Mick’s (mid)life crisis

Former Sergeant and current General Secretary of the Queensland Police Union of Employees Mick Barnes is one of those blokes who decided to start riding motorcycles a little bit later in life.

Like many others involved in both Australian law enforcement and motorcycles, Mick joined the Queensland contingent heading down to the annual National ‘Wall to Wall’ ride in Canberra which commemorates National Police Remembrance Day in September 2015. Unfortunately, Mick didn’t make it to Canberra.

Fortunately though, Mick is still with us. I thought that as part of #ridesafely4me it would be good to hear a story without a tragic ending, and so I asked Mick if he would share his. He graciously accepted. I’m very grateful to Mick for sharing his story and I’m also very thankful he’s well and truly on the mend.

Mick’s (mid)life crisis

In hindsight I should have known that I was odds on to have a serious accident on my motorcycle. I did, after all, tick many of the demographic boxes that features highly in recent accident statistics. I was 52 at the time of my accident having only bought my first bike when I was in my late forties. What could go wrong, a middle-aged guy living out his mid-life crisis on a big and powerful motorcycle?

It was our first day riding as a group on our annual commemorative ride from Brisbane to Canberra when I came to grief in the mountains of northern New South Wales. Why is it that motorcyclists can never ride the most direct route but instead chose to zigzag their way across the country? Our course that day was such a winding route.

I have no independent memory of my accident and have had to rely on the accounts of my mates who were following me and information from the investigating police. I was negotiating a right-hand bend in the mountains on a tree lined road. My mates described that for no apparent reason part way through the bend my back tyre slipped just for a short time but then regained grip. The result was that my bike stood up from its lean into the bend. That action in turn catapulted my bike with me on it straight ahead off the road and into a rather large gum tree. The speed of impact was about 57 km/h.

The investigating police officers were able to establish the cause quite quickly because for them it was a common occurrence, motorcycles slipping on loose leaf material and coming to grief. This very subject has since been reported on by Brisbane media as a common cause of accidents along popular rides like that over Mt Glorious.

I suppose since the advent of mobile phones with cameras, it should come as no surprise at the volume of digital photos being taken. My mates took so many photos of me that day along with the road, trees, my bike, the paramedics, the helicopter, and each other that a slide night should be in order.

Through some negotiation by my mates, I ended up being flown from Urbanville to the Gold Coast University Hospital. I’m told I was in the ICU for about 4-5 days before making my way into the orthopaedic ward where I stayed for the next three months before being transferred to the Mater Private Hospital in Brisbane for rehabilitation. The teams at the GCUH were great and I owe not only my life to them but also the fact that I’ve been able to retain both my legs.

My injuries were numerous but my left leg is the major injury that to date has seen six operations along with months of rehabilitation. Six months later I am now able to stand for short periods of time and in another six months I hope to walk one of my daughters down the aisle for her wedding.

I’ve deliberately avoided the issue of ever riding another motorcycle again until my wife raised it. She has very graciously offered that it would be alright if I ever wanted to. Despite the pain associated with my injuries the greatest source of anguish for me was to see the faces of my whole family, especially my three daughters and my wife, when I was in hospital. I could see the fear in their faces following my accident and what the uncertain future may hold.

I look back now at photos taken early in my hospitalisation of my wife, daughters and me and cannot help feeling that they are the types of photos that you’d take for a memory in case something terrible should transpire. I also now know why my granddaughters didn’t visit for quite a while as there was great concern that my appearance in hospital with my injuries would be too confronting for them.

I would never deliberately cause my loved ones any pain or suffering, but clearly riding my motorcycle can and has done this very thing. My accident took its toll too on my mates who witnessed the incident.

It’s not about riding style but about our vulnerability and the ramifications for everyone else in our lives. We are still vulnerable on motorcycles, even when we are doing everything right.

I must thank all the medical professionals who combined, have given me the opportunity to live and rebuild my life, but also my family for their love and support.

I hope to ride again, and if I do I will always remember to #ridesafely4me