Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 43 and broke my hip

Feb 5 is a date I won't forget anytime soon. I had some cattle to check and I hopped on a quad to run out to the field and wanted to be back in time to catch the start of the Super Bowl. Finished with the inspection of cattle, I headed back towards the house and began to cross a terrace in the field with the Artic Cat. As I crossed the wheels of the quad stuck in a large snowbank on the off side of the terrace. I catapulted over the handle bars and flew some 10 feet ahead and landed on my belly. I began to roll to my left because I knew the quad would follow..I was in my first roll with my left leg extended when the quad came upside down directly on my leg and savagely smashed it down and then bounced off and shut off. I remember thinking how quiet it was and knowing I was hurt badly. My golden retriever crawled up to my face and laid down beside me( the emts later had to drag her away so they could move me). I had my cell phone in my pocket and pulled it out to call for help, because I didn't know if I would pass out soon or not. I called my bro-in-law and then my wife. They beat the emergency crews by a few minutes...I remember telling my wife I had bad underwear on which I don't think she thought was funny. The response time of the fire and rescue squad was amazing, my wife said there were 3 ambulances, a fire truck, two sheriff deputies, city policeman and about 40 emts and fireman in our field. They put me on a board and slid me into an ambulance(that and the ride out of the field was the most pain I've ever experienced) The ER visit was brief as a chopper was waiting to take me to Sioux Falls. I remember them cutting most of my clothes off and being able to say goodbye to my kids before they put me on the helicopter. The flight was very quick and smooth, my wife was allowed to ride up front with the pilot. After being wheeled into the ER the rest of my clothes were cut off and I was mercifully then put under while they put my hip back into place. I remember waking up as they were doing a series of CT scans determing the damage to my hip. I then was wheeled to a room and ended up seeing the last quarter of the Super Bowl.
The diagnosis was an acetabuler fracture, with my femur effectively blowing out the back of the hip socket and then being displaced on the side of my hip. Surgery was scheduled 4 days later to repair the hip(this allowed the trauma around the socket to calm down and make the repair easier) Surgery went very well, with plenty of stainless hardware added to beef up my hip. I was very blessed to have the surgeon I did, one of the best in the nation for repairs like mine.
I am now home with a walker and need at least 8 weeks off my hip, with a total recovery time of 3-4 months. This will be very tough for me as I am used to being very active. On the bright side, I am alive and have an excellent chance of a full recovery. I will have lots of time to spend with my family(and catch up on the campfire :)) Picture of left hip show incision area Pic showing swelling of left leg and old man's walker

DAMN! it hurt just reading that. I wish you a speedy and complete recovery. don't push it! might be a good time to start a new hobby to keep yourself busy, but not so active

Sorry to hear it happened; glad to hear it is going well. Will throw in a prayer for continued smooth recovery. (Best be careful of those kind of pictures - might wind up getting the thread moved down to Talk to the Webmaster. )

Man,..that's the Blues..

Glad they were able to fix it. I expect you'll make a recovery quicker than they anticipate.

On the bright side,..that's one less hip you'll have to worry about down the road.!

Thank God for modern surgery. May you have a full recovery.

Surely glad to hear it turned out as well as it did considering how bad the outcome could have been.
Take it easy, as if you had a choice.

Ouch. Hope your recuperation time goes quickly and you are back up and going soon.

cowman,

I prayed for your complete recovery. Sorry you got hurt.

Dude......Happy it wasn't your head that got squished!

A good friend is rehabbing from a spiral fracture of his femur. It takes time, he's five months in and doing well now without a cane.

Someone here had mentioned raw oats as being beneficial to healing bones? Scott F I think?

Ouch!

Hang in there, stay active as you can and ward off the doggone blood clots that sometimes seem to form after trauma like that.

I read your post aloud, and my wife laughed when I got to the part about underwear - she said "see, you should always wear it." Oooops.

Hang in there - healing will happen - it just slows a guy down for a while.

should have took a horse theys generally safer then those new fangled machines they got out now :)stay safe and follow docs orders
norm

Good to hear that things went well. Hang in there- Denny

The good news is that you're young and keep yourself up, thus I expect you'll make a full recovery. I see quite a few of these at my work and most end up with excellent outcomes, even the 350 pounders which you are definitley not. You probably know this already but I have to say it...Don't fart around and do stuff you should not, don't push it. The easier you are on this the better and stronger the knit will be.

The best to you and a speedy recovery.

Wayne

What he said...

Prayers for your full recover! BTW, before this happened, you didn't happen to pray for patience, did you!?!

Ed

ATVs are a menace. Get well soon.

One of the most painful injuries that one can have. Similar injury several years ago along with fractured pelvis and cracked socket. Pain was a 10+ Three foot ladder fall, glad it wasn't four foot or I wouldn't be around to antagonize the wife. GW

Good luck an speedy recovery

I've been hurt ALMOST as badly, years ago.A foot, both legs, ......about a full year in reconstructive surgeries, Bone Fusions, etc.

Keeping your spirits up can be a bit of a challenge, it goes with that territory.

NUTRITION focused on "Bone Healing" is worth a look, I'm convinced it contributed to my 'Walking Away' from injuries that were supposed to leave me "Disabled". Silly stuff like a coupla' drops of Organic Iodine in one's coffee, daily, and the like. I'm not going to be a missionary for holistic Mineral and Vitamin supplemental therapy here, will only say that in my case, combined with Modern Surgical miracles, it left me in FAR better shape than anyone expected.

Your on a prayer list here, my friend, ...Strength and Healing !

GTC

That just sucks! If you can find a way to come North again we could find a way for you to sit and fish...

Then again, sitting might not be the best plan, either?