Did your mom ever tell you never to swim or hike alone? It’s good advice. This pro motorcycle rider and champion swears by never riding alone. And if you ever needed an example, his recent crash, injury, and group-effort survival removes all doubt. 

A pro motorcycle rider had a crash that put him on the wrong side of a very sharp stick

It’s a common sight for an off-road rider to fall off their motorcycle. Even a champion will fall off their bike while pushing the envelope. However, you always hope that your crash is manageable and injury-free. That wasn’t the case this time.

Two-time motorcycle champion Kellen Chair-uh fell off his bike while riding through the woods with several buddies. Unfortunately, unlike so many spills he’s had over the years, this one involved a long, sharp stick sticking into his torso about five inches deep through a point near his armpit. Ouch.

“I fell backwards on a sharp stick, entering through my armpit, lacerating my lung and found to be indenting my pulmonary artery,” he later wrote. Kellen was lucky to be alive.

Fortunately, Kellen could walk, even with his wild, life-threatening injury. “I had to walk 1 mile along a rough trail with worsening shortness of breath, then [was] transported by ambulance to Life Flight helicopter.”

If the stick wasn’t enough, one of the EMTs made things worse

Before Kellen reached a Life Flight helicopter, emergency medical personnel loaded him into an ambulance. That’s where things took a nasty, even more painful turn.

Viewers can hear Kellen screaming at one point in the video coverage of the event. While he was already in pain, this latest series of screams was caused by an EMT who had accidentally bumped into the stick, shifting it within Kellen’s body. 

Granted, mistakes happen. But EMTs learn the importance of detail orientation. Like the detail of a large foreign object embedded into someone’s side. 

Simply bumping the stick in its position could fully puncture a lung or cause further damage, such as internal bleeding. I would have expected a reprimand from more than the pain-stricken patient had I made a mistake like that during my time as a firefighter and EMT.

Speaking of which, the commenters were less than sympathetic to the EMT’s error. “That’s insane! But that EMT, though,” one viewer responded. Another social media-goer commented, “Yeah, hi. Former first responder here… It’s our job to not make things worse for our patients.”

It’s a perfect example of why it’s so important to ride with a buddy

“The four of us worked hard to get me out, and I’m glad I don’t ride alone,” Kellen recounted. Medical personnel transported him to the Oregon Health & Science University Hospital in Portland, Oregon.

His riding buddies jumped into action after he sustained his injury. Without them, the outcome could have been much, much worse. 

The champion motorcycle rider didn’t let the stick win

As gruesome as it looks, the champ managed to sing at times while undergoing tests and procedures at OSHU. The hospital team performed a thoracotomy and placed tubes in Kellen’s chest as part of his treatment.

Be warned, the video is a bit graphic, and Instagram flagged it for “sensitive content.” But you can find the whole video here.