Prayers for Mark B

I have only talked with Mark twice but this hit me hard. He is such a likable guy everyone feels like he is a friend. I could not stop thinking about it all day. I just saw the post where there is a chance for some good news and I am elated. With a spirit like Marks this will all work out somehow. We are all pulling for you.

 

Prayers from my family and friends, to him and his.
Will send more for tomorrow.

 

I will be thinking of you tomorrow.

Starmuppet.

 

My thoughts and Prayers sent out to Mark and family. GodSpeed and hang tough!

I remember meeting Mark at Road ATL probably back in 2005 and I was actually nervous because of his RoadRace DVDs and thought he was a star Yeah, the fiberglass repair video is pretty funny too.

Is he still trailering his bike with that BMW ?
I do the same with my 98 Civic :wow:

Hang tough and glad to hear the family made it OK and is with him. That had to have been the longest flight ever and very tough for his family.

GodSpeed!

 

Having just got home from visiting Mark, here are the updates he's asked me to relay to you guys. He's doing well, i took a printout of the first 12 pages of this thread, his parents have read it, and Mark started to read it. He's really taken aback by all the concern for his well being.

Mark's only broken bones are his left wrist and 2 vertebrae in the thorasic lumbar region of his upper back. He had surgery today on his hand, and is going into surgery tomorrow for his back. His spinal cord is still intact and the surgery will hopefully relieve some of the pressure on the cord and MIGHT, i repeat MIGHT lead to some feeling back. He has some sensation in his toes and his groin area, but still cannot move any of his limbs. He's in very good spirits, surprisingly.

He remembers the accident vividly, and the video pretty much confirms what he recalled. The turn where this happened, his usual lap there has him catch a downshift, just touch the brake a bit and make the left hand turn. When he caught his downshift, he hit a false neutral, as he was catching the downshift, he reached for the front brake lever, and the lever was gone. At that point, he stepped on the rear brake, the wheel locked up, and thats what spit him over the top resulting in the injuries he has. He landed on his head/neck/shoulder area and tumbled. He told me as he lay there, he realized he couldnt feel anything from his stomach down. He had removed his gloves, unzipped his leathers and put his hand on his stomach, the feeling he had was he thought he had massive internal injuries and the sensation he felt with his hand was that he was bloating from the bleeding, at this point, he thought he would be dead in mins. His trip to the hospital was the most mortifying trip of his life, he was scared as he's ever been. Fortunately for us, he's still here, still has his sense of humber (you guys should have heard some of the things he was telling me today, i was cracking up)
His speed was approx 130-140 mph entering that part of the track (he looks at his speedo going thru there). I have the video and per his request, he'd like it to remain private until he actually gets a chance to see it, at which time i'll get it to him.

I have the bike here at my house, and it does look like the bolt that held the brake lever into the perch is gone, not broken, but gone. Apparently the safety nut on the bottom became loose, which then allowed the bolt to work itself loose and fall out. This is really ironic that this happend because the trackday i was running at Tally, we had a rider with the EXACT same thing happen (rider was on an SV and actually inspected that the bolt and nut were in place that morning before he went out). The only thing in common with the two incidents were the fact that both MarkB and the rider at Tally were both using the CRG shorty levers. I cant see that there would be any type of problem with these levers, and its more than likely purely coincidental that they both were using these levers, but its def. odd.

Mark would like me to let you guys know that he really appreciates all the well wishes. So keep the prayers coming, he's gonna be needing them for a long time to come. We're still trying to convince him to get to Shepard ASAP

Also, anyone that would like to make a contribution to help with the enormous medical bills that he is going to have to overcome, i am going to set up a paypal account and will post up the address for any of you that would like to help out. Even tho Mark has the best ins. he can get thru Pirelli, as with most ins. co.'s, im sure there is a cap on how much they'll pay out in catastrophic illnesses/injuries. By the time all this is said and done, i feel the bills and rehab will be way more than what his coverage will be. Hopefully i'll have this set up tomorrow.

Im pooped, i left my house at 730 this morning and just got back home about an hour ago, so its been a LONG day. WHEW!

 

thanks for the update todd. you are a good friend.

mark is a friend to all of us through the dvd whether we know him or not. his spirit will help him through any recovery that is possible. i wish and pray for the very best. i am so glad he made it through this accident with his life and we are all very interested to hear further updates. the sensations are such a great sign.

mark, you are a good man that is doing the right thing in taking a matter of fact approach to the hand you're dealt. keep it up, and don't get down.

you rock.

 

Todd - thank you for the update.

Tell Mark that a bicycle racer named Saul Raisin had a serious injury last year and was told he would never ride a bicycle again. He went to Shepard Spinal Center and Saul is back on track to be competing at the world level again. Saul is now very involved in raising money for Shepard Spinal Center and can't say enough good things about the place.

I'm sure Mark is probably overwhelmed at everything being thrown at him right now, that is just another thing for us to pray about for him...that he will have peace of mind in his decision making process for his recovery.

 

Our thoughts and prayers are with Mark and his family.

 

Warm thoughts sent.

 

Youre right Paige, he is overwhelmed, hes just too damned hardheaded to admit it. His biggest fear is losing function of his arms and hands. He told me that as it stands right now, he can still play the piano, guitar, violin, and will be able to drive a vehicle. I honestly think he's scared to death of losing the ability to use his arms and hands. Hopefully he has a great neuro (another thing to pray for, to give the doc the knowledge and skill to do the very best that can be done for Mark), and that the surgury will go well. Then we can get him to Shepard and they can hopefully perform some of the same miracles on Mark that theyve performed on others. :up:

 

All of us NESBA guys are pulling for you Mark. Hang in there and let us know if there is anything we can do for you.

 

Yep - prayers for the surgeon are definitely important. Hopefully after surgery and he talks to the surgeon his mind can settle a little bit.

 

www.redflagfund.org

 

already in contact with them. :up:

 

I spoke with Mark and Sam at the AMA race at Barber last week. Mark is funny and strong willed Brit. He makes me laugh and is always in a good mood. Heal up buddy. If anyone can come out of this it will be you.

 

heres a couple of pics Mark wanted me to put up for you guys. I swear, he has a wild sense of humor!

 

thanks for the updates

 

Mark you are doing good bro, keep up the good spirits and progress. Hang in there.