started very well but ended with trauma. We had our first accident
with Daryl the rider suffering a depressed cheek bone fracture. Len
his passenger experienced some grazes and bruises. Coming down a hill
about 30km north of Seymour, with a wet road, the rickshaw veered into
the roadside ditch and unceremoniously threw Daryl and Len into the
bank. Daryl went into the dirt headfirst and Len went over the top of
him. Ross was travelling behind and saw the whole incident. David,
Morris, Khalek and Hajrat were in another vehicle and Steve in the
truck. So within a few minutes all the vehicles were together
rendering assistance to the injured riders. Some of the lacerations
and bloody noses were given some basic first aid and then the two
injured riders were taken to Seymour Hospital. At the hospital, CT
scans were done on Daryl's face and it was clear that he had cheekbone
fractures. Ultimately Daryl was taken by David and Morris to Northern
Hospital on the northern side of Melbourne where further examinations
were done. There the original scans were examined and the extent of
the damage determined. Daryl's face of course by this time was not
exactly going to be a candidate for southern hemisphere's most
handsome man, 2010. He had a right eye that looked as though Muhammad
Ali, Joe Frazier and the Springbok's front row had done some
strengthening exercises. Ultimately, the decision was to send Daryl
home to Bendigo and make an appointment with a maxillo-facial surgeon
in Bendigo. Because of the swelling, no immediate surgical action was
possible. So we returned to Seymour where Daryl was met by his son-in-
law who conveyed him to his home in Bendigo. At the time of
writing(afternoon of 10th), it is reported by Len (the other rider)
that the swelling in Daryl's face has decreased a little and it only
hurts when he eats! One humourous note to the incident was the
following comment overheard on the truckies CB radio network just
after it occurred, "*#! I just saw two blokes in a rickshaw go base
over apex in a ditch. Boy that is something you don't see everyday!"
Daryl, not sure whether it will ease the pain or not, but you did
bring some variety to an unknown truckie who is now undoubtedly
telling the story to his mates. We will keep you up to date as long
as the GARR is underway on the condition of Daryl. We also need to
record that Len was the oldest rider so far in the GARR and that he
and Daryl had actually ridden the longest of any of our riders. In
fact before the accident they were determined to ride all the way to
Seymour.
Well that was the trauma for the day. At the beginning of the day we
had a great time at Longwood Primary School. Coincidently, Len, had
taught at the school in the early nineties. The school had only 20
students but was in a building dating back to 1880 and is a very well
equipped little school. The school also has an honour board which is
unique. They have two former students who were VC winners. In fact
there are two VC winners and one MC winner. (These were awarded in the
Boer, and First World War.) The kids were great. They really enjoyed
the rickshaw ride. The team were quite touched by the fact that the
school gave a donation to Symbiosis International for the work in
Bangladesh. Thanks to David and Leanne, the teachers.
We are sad at the accident. It occurred on the 59th day.
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