New to list

Just joined - Name is Joe. Jim answered a question from me on another forum and enticed me here.... From Chicago burbs, haven't (seriously) fished in 20 years but used to do it all and pretty much every weekend. Want to get back into it. Bought a boat in August (1995 Spectrum 16.5, alum deep V w/everything - plan on lots more fishing now. Walleye & bass mostly. Someone mentioned Norris Lake (TN) - In-laws from there, fished it 3-4 times a year between 1978-88. Good wallys & hybrids, some LM & smallies. Hard lake alright, but usually did okay - usually around point 7. Fishing fever came back last April when we (two couples) spend a week at Bull Shoals. Lots of wallys, few lg mouth and whites. Wives loved it, bought the boat together with them, plan on many trips. Close to Shabbana (IL) for nights/weekends. Tried Shelbyville (IL) in August, partner's wife broke a leg - badly, very badly. Ended the season for her (men went a few times after). Have reservations at Bull Shoals next April. Probably not much fishin before then - Illinois weather ya know.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Thanks for listening.

Hi jgf27,
Thanks for joining. We got a great bunch here. One day I will fish Bull Shoals...one day. How did she break her leg? Was it boating/fishing related? :shock:

Jim

We had just come off the lake (Shelbyville) after about 6 hours. Strapped down the boat, pulled it out and part way up the access road to finish preparing it for travel. She (5'2, 120) jumped in to get something. When she climbed out the back, right leg down on the trailer tail light, swung her left leg over and her hand slipped. She fell straight down on her left leg - only about 12 inches. She hit the pavement just right (wrong) and snapped her left leg, just above the ankle. Both bones shattered. Leg bent 70 degrees outward. A real ugly sight..... The rest of the story is equally ugly (waiting for ambulance, Shelbyville Hospital, the 6 hour drive home that night with her leg just wrapped and still bent sideways (no cast, etc.). 3-hour surgery wasn't until 6 days later. Severl plates (couldn't be pinned). She is still in a wheel chair now (6 weeks later). Hoping to get a walking cast in two weeks. Probably needs another surgery to remove the plates - they show (thin legs). Long term therapy also. Sad ending to the first trip on our new (used) boat. I'm gonna name it "Leg Breaker" or something like that.....

jgf27 said:

We had just come off the lake (Shelbyville) after about 6 hours. Strapped down the boat, pulled it out and part way up the access road to finish preparing it for travel. She (5'2, 120) jumped in to get something. When she climbed out the back, right leg down on the trailer tail light, swung her left leg over and her hand slipped. She fell straight down on her left leg - only about 12 inches. She hit the pavement just right (wrong) and snapped her left leg, just above the ankle. Both bones shattered. Leg bent 70 degrees outward. A real ugly sight..... The rest of the story is equally ugly (waiting for ambulance, Shelbyville Hospital, the 6 hour drive home that night with her leg just wrapped and still bent sideways (no cast, etc.). 3-hour surgery wasn't until 6 days later. Severl plates (couldn't be pinned). She is still in a wheel chair now (6 weeks later). Hoping to get a walking cast in two weeks. Probably needs another surgery to remove the plates - they show (thin legs). Long term therapy also. Sad ending to the first trip on our new (used) boat. I'm gonna name it "Leg Breaker" or something like that.....

Click to expand...

Wow, Hope things go well for her [-o< .

Perfect name for the boat for sure though!

Welcome Aboard!

Dang, I can't imagine riding for 6 hours with a leg busted like that! :shock:

you need to head south !! you can fish from a boat all year long in IL. go to lake of Egypt just off of 53 they hold tournies all winter there
it's about 3 miles from my 1 cabin.

welcome to the site

Wayne

Yeah, the ride home was extrememly miserable for her. We took a seat out of tyhe SUV, went to Wall mart (at midnight), bought an air matress and several pillows. Lifted her in the back and pulled her up to lie on the matress with her head against the back of the driver's seat. The norma 4-4.5 hour trip took over 6 hours - going slow, etc. Every little bump sent a sharp pain up her leg. She was taking pain meds and had a shot of morophine at the hospital. We still can't believe that the hospital just wrapped her leg in a splint, sent us on our way and told her to go to her own doctor (walk in care) the next day????? In any case, we got back to her house around 6:30 am, carried her in to the recliner (where she lived for the next week). It was, to say the least, a miserable trip back. She's doing much better now. Gets around in her wheel chair pretty well. Her boss is letting her work from home which helped a lot. Sorry about the length...If we had a "worst trip" category, I bet I'd win a lure from Jim

the hospital just wrapped her leg in a splint, sent us on our way and told her to go to her own doctor (walk in care) the next day?????

Click to expand...

Get a good lawyer !!! Not one of those who advertise on TV. That's the kind of crap they live for. No way she should have been sent anywhere with an obvious break like that, unless you didn't have insurance. Then they can almost kill you and get away with it. Malpractice like that could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Probably good advice, but we kind of understand their thinking now and insurance wasn't an issue. The exrays were emailed to her doctor back home who forwarded them to the bone surgeon. After they looked at them, they said that unless surgery could be done immediately (within 2-3 hours) they would have to wait 5-6 days for the swelling to go down. Since Shelbyville hospital doesn't have an on-call bone surgeon, the only option was an ambulance ride to Springfield, which would have taken severl hours. So....they said take her home, nothing they could do. We even called her doctor at 3:00 am on our way back and re-confirmed that he didn't want us to take her directly to the local hospital when we got back. Hard for us to understand at that time, but I guess that's pretty standard....So...probably no grounds for a lawsuit.

In order to have grounds for a lawsuit you would need two things:

1. That there was negligence on the part of someone or entity (in this instance, the hospital and doctors who released her); and,

2. There was injury as a result of that negligence.

Just becuase someone runs a red light does not mean you can sue (and win, you can always sue) them unless they cause some injury or damage.

As a retired attorney I am all in favor of hiring lawyers and paying them, it lets me buy more fishing stuff! However, unless there is a real injury, I think there are better things to do with your time. If anyone wants to start and action "for the Principle" I used to charge twice as much!

Understanding the mitigating circumstances now, I have to agree with David. If there was a "window" in which to perform the surgery, and that had passed, then there is no choice but to wait. I'm a city boy and don't consider the issues a rural hospital must deal with. A bad break like that, you want the best orthopedics doctor you can find to repair the damage.

Originally Posted by esquired

If anyone wants to start and action "for the Principle" I used to charge twice as much!

Click to expand...

**** Attorneys !!!! :wink:

DocWatson said:

Understanding the mitigating circumstances now, I have to agree with David. If there was a "window" in which to perform the surgery, and that had passed, then there is no choice but to wait. I'm a city boy and don't consider the issues a rural hospital must deal with. A bad break like that, you want the best orthopedics doctor you can find to repair the damage.

Originally Posted by esquired

If anyone wants to start and action "for the Principle" I used to charge twice as much!

Click to expand...

**** Attorneys !!!! :wink:

Click to expand...

Hopefully we are all adult here and no one gets too offended:

Two lawyers are stranded on a desert island for several months.
The only thing on the island was a tall coconut
tree, which provided them their only food. Each
day one of the lawyers would climb to the top to
see if he could spot a rescue boat coming.

One day, the lawyer yelled down from the tree,"WOW,
I just can't believe my eyes, there is a woman out there
floating in our direction." The lawyer on the ground was most skeptical and
said, "You're hallu-cinating; you've finally lost your mind."

But within a few minutes, up to the beach floated a stunning
red head, Face up, totally naked, unconscious without even so
much as a ring or earrings On her. The two lawyers went down to the water,
dragged her up on the beach and discovered, yes, indeed she was alive, warm and breathing, but sunburned and needing immediate care and nursing.
One said to the other (as a typical male would), "You know, we've been
on this God-forsaken island for months now without a woman. It's been
such a long, long time. Do you think we should...well--you know screw her?"

(ok--you're gonna love this)

"Out of WHAT?", asked the other lawyer?

Yeah, the county treatment wasn't what we were used to....It was hard to take at first, but like I said, they had us do the right thing. Just didn't seem logical to us at that time. If it happened up here (northern Illinois) she would have been in surgery within an hour or so of the break. As it was, the ambulance took over 30 minutes and it was nearly an hour before she was in the emergency room.....

Loved the lawyer joke :lol:

Where ya at FC? I'm in Skokie.

You can fish Powerton, I think all year but it's a hike!

Geneva, 40 miles west of Chicago on the beautiful Fox River...

Where's Powerton????

Pekin, IL
https://www.illinois.com/details/parks.php?id=56

I've not been there but heard good things(like smallies on the riprap).

check these pics I just found out!

https://www.catchphotorelease.com/02192007.htm


I fished the Fox recently, I wade fished in Oswego.

Do any good in Oswego? Years ago I used to fish the Dam at Yorkville - caught many smallies, but never fished in Oswego. Never fished the Fox here in Geneva either - I'm not too confident on how clean it is????????

I used to fish the Kankakee an awful lot. Always caught walleyes, northerns, some bass and catfish. Used to park a car down stream and drift about 2 miles below Kankakee a couple of miles off highway 17 if I remember right.

I did okay early and then it sort of shut off. All smallies.

Clean? No, not clean at all; but I catch and release so I don't really worry too much, well I want a healthy, sporting ecosystem but I'm not eating them. I've caught white bass, smallies, channel cats, and freshwater drum in the Fox; very diverse fishery.

hey fishingcop I am new here also so welcome. I was a police officer for 13 years and I just changed jobs in september. I work for CSX now and I love it.

Glad you like the new job - can't understand you gertting out of coppin' - once it's in your blood, you're usually a lifer?????