By mid afternoon we’d finally met Andres, hooking up at the BMW dealer who was looking at the bikes for us. Cooley pitching up on his new gold K1200LT made the right impression. 20 minutes later and with introductions finished and our thousend’sth thank you given we’d popped round the corner and were enjoying sushi and cold white wine as Andres guests…now we knew we liked this guy but…mmm, couldn’t for the life of us think why?. The contrast from the last few weeks couldn’t have been starker if we’d tried. We savoured every delicate taste and held each mouthful of delicious cold wine in our mouths for as long as we thought polite. This was fantastic. All we could do was profusely thank Andres, we simply didn’t have the articulation to get across exactly how marvelous this was.

By the end of our meal we’d had our initial impression of Andres confirmed, simply a great guy, passionate about bikes and enthusiastic to help. With his enthusiasm we could have talked for hours, however he had a job to get back to and I needed a hospital. With my neck situation explained Andres directed us to one of South America’s finest, The Albert Einstein.

By mid afternoon we’d survived the taxi ride and were passing through the large automatic glass doors of the Albert Einstein Emergeny reception. Sounds posh doesn’t it? I mean c’mon, we have an Emergency room and these guys have an ‘Emergency Reception’. It looked as fancy as it sounds and 30minutes later we were explaining my symptoms and subsequent problems with a young doctor and thankful for his fluent English.

We now had three white clad doctors in the examining room, their lips thoughtfully persed, mouths slightly askew, parousing carefully my shiny new X-ray’s. The occasional frowned glance passed my way wasn’t making me feel any better. After I’d been asked how long ago my accident happened and answered for the 10th or 15th time, 23 days ago in Amazonia, I knew that I’d done more than just badly sprained something.

A ‘C.T.’ scan followed the X-rays, which in turn was followed by a visit to the large ‘polo’ (for our American friends that ‘lifesavers’) the ‘MRI’ scan. God I hope the insurance covers this, I thought? I could see the $ signs mounting up.

3 hours later and as a precautionary measure I was now sporting my new ‘rather sexy’ neck brace and sitting like a stuffed dodo, with Lisa in one of the consulting rooms. Admittedly by now I was getting a little anxious. Our young doctor friend entered the room and sat legs crossed on the bed. I have no idea what I was expecting to hear, but I can tell you what I wasn’t expecting…”Mr. Thomas, I have some bad news for you”, he paused “we have checked your scan results and I’m afraid you have broken your neck, you are very lucky to be here”. Yeah, right, where’s the candid camera I thought. Nope this was for real. I remember thinking not, what does this mean for my health but, bloody hell I hope this doesn’t mean we have to fly home and end our journey!

Lisa and I simply stared at oneanother in dissabelief. This wasn’t sinking in. It wasn’t going to for a few more hours yet until it did. Our doctor carefully explained what had happed, where the cervical brake had taken place and if that wasn’t enough, casually dropped into conversation that I’d dislocated the vertebrae as well and that 1.5mm further would have seen me as a paraplegic. “You are very lucky”! I was to hear this very same phrase many many more times before the night was out.

We nervously asked about the need to fly home. A few minutes later and we’d been left in no doubt that flying home was out of the question as immediate surgery was required before anything else was done.

The decision’not’ to admit me instantly was only because I winged like a big girl, about how much I hate hospitals and that my doctor wanted their neuro surgeon to take over my case and he was flying back from korea today. I also promised to stay in bed and remain as still as possible. I figured I’d lasted 23 days with a broken neck I could manage I more day.

We made our way into hospital, and despite Simon being very jovial with all the nurses and his surgeons I could tell that he was nervous of his op tomorrow. It just didn’t seem real as to me a broken neck was ChristopherReeve……On both of our minds was also the possibility of having to finish our trip……I know this sounds trivial as Simon was able to walk and was not paraplegic…however, this would be awful for us to consider.

They were going to open his neck from the anterior ie enter from the throat (aaggh) …and shove everything to one side so they could get access to the vertebrae where they would need to first clear and remove shattered bone fragments that had been compressing the nerves, hence the pain and discomfort in his left hand side. Then they would remove the disc between C6 and C7 and insert a titanium cage overwhich they would place a titanium plate which would join C6 and C7 together, fusing them and stableising the whole area. Phew! What with his titanium bits in his leg (from a previous motorcycle accident) and now his neck he’s worth quite a bit!

I made my way into hospital and headed for the ICU. He had only just come out of surgery and was not yet fully conscious. The first thing he said was ‘my throat hurts…!’ Err….duhhh....yes I think it must.

After being kicked out of ICU – the visiting times are short – I made my way back to the hotel by 10pm and started to load the trolley so I could move all the bags, helmets, boots, and motorcycle kit to our new hotel. I’d managed to sort out with the insurance company a new hotel as the Formula 1 was good but not to stay at for a while. This new one was The Parthenon in Vila Olimpia Sao Paulo and had a small kitchenette so we won’t have to pay a fortune eating out all the time.

I finished moving into the new place by 1:00pm and was exhausted. I’d been feeling ‘off’ for a little while now, having had a headache everyday for the last few weeks but today during my time with Simon in ICU I felt sick and almost fainted – hadn’t told Simon of course. Just overtired I think.

The rest of the day was me just waiting for him to return to the room and then keeping him company.

After spending another few days in the Albert Einstein I was released with a colourful assortment of pain killers and anti-inflamatories and strict instructions to wear the padded neck brace 24-7 for the next few weeks.

Post surgery I felt pretty good considering. The oddest part was the different timbre to my voice, caused, I’m told by the moving around of the voice box during surgery. It should return to normal over the next few months, ah well, we’ll see?

OK, so why I am I alone? Lisa’s been feeling steadily worse over the last 7 days and naively we’d put it down to a variety of reasons, fatigue, dehydration, the trials in Amazonia. On my release day from hospital she had fainted and had to go down to the emergency room – ending up with loads of blood tests and being diagnosed with a bladder infection…..which we now know was an incorrect diagnosis!!! Last night she scared the hell out of me. I’d been bathing her down with cold towels all night but had been unable to bring her tempetaure down. In the mean time she was shivering violently and feeling cold. Her lips and extremities turning bright blue was the last straw…it was time to get her to a hospital and so with my neck brace firmly in place and a taxi called we set off for Albert Einstein…again!!!. 5 hours later the clock turned 1:30am and Lisa’s test had come back positive for Malaria. She was admitted immediately. The intravenous drip she’d been on for the last 4 hours had at least eased her temperature.

I managed to get back to the hotel room by 2:30am and with my brian ticking over and my neck feeling uncomftable I thought I might as well get a little dairy done.

Just had confirmation that Motorcycle Sport & Liesure (mag’ in the UK) want another article and so do ‘Mens Health’ in South Africa….thats good news as that’ll be another few quid for the travel fund.

I can’t believe just how bad I’ve felt over the last few weeks. I ignored the first feeling of illness…you know you think it’ll just ‘go away’…but as Simon was in hospital I had become steadily worse. But worse of all was the mis-diagnosis…..I convinced myself after that first diagnosis that in just a few more days I’d feel fine….of course I didn’t. So, because the malaria diagnosis was delayed my symptoms were bad….makes me ill just to think about how I felt! Whatever you do take precautions against malaria (we do but I had been ill whilst in the Amazon) because you DO NOT want to suffer the end result. Over the last few weeks I’ve lost 13kg….all due to the malaria.

So what have we been up too?

Well after my accident we had a running battle with our insurer ‘AXA’, who as far as I’m concerned behaved appaulingly. Here’s the short version of events. We had no problem with the actual claim and as you’d hope AXA, who we’ve been isured with for 2 ½ years covered my hospitalisation and all treatment. The problem we had was this; post surgery AXA demanded that I be repatriated, which is their right according to our contract but as far as we can read this is pre- treatment. Makes sense, if it’s cheaper for AXA to get me treated in the UK then they’d want to fly me back and take advantage. The problem was my condition made it imposible for me to fly and so the surgery had to happen in Brazil, the crazy part was that post surgery they still wanted to fly me back even though there was absolutely no medical reason to. Post surgery there was no lengthy bout of physio to pay for and as far as my specialist are concerned no other treatment neccersay and therefore no additional cost to carry by AXA, they are at no additionl risk!!! So why demand on flying me back. In the small print of the contract it states that my/our insurance cover terminates the moment we set foot back on UK soil. They gave us an ultimatum: fly back or we will cancel your insurance 7 days after your Doctor deems you fit to fly. (in other words, they just wanted to cancel the insrnace)…….

We were fully expecting AXA to re-wrtie the terms of the insurance, stating that any future claim arisng from my neck would not be covered, hey no travel insurance covers you for ‘pre-exisitng medical conditions’, but we’re disappointed…’no sorry’…pissed off that AXA are cancelling our insurance and to add insult to injury, literally, are also not returning my premium which is paid up unitll July 2006. This is crazy.

There is no medical reason to repatriate.
There is no financial reason to repatriate as there is no other additional cost to cover post surgery.
AXA are at ‘absolutley no additional risk’ insuring me if they simply add a clause stating future claims arisng from this injury aren’t covered.

OK, you get the idea and you can tell we’re pretty angry. We pay £1,000 a year to cover Lisa and myself for accidental emergency cover, make no claims for 2 ½ years, claim once and they are canceliing and keeping the premiums. And they still refuse to justify why they demanded to fly me back, post surgery!!!!

On the up side we are again insured but this time via an Australian company. If you’re interested visit: www.worldnomads.com They provide very good rates and motorcyclecover is included.

OK, rant over, but anyone thinking of insuring with AXA…don’t!

With our insurance woes waived off with a swift ‘two fingered salute’ we got back to simply recouperating and with the help of good friends slowly began to feel better.

So what of the bikes? The Amazon had taken its toll and by the time the bikes reached Sao Paulo, both were looking and feeling less than perfect. That said, Lisa’s F650GS had done brilliantly, with no engine issues and her sub-frame still in strong working order, it was mostly the electrics that had taken the brunt, lots of water going where it shouldn’t. Small issues with relays and wires would soon see the lights and horns working again. The R1100GS was going to need a little more attention. The fierce terrain I’d pushed her through carrying all that weight had cracked her sub-frame on both sides and her wiring harness would need to be over-hauled or replaced.

A week after being released from Albert Einstien we were given a massive boost. Andres…otherwise known to us as…Sir, Lord ‘Andres the great’ we are not worthy…? had come back to us and confirmed that ‘BMW Motorrad Brazil’ would be supporting us by sponsoring all the new and additional parts we were going to need to get both the bikes back in full working order, as if that wasn’t enough our concerns over finding the extra money for the massive labour bill we’d face from the dealer were also gone. Mazinho and Fabiano the owners of the BMW dealer ‘Officer’ had offered to sponsor all the labour costs. Our jaws were on the floor. Andres just stood there and grinned as he gave us the news.

So here what was done to the ‘kids’
R1100GS F650GS

Remove the rear sub-frame and repair the two large cracks, in addition add additional strengthening struts for added support. Repair auxiliary lights
Completely strip the entire wiring harness and install complete new electrical system. Repair dual horns
Repair damged throttle unit. Repair heated grips
Replace rear brake light housing. Replace the broken rear light housing
Repair damaged fuel level indicater unit. Install new fuel pump/filter assembly
Replace complete throttle cable assembly i.e, main throttle cable and throttle splitter cable leading to throttle bodies. Adjust and reset all cables i.e. clutch, throttle, choke, etc.
Attach new Choke cable Install new brake pads front and rear.
Re-install and adjust clutch cable. Replace missing wind-shield bolts
Remove and inspect the complete rear wheel drive assembly following my install in Ji-Parana. Replace damaged clutch lever
Remove and inspect complete drive shaft assembly for wear and correct seating. Repair and service rear suspension
Remove and inspect all bearings in swing arm. Repair damaged left indicator unit
Install new engine oil sight glass. Install new chain and sprocket set.
Clean and service rear suspension Major 60,000 mile service.
Install new hall sensor
Complete 100,000 mile service (it’s a big one), renew brake fluid, engine oil and gear oil change, final drive oil change, new spark plugs, brake pads and the list goes on…
Clean and service throttle bodies and injectors.
Replace the missing frame bolts.
Re-attach all auxiliary electrical equipment.

A huge thank you to Ricardo and Roberto who worked for 3 full day’s straight to get ‘Tinkerbelle’ as good as new. She was so clean and sparkly by the time they’d finished I was scared to ride her.

Another big thank you to Fernando for putting up with our terrible Portugues and our incessant questions and for his consistant smile and boundless patience!

Sao Paulo had been good to us, beyond our wildest expectations and we’ve made some great friends here. With the bikes being ‘seen to’, we were able to finaly relax, a little. We need to thank some new friends for visiting us both in Hospital and for their kind invitations during our convalescence (that’s quite a big word for me?). So to Jean, Guy, Nonnie and Dickran, a big thank you.
We had a great evening with all of you on the 23rd and realy appreciated your company and wonderful food. The time with you definitely put an ‘upside’ to our otherwise difficult time in Sao Paulo.

Mmm, what else? Oh yeah, thank you to everyone who took the time to join us at our digital presentation at officer. We had around 25 people attend the Saturday before Christmas and of course thank you to Marco Truzzi who did a great job translating our verbal ramblings into something far more articulate and in Portuguese. Brilliant job.

With a presentation at officer complete we were on a roll and a few short days later were running another presentation but this time for the all the staff at BMW Brazil’s Head Office. Truth be told we were both a little nervous giving our presentation to the builders of the machines we ride. We shouldn’t have been. So to Andre (President of BMW Brazil), Andres (GM of BMW Motorrad razil), Marco (chief Technical consultant for BMW Motorrad Brazil) and the rest of the BMW Brazil team…thank you for not asking too many tough questions and making us feel at home.

By 9:30am we were opening drawers and emptying wardrobes, opening stuff sacks and chencking over our kit, excitedly anticipating our first day back on the road. By 6pm we had done all we could, our usual blue watrproff bags were stringin at zips, straps were pulled tight and catches and locks all double-checked. All but one change of clothes and our wahbags were pakced.

Like amatures, we excitedly chatted over tomorrows first few kilometres and pulled strange concernd faces as to how we would load the kit we’d always carried, back onto the bikes. By 8pm our panniers were packed and we’d caught ourselves staring for far too long at our shiny new steads, patiently waiting for tomorrows ‘off’.

We are now on countdown and really looking forward to toasting in 2006. We’ve been lucky enough to experience, see and do such amazing things in 2005. We are not the types to dwell but both of us realise exactly how lucky I’ve been – I could so easily be seeing in 2006 in a wheelchair. And so, with that lingering thought it seemed wholly, bloody appropriate to leave our hotel and go in search of the other 2 ½ million people in Avenida Paulista where we’re going to enjoy a good knees up, live music and fireworks Guyfawks would have been proud of.

See you all in 2006.