Bike Wreck

I've debated on telling this story to save our mothers from anxiety regarding the safety of our future children. But this is life here and the story must be told.

One of my good friends here was involved in a bike wreck last week. She was making a quick run to the store to pick up groceries. She has two small boys, 4 and 1, and strapped both of them into their bike seats and it looked a little something like this (this is not her)

So they head out to the store, like any normal day. As they are riding down the bike path, approaching the intersection where they will turn, my friend signals (which means pointing your arm in the direction you are turning. None of this bending your arm up or down to indicate left or right). She notices a scooter

coming the opposite direction, in the other bike path lane. She slows down to let the scooter pass and signals again and starts to make her left hand turn. BAM! Another scooter comes up from behind her and hits her bike, knocking it, her, and her two children to the ground. Amazingly, they were all mostly ok. The older child sitting in the back was unscathed and still just sitting in his bike seat. The younger boy in the front had hit his face on the pavement and was bleeding. Everyone had stopped and was helping her and her boys. Luckily, she was close to her huisarts(doctor...kind of) and everyone walked with her to the doctor's. She found out that the guy on the scooter did not have brakes.  I mean, really?? No brakes??

When she arrived at the doctor's, basically all they did was look at the baby's face, look inside his mouth, and told them that he would be ok. Did they bother to check his head that hit the pavement? no. Later that night, my friend's arm started really hurting. Hurting so bad she couldn't move it. They headed to the ER, only to be ushered into the huisarts department of the hospital, where they x-rayed her arm and determined she needed to go back into the ER. Several hours later(now, that is not much different from the US) she figured out she had a broken arm. They wrapped it in an ACE bandage and put a bandanna around her arm as a sling. Literally, it is a piece of cloth, folded in a triangle with a safety pin at the back to keep her elbow in. They apparently don't do casts here. Medication for pain? How about 2 aspirin every 6 hours. Nothing stronger.

This is my first experience with knowing someone in a major bike wreck. It's crazy. I'm so glad that everyone is mostly ok. My poor friend is one-armed for a week or two and without any good pain meds. She's bus bound for a few weeks. Both of her boys are tough and are ok. One has even ventured back onto the bike.
Unfortunately, there's not much of an option. You have to get back on the bike because bikes are our gateway to the rest of the world. Well,  the rest of the city anyways.

Don't be scared moms. Bike wrecks are a normal part of a childhood, right?? :)