Back Up and Running: Joel's Collision Injuries
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My name is William Joel Coady, and I was involved in a car and motorcycle collision on Monday, August 24th.
A month ago I made a plan. Atlanta to Chicago in a Uhaul to help a friend move. Then Chicago to Louisville, Louisville to Knoxville, Knoxville to Asheville, and Asheville to back home to Atlanta on a motorcycle. My first cross-country bike trip on a custom 1992 Harley Davidson Sportster. We were gonna spend our days on the road, Ride the Dragon in the Smokies, and go hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Some alone time to reflect on everything going on in the world, and to make the plan for the next phase in my life.
My first day on the road started pretty smoothly. A little more traffic on the highways in the afternoon than I would've liked, but I was making it work. When as I was slowing to take a left turn near my first stop in Louisville, I was hit from behind by a distracted driver. The Nissan sedan made direct impact with my left leg, breaking it just below the knee, before I rolled over the hood of the car and onto the pavement.
According the officer who responded to the accident, the car was moving at 55mph, and the driver of the vehicle didn’t even start to slow down.
I was taken by ambulance to the University of Louisville Hospital where I stayed for three days while they performed surgery to put my leg back together with a metal rod. I am thankful that my only injuries were a broken leg, a broken nose, and some road rash, but now I am facing a long healing process and mounting medical expenses.
The woman driving the vehicle was not carrying car insurance, the motorcycle coverage is insufficient, and in June my theatre was shut down, and I am without a job and without health insurance.
And if it couldn’t get any crazier, when my roommate came to Louisville to pick up the motorcycle, it had been removed from the scene of the accident by someone other than the Louisville authorities, and we have been unable to locate it.
I can't begin to think about the full cost of the ambulance ride, the surgery, and the hospital stay at the moment. Right now, I'm just focused on going forward. I'm seeking funds to help cover:
1) Specialized Orthopedic Follow-Up Visits at a local Atlanta doctor
2) Physical Therapy Treatments
3) Paying off what was owed on the bike
4) Repairing a dear friend's camera that was ruined in the wreck
5) Replacing the bike that I was growing to love so dearly
With my job unlikely to return any time soon, and everything up in the air, I feel like I’m at a loss. I wasn’t doing anything wrong, and suddenly the world is coming down on me. I just really need some help.
Thanks,
Joel
A month ago I made a plan. Atlanta to Chicago in a Uhaul to help a friend move. Then Chicago to Louisville, Louisville to Knoxville, Knoxville to Asheville, and Asheville to back home to Atlanta on a motorcycle. My first cross-country bike trip on a custom 1992 Harley Davidson Sportster. We were gonna spend our days on the road, Ride the Dragon in the Smokies, and go hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Some alone time to reflect on everything going on in the world, and to make the plan for the next phase in my life.
My first day on the road started pretty smoothly. A little more traffic on the highways in the afternoon than I would've liked, but I was making it work. When as I was slowing to take a left turn near my first stop in Louisville, I was hit from behind by a distracted driver. The Nissan sedan made direct impact with my left leg, breaking it just below the knee, before I rolled over the hood of the car and onto the pavement.
According the officer who responded to the accident, the car was moving at 55mph, and the driver of the vehicle didn’t even start to slow down.
I was taken by ambulance to the University of Louisville Hospital where I stayed for three days while they performed surgery to put my leg back together with a metal rod. I am thankful that my only injuries were a broken leg, a broken nose, and some road rash, but now I am facing a long healing process and mounting medical expenses.
The woman driving the vehicle was not carrying car insurance, the motorcycle coverage is insufficient, and in June my theatre was shut down, and I am without a job and without health insurance.
And if it couldn’t get any crazier, when my roommate came to Louisville to pick up the motorcycle, it had been removed from the scene of the accident by someone other than the Louisville authorities, and we have been unable to locate it.
I can't begin to think about the full cost of the ambulance ride, the surgery, and the hospital stay at the moment. Right now, I'm just focused on going forward. I'm seeking funds to help cover:
1) Specialized Orthopedic Follow-Up Visits at a local Atlanta doctor
2) Physical Therapy Treatments
3) Paying off what was owed on the bike
4) Repairing a dear friend's camera that was ruined in the wreck
5) Replacing the bike that I was growing to love so dearly
With my job unlikely to return any time soon, and everything up in the air, I feel like I’m at a loss. I wasn’t doing anything wrong, and suddenly the world is coming down on me. I just really need some help.
Thanks,
Joel
Organizer
Joel Coady
Organizer
Atlanta, GA