inigopete (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} inigopete) wrote,@ 2007-03-25 19:18:00 |
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bruises explained
Quite a lot of people have been looking at my face and wincing over the last couple of days. I've repeated the story a lot of times so, for the record, here's what happened:
I was cycling through Burgess Park on my way home on Thursday night at around 8pm, along the big wide path through the middle. I do it every day on the way to work and back and often see other cyclists, dog walkers, runners etc. but had heard about a couple of other cyclists being attacked in the area so am always a bit wary.
I saw two shadows in a dark patch up ahead on the path; nothing unusual there, there are often people walking the same path at night, they usually go to one side of the path and I cycle past on the other. The path used to be a railway, I think, so there's plenty of room. But these two guys split to either side of the path when they saw me coming. I was a bit cautious so pointed the bike between them, sped up a bit and ducked my helmeted head down. I was more than arm's reach away from either of them.
Then I felt a terrific BANG as something hit me right in the middle of my face and suddenly everything went very white and a bit sparkly. Because I was on a fixie, and clipped in, I didn't come off the bike and had no option really but to carry on pedalling as momentum carried me. I must have gone about 20 or 30 yards before I slowed down and wobbled off the bike to one side. My first thought was to grab the bike; actually my first thought was, "you f*ckers, you're not getting my bike!" - I looked back and couldn't see them coming after me so decided to run with the bike to the end of the path, to the light, noticing along the way how much the front of my face appeared to be leaking.
I called the police, who turned up surprisingly quickly and called me an ambulance (this is no time for puns...). While on the phone to the police, I looked back at the area where I'd been attacked and could still see two shadowy figures in the dark area. Another cyclist, who had been some distance behind me and hadn't seen the attack, stopped when he saw me and at the same time as the police on the phone were asking for descriptions of the two, I asked him. Neither of us could give any more details than that they were about my height. No clothing details, no skin colour, age, build, nothing. Once I was off the phone, I asked the other cyclist how my face looked, pointing to the mess that was my nose and now starting to bleed less. He winced and gave a noncommital "I don't know, there's a lot of blood, it's pretty f*cked up." - I had no idea, it was cold, numb and beginning to swell.
I waited. I could still see the figures hanging around in the dark section of the path, a third guy on a moped came and joined them and they sat down on a bench. When the police turned up (in an unmarked car), one of them walked / ran with me back up the path to find out who the figures were. As we approached them, four policemen on mountain bikes hendered out of the north side of the park towards us as backup and the plain clothes policeman's partner ran over.
The problem was that as the police questioned (and searched) the three of them, they said they hadn't seen the attack, it was nothing to do with them and as they walked towards the park they'd seen two black guys running away with their hoods up. It was a conceivable story: I'd been busy running to the end of the path so had had my back to my attacker(s), I got my phone out straight away and it was obvious I was phoning the police, it's possible whoever hit me made themselves scarce then. I had no way of proving that the lads the police were questioning were the same ones who attacked me, unfortunately.
So I walked over to the ambulance, my bike went off in the back of a police car to East Dulwich police station and I was taken to King's College Hospital A&E. I was seen very quickly, checked over and given drugs and came home. I went back the next day as I noticed I appeared to have cartilage sticking from the middle of my nose into one nostril, and it shouldn't be like that. An afternoon in A&E, a quick trip over to Guy's Hospital ENT unit and I have to go back on Tuesday morning for them to decide "how agressive" they need to be about patching up and straightening out what's basically an open fracture in my nose.
Long and short: don't cycle across the dark bit of Burgess Park after dark, kids...
Post Script: I'm typing this on my birthday. Yes, I'm 30 years old today and I actually feel a little bit more grown up. Only a little bit, don't worry. Although the above incident has meant I had to postpone my birthday party at the last minute - I didn't want my comically swollen face to be the centre of attention and generator of uncomfortable sympathy, I want a proper party where people don't feel nervous about staring so it will have to wait a while - I am having a really happy birthday. It's been great, I had a quiet evening last night and today have been realising just how blessed I am. Even my dad came up to London for a surprise visit, which was brilliant and has really made my day. A happy birthday indeed.
P.P.S. wince-inducing and rather graphic photos at http://stuf.fotopic.net/c1238254.html
P.P.P.S as I thought, and a few other people have independently observed, I could definitely have come off worse. Someone was looking after me: nothing was stolen, nothing except me was damaged and my nose will heal (maybe with the assistance of surgery). If the blow was an inch higher it would have hit me in the eyes, a couple of inches lower and it would have taken out quite a few teeth and possibly broken my jaw and if I hadn't ducked at all it would probably have caught me across the neck. The force would probably have crushed my windpipe and broken the cartilage that keeps it open. The consequences of that shouldn't really be considered.
Thank God.
Quite a lot of people have been looking at my face and wincing over the last couple of days. I've repeated the story a lot of times so, for the record, here's what happened:
I was cycling through Burgess Park on my way home on Thursday night at around 8pm, along the big wide path through the middle. I do it every day on the way to work and back and often see other cyclists, dog walkers, runners etc. but had heard about a couple of other cyclists being attacked in the area so am always a bit wary.
I saw two shadows in a dark patch up ahead on the path; nothing unusual there, there are often people walking the same path at night, they usually go to one side of the path and I cycle past on the other. The path used to be a railway, I think, so there's plenty of room. But these two guys split to either side of the path when they saw me coming. I was a bit cautious so pointed the bike between them, sped up a bit and ducked my helmeted head down. I was more than arm's reach away from either of them.
Then I felt a terrific BANG as something hit me right in the middle of my face and suddenly everything went very white and a bit sparkly. Because I was on a fixie, and clipped in, I didn't come off the bike and had no option really but to carry on pedalling as momentum carried me. I must have gone about 20 or 30 yards before I slowed down and wobbled off the bike to one side. My first thought was to grab the bike; actually my first thought was, "you f*ckers, you're not getting my bike!" - I looked back and couldn't see them coming after me so decided to run with the bike to the end of the path, to the light, noticing along the way how much the front of my face appeared to be leaking.
I called the police, who turned up surprisingly quickly and called me an ambulance (this is no time for puns...). While on the phone to the police, I looked back at the area where I'd been attacked and could still see two shadowy figures in the dark area. Another cyclist, who had been some distance behind me and hadn't seen the attack, stopped when he saw me and at the same time as the police on the phone were asking for descriptions of the two, I asked him. Neither of us could give any more details than that they were about my height. No clothing details, no skin colour, age, build, nothing. Once I was off the phone, I asked the other cyclist how my face looked, pointing to the mess that was my nose and now starting to bleed less. He winced and gave a noncommital "I don't know, there's a lot of blood, it's pretty f*cked up." - I had no idea, it was cold, numb and beginning to swell.
I waited. I could still see the figures hanging around in the dark section of the path, a third guy on a moped came and joined them and they sat down on a bench. When the police turned up (in an unmarked car), one of them walked / ran with me back up the path to find out who the figures were. As we approached them, four policemen on mountain bikes hendered out of the north side of the park towards us as backup and the plain clothes policeman's partner ran over.
The problem was that as the police questioned (and searched) the three of them, they said they hadn't seen the attack, it was nothing to do with them and as they walked towards the park they'd seen two black guys running away with their hoods up. It was a conceivable story: I'd been busy running to the end of the path so had had my back to my attacker(s), I got my phone out straight away and it was obvious I was phoning the police, it's possible whoever hit me made themselves scarce then. I had no way of proving that the lads the police were questioning were the same ones who attacked me, unfortunately.
So I walked over to the ambulance, my bike went off in the back of a police car to East Dulwich police station and I was taken to King's College Hospital A&E. I was seen very quickly, checked over and given drugs and came home. I went back the next day as I noticed I appeared to have cartilage sticking from the middle of my nose into one nostril, and it shouldn't be like that. An afternoon in A&E, a quick trip over to Guy's Hospital ENT unit and I have to go back on Tuesday morning for them to decide "how agressive" they need to be about patching up and straightening out what's basically an open fracture in my nose.
Long and short: don't cycle across the dark bit of Burgess Park after dark, kids...
Post Script: I'm typing this on my birthday. Yes, I'm 30 years old today and I actually feel a little bit more grown up. Only a little bit, don't worry. Although the above incident has meant I had to postpone my birthday party at the last minute - I didn't want my comically swollen face to be the centre of attention and generator of uncomfortable sympathy, I want a proper party where people don't feel nervous about staring so it will have to wait a while - I am having a really happy birthday. It's been great, I had a quiet evening last night and today have been realising just how blessed I am. Even my dad came up to London for a surprise visit, which was brilliant and has really made my day. A happy birthday indeed.
P.P.S. wince-inducing and rather graphic photos at http://stuf.fotopic.net/c1238254.html
P.P.P.S as I thought, and a few other people have independently observed, I could definitely have come off worse. Someone was looking after me: nothing was stolen, nothing except me was damaged and my nose will heal (maybe with the assistance of surgery). If the blow was an inch higher it would have hit me in the eyes, a couple of inches lower and it would have taken out quite a few teeth and possibly broken my jaw and if I hadn't ducked at all it would probably have caught me across the neck. The force would probably have crushed my windpipe and broken the cartilage that keeps it open. The consequences of that shouldn't really be considered.
Thank God.
