On 24 November 2013, in Bangkok, Thailand, I crashed my Kawasaki Ninja 1000SX through a 14cm thick concrete wall and blew a 2m diameter hole through the wall. I was pronounced dead at the scene when paramedics arrived 15 minutes later. My heart had stopped. I was revived on the way to the trauma center however I remained in a coma for 31 days. The doctors did their best to repair my body but I was a mess. I shattered my right forearm in 4 places, broke my left and right shoulder and dislocating my right shoulder as well. I broke 2 ribs, shattered my left tibia from just below the knee down to my ankle. I broke my right femur and it was sticking out through my jeans at the accident site. My bike was so loud and one of the biggest motorcycles in the Srinakarin area of Bangkok and security guards, kids outside our condo building, neighbors et al, had gathered around while I was on the ground. 

I was always a part of the Thai National Healthcare system from 2010 until I left in 2021. I underwent a 10 hour trauma surgery and an additional 14 reconstructive and experimental surgeries over the next 8 years. I have surgical steel and titanium throughout my body. I spent 2014 in a wheelchair and I finally learned how to walk again in 2015/16. I was on massive doses of morphine until 2017, and I was treated by the very best doctors in southeast Asian at Ramathibodi Hospital which is attached to Mahidol medical school. It’s the very best hospital in Thailand although technically it’s a government/public research hospital. Its level of care far exceeds any private hospital in Thailand and it’s comparable to top USA hospitals but with far kinder staff and doctors and of course at 25% the cost. Honestly, my total out of pocket expense was less than 12,000 baht for a special steel implant put in my left shoulder for 1 year. 

You would never know I was that damaged by the accident if you saw me today. It’s only when I have my clothes off or swim trunks that you can see the hundreds of zippers where my wounds had to be closed with staples. And, I had numerous surgeries in the same spot to repair the old fix, so I have some pretty deep scalpel wounds. 

This has become super long so if you have questions about motorcycle, healthcare, insurance, etc., in Thailand, ask away 🙏

A story about almost dying in a motorcycle accident in Thailand, 2013