A South Surrey senior said a violent bicycle accident ended up turning into one of the best experiences in his life.
Dave Rogers, 73, was on his way home from a 40-kilometre bicycle ride May 8 when he struck a curb on 24 Avenue near 166 Street.
Rogers told Peace Arch News Sunday that the collision sent him over his handlebars. He struck his head on the pavement, “fortunately I was wearing a helmet,” he got road rash on his legs and arms, broke his glasses and broke his collarbone.
“Unbeknownst to me at the time, I looked like a bloody mess,” he said.
Before Rogers could piece together what had happened, a woman pulled over to check on his well-being.
As it turns out, the woman – who stayed for a short time – ended up being one of many people who stopped to help and check on Rogers.
Less than a minute later, Rogers said, a man showed up on a motorcycle. The motorcyclist phoned his colleague, who agreed to come by with an SUV to give Rogers and his bicycle a lift home.
Rogers said that while they were waiting – and only a couple minutes after the motorcyclist arrived – two lifeguards from Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre approached Rogers and asked if they could clean his wounds.
“This is just flooring me,” Rogers said. “It’s surreal to me. The two of them get out – there’s more blood on me than I thought – they cleaned me.”
“These people got right down and dirty.”
After the lifeguards left, a second motorcyclist came to check on his welfare, Rogers said, adding that by this point, he was sitting on the curb.
“He gets out of his bike, gets down into a squat and is looking at me eye-to-eye,” Rogers said. “In a nice calm way he’s just talking to me and again, making sure that I don’t conk out or that I’m not concussed. He doesn’t want me to fall asleep.”
Rogers said that the man asked him, “in just a lovely way,” if he can recall his name, what street he’s on and what day it is.
“I realize, here’s someone who knows a little bit about concussions.”
Not long after the second motorcyclist left, Rogers said, another vehicle pulled up.
“A guy gets out with a little satchel in his hands and he says ‘How are you? I got some bandages,'” Rogers recalled.
“He was going to dress my wounds, but the other people had already cleaned them.”
Soon after, Rogers said, the SUV showed up to bring him and his bicycle home.
“This fella who drove me said, ‘I’ll be praying for you.’ He almost knocked me over with that. It just renewed my faith in mankind. I’ve heard of people off on the side of the road and they’re basically left there. All of these people just went over and beyond. The whole thing was like a dream, all of these people coming to my aid,” Rogers said.
Rogers described the experience as “almost angelic” and the accident ended up being “one of the best experiences I’ve had in my life. A blessing in disguise.”
“I just can’t get these people out of my mind. I think wow, there are people like this in our city. There are probably more than we know, but man, for that many to show up, one after another, it blows me away.”
“I can actually say it turned into a wonderful day in the neighbourhood,” Rogers said.
