Since we were one of the last generations to not grow up with tablets, cell phones and Internet to keep us self occupied and absorbed, we always played outside and sometimes would get hurt badly. I can recall three of these times involving a bicycle.
My first one was when I was 10 yrs old on the way to school down the street (straight shot) riding my trusty BMX bike and being mesmerized at the time at how my legs were powering the bike. Right about that time, I remember standing there, looking at my wheel and it was spinning, and some guy ran up to me to see if I was okay. I told him I was and went to the school and to the school office as the guy was very concerned. I ended up with quite a gnarly goose egg from slamming my bicycle into the back of a parked car!
My second one was on the same bike and I built a fun ramp to jump my bike off of on the sidewalk and was having a great time doing so until I somehow landed the wrong way and tore my right muscle in my neck. A trip to the ER later, I was home and back to doing things maybe a week later.
My third and final time, I was 14 and on this really awesome for the time, 10-speed with a black frame with red trim including the cables and seat. It was glorious! I was enjoying my time riding it at the top speed I could and didn't negotiate a turn correctly and ran into a curb and flipped off the bike and landed hands down to the ground. I bent my right arm some and had a 'splinter fracture'. That trip to the ER resulted in a splint which led to the orthopedic doctor who gave me a wrist brace they use for surgeries and I guess Carpal Tunnel. I had to wear that for 8 weeks and it was a long hot summer!
Sorry, bit of a long one, but I like telling this story :)
When I was about 15 or 16, we went on a family holiday to Turkey. My brother was a year younger than me, and we made friends with the teenagers who were renting out the sunbeds and equipment on the beach. On the weekend they invited us to a sort of nightclub a short bus ride away.
It was kind of like a normal nightclub, but it was outdoors with a swimming pool, and allowed older teens in too. We stopped at a traditional Turkish wedding on the way, and had a great time.
When it was time to leave, we headed back to the buses, but two German guys we'd met offered to drop us off on their mopeds instead, as it would be much quicker. We agreed, not realising that they were drunk.
As we were pulling away from the club, my rider was wobbling the moped and weaving up the road. I thought he was just messing around, so just laughed, until he toppled over and crashed.
Luckily, I just rolled up the road a bit and felt ok. The guys on the mopeds disappeared off as quickly as they could. My brother and our friends came running over, so I waved them off, thinking that they were worrying over nothing, but my brother and one of the Turkish boys put themselves under my arms to support me, while another boy ran back to the club. As we got back to the club, the boy who had run off was arguing with the security, but as soon as the security guard saw me, he nodded yes, and came running over, practically carrying me into the club.
I was quite surprised, but he took me to the toilets where there were large mirrors on the wall. My elbows and knees were grazed, but my face looked like something from a horror movie. I was absolutely covered in blood, and it was still running down the side of my face. I'd split my eyebrow open, and the blood was pouring out.
The guys cleaned me up and made sure that I was ok, and put a plaster over the surprisingly small cut, then made sure that my brother and I got on the bus, and knew where we were going.
We got back to the bar where we'd arranged to meet our parents, and my father spotted the plaster. Not realising that it was a plaster in the poorly lit room, he ripped it off, causing me to start bleeding again >.<