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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

66 Year Old Chicago Bicyclist Doored, But Undaunted

Getting doored by a careless driver did not slow her down for good.  A 66 year old bicyclist, struck by a car door in June, suffered serious injuries, but just a few months after the crash she was back on a bicycle doing what she loved.  Now she will also receive monetary compensation, my law firm successfully resolving her case for the full amount of the driver's auto insurance policy.

The incident occurred on a pleasant summer day just after 11:00 a.m.  The female cyclist was riding her mountain bike eastbound near 1437 West Argyle in Uptown on her way to the dentist.  Suddenly the driver of a 2001 Toyota threw his door open, striking the right side of the bike.  The impact threw it and its rider across the narrow street and into another parked car.  The heavy crash knocked the woman unconscious and snapped her right arm.  She was rushed via ambulance to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, a level I trauma center.

A hospital stay was followed by months of painful rehabilitation and a long, hot summer in a confining and uncomfortable cast and arm sling.  Independent and athletic, she could not wait to get back in the saddle, even facing the risk of another crash.  She told me that she always felt that the risk to her health from a sedentary lifestyle was far greater than the potential harm from another crash.  When the cast came off and she regained some range of motion in her limb, she was riding again.  She has not completely healed and it is unclear now for how long the effects of her injuries will burden her.  However, she has no plans to stop riding.

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