spirits and I think he'll recover quickly from this point since he's such a fighter.

Aton, I can't post on BMWMOA, so if you'd like to post this, feel free.
Anita Elder
(Mike Sweger's sister)

aelder2259
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:49 am

Mike Moved to Rehab Center

Post by aelder2259 » Fri Jul 28, 2006 11:36 am

I don't know which one he's been moved to and I haven't talked to him, but his son, Nik, told me in IMs that Mike was moved to a rehab center yesterday.
Anita Elder
(Mike Sweger's sister)

Dan Engel
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Mar 04, 2006 2:02 am

Post by Dan Engel » Sat Aug 05, 2006 11:09 pm

Mike is doing quite well and he has been moved to a rehab center. It is called Tinity Mission Health and Rehabilitation and is located on Commonwealth Avenue in Charlottesville. He is in room 217. His cell phone number is 434-409-5470; just give him a call. I am sure he would like to talk to you.

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