MICHAEL Baldwin shouldn't be alive after being hit by a car travelling at nearly 100 kilometres per hour last week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But as soon as he woke up, with crushed bones and a scalped head, he started planning his Ironman comeback.
The Port Macquarie man was cycling south on the Pacific Highway, just passed Lake Innes, on Thursday at 9.30am when a vehicle driving the same direction collected him on the road's shoulder.
He doesn't remember the four hours spent cycling before the crash, or most of the day after.
The driver of the vehicle that hit him later explained she had just driven out of Lake Innes Drive into the highway's left lane, noticed the odometer reading 97 km/h, checked her right rear vision mirror and then the crash happened.
The cyclist was unconscious and bleeding heavily when two men started to perform first aid on him.
"They stopped the bleeding as best they could, called the ambos and called my wife."
Port Macquarie Base Hospital's emergency staff spent about six hours stabilising him before more than three hours of surgery.
Somehow he managed to avoid a spinal or severe brain injury. The father-of-three wept yesterday as he expressed his gratitude for surviving, noting his multiple fractures and scalping would eventually heal.
"It's a miracle that I'm here," he said.
"To get hit by a car (at that speed) and to survive is God looking after me.
"Jesus Christ was the one who stopped me from being killed on the spot."
The Honour Church member also said he was thankful for those who helped at the scene and with later treatment.
The driver was very sorry and apologetic when Mr Baldwin phoned to check on her suspected whiplash.
"It's an unfortunate accident and I'm not angry towards the lady that hit me: it could happen to anyone."
Mrs Baldwin knew exactly what to say to alleviate her husband's stress in the emergency department.
"I remember her saying I'd been hit, but it's okay because I'll be getting a new bike," the cyclist laughed.
The fearless competitor started planning his return to the sport after waking from surgery.
"I started thinking when I woke up in ICU that Ironman was only three weeks away, and if I'm clever enough to understand that then I obviously haven't damaged my brain," he said.
"Maybe I can get out of hospital quick and do a bit of training and get back and do Ironman at 80 per cent."
But the physical realities hit him hard the next day.
"I sat up and passed out, sat up (again) and passed out, tried to stand up and passed out.
"Then I thought I might wait until next year."
Once he's figured out how to walk again, it'll be pedal power leading him through winter.
He plans to be at the foreshore event on May 3, cheering as much as his chest injuries and loving family will allow.
ben.cooper@fairfaxmedia.com.au
