In the summer of 1999, i was JRA (just riding along), maybe a little faster than usual, but certainly not paying attention to the trail, when i suddenly buried the front wheel behind a rock and did a typical endo. I've done them many times before with the usual 'tuck and roll" to spin off the momentum, but this time i caught a rock just right on my right shoulder which stopped me cold. The result was a fractured Acromion.

I didn't know i had an Acromion before the accident, but i sure do now. The shoulder blade (scapula) has an extension that goes across the top shoulder. The deltoid muscles are attached to the end of it and the rotator cuff is slides beneath it. When the Acromion is fractured, the deltoid muscles pull the broken piece away from the mating piece and more than likely, it will rest on the rotator cuff and /or the socket, causing intense pain. The only solution is to pin the bones back together until they can fuse.

Fortunately, i was directed to a surgeon that was able to put things back together, such that the bone is now in perfect alignment. That is no small feat as the bone is very irregular in its shape. I'd have trouble doing that on my work bench, never mind inside a human body. My most sincere thanks to Dr. Kevin Shea at the Uconn Health Center in Farmington Ct. Through skill and magic, he was able to put the pieces back together. And he knows exactly how to deal with sports enthusiasts like me that are "over the edge".

Here are the x-ray shots. One showing the fracture and the other showing the plate and screws holding the bone in its proper position.