News archive: July 2008

Riding through the Amazon with a broken neck:

This month we take a look at the story of two of the bravest motorcyclist around-Simon and Lisa Thomas.

Start of the journey: 2003
This motorcycle mad couple from the UK set off on a round the world trip 5 years ago in May 2003. Over the years they have driven through over 58 countries on their BMW GS motorcycles (incluiding South Africa) and have had there fair share of trials and tribulations on the road. They have many exciting storys from their motorcycle travels, but we would like to share one particular story with you- one that has inspired us greatly to never give up when the going gets tough. enjoy......

Dodgy South American Bridges
On the 15th October 2005 Simon and Lisa were deep in the Brazillian rain forests. Along the way they had to cross many delapitated bridges (called Ponchas) made out of wood that had rotted over the years. Usually when they got to a bridge they would offload all their luggage and Simon would walk both motorcycles across- just to be on the safe side.

The Accident
On this particularly fateful day Simon was walking the R1150GS across the bridge when he lost his footing and tumbled into the rocks and forest below. He landed right on his head and passed out cold. He came around about 15 minutes later in great pain.

Lay down and die or get up and live!
They were literally in the middle of nowhere- As Simon lay there he realized that if he wanted to get out of the jungle alive he would have to get up. He felt immense pain in his neck and had started to lose feeling in his left hand side- but somehow he managed to get to his feet.

Re-wiring a BMW with a broken neck
It took him and Lisa 23 days to get to Sao paulo and to a hospital- in this time he kept passing out from the pain and lost almost all feeling in his left arm. If this wasn’t bad enough- his bike packed up and he had to fix it. The problem was in the wiring- Simon didn’t know anything about electronic side of the motorcycle- so with a broken neck in the hot humidity- he basically had to teach himself the intrinsic workings of the electronic side of a BMW. He spent days wiring and re-wiring his motorcycle- until it would finally start- only to find out that when they were packed up and ready to go the next morning- they engine wouldn’t spark into life and he would have to start all over again.

They had to ride over roads that would make even an experienced Gs Rider nervous- they even drove along muddy roads at night!

The Hospital in Sao Paulo
When they finally got to a hospital and had x rays- Simon found out that he did in fact have a broken neck- the doctors could not believe that he had survived untreated for 23 days- They told him if his vertebrae had moved another 1.5mm he could have been paralyzed for life or dead.

Surgery followed by a nice bought of Maleria
Simon had emergency surgery which was successful and now he has a titanium plate in his neck. When he was ready to come out of hospital- his wife Lisa- passed out in his hospital room- she was diagnosed with full blown malaria- and spent the next 6 days in hospital.

The most amazing part of this story is that it didn’t put them off their journey- in fact they decided to carry on- at the moment they are riding through North America

It is amazing what human being just like you and me can do when they have no other choice! The will to survive is a very strong force to be reckoned with.

 

Find out more about Simon & Lisa's amazing journey
If you would like to find out more about this Amazing motorcycle riding couple you can visit www.2ridetheworld.com- they have an online diary and a interactive map as well as really good tips for overland motorcycle travel.

Please note that all information is taken from www.2ridetheworld.com

If you would like to read this specific diary entry go to http://www.2ridetheworld.com/diary_brazil_11th_chapter.htm

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