Catastrophe Strikes

Tuesday morning our worst nightmare was realised. Bob & Beryl had an accident, & parted company with their bike in the worst way. Leaving Oakhurst en-route to San Francisco, the first hour was riding lovely, sweeping bends on quiet mountain roads, with stunning views into the valley below. Somehow, Bob lost control on a gentle left hand bend, & he & Beryl were thrown off their bike. I've posted this photo (taken in Yosemite the previous day), & Bob is 3rd from the left raising his hand, Beryl is wearing pink, sitting at the far-right of the picture.
Those riding behind immediately stopped to help, & after a few more moments I came around the corner in the van & my heart sank at the sight. Fortunately, I was able to inform John via the CB radio, & then I grabbed my US phone to dial 911. No signal. They were both conscious & talking, but obviously in need of expert medical attention, & just then a passing motorist kindly offered to drive down to the next village & call for the emergency services. John had sent the rest of our group on to wait in Coulterville, & returned to the scene. Steve & Clare, Stuart & Beth, & Terry & Mary stayed to help, & with 2 ex-policemen & another ex-nurse in that little group, we attended to our friends until Fire & Rescue, the Sheriff & Paramedics arrived. Bob's shoulder was terribly sore, possibly either broken or dislocated, he'd bitten his lip & grazed his arm, while Beryl had nasty cuts to her fingers, a sore wrist & forearm, & both of them were very badly shaken up. Clare, the ex-nurse, was brilliant, & kindly offered to accompany them both to hospital, as of course, John had to lead the others, & I had to drive the van.
We kept in touch with Clare all day, & were so relieved when she told us that neither Bob nor Beryl had any broken bones, & after a few stitches & bandages each, both would be discharged with pain killers & medication. They eventually arrived at the hotel in San Francisco in a limo which Clare had hired for the 150 mile trip, & there just aren't words to say how pleased & relieved we all were to see them, battered & bruised as they were. We had been so worried abouth them.
We first met Awesome Bob & ZinfanBeryl last year when they joined our Sturgis Tour, & since then we've had some great times together, they have joined us on other tours, & we've become good friends. We are devastated that they've been hurt like this, & are unable to continue the tour. We had 2 nights planned in San Francisco anyway, which gave them both some time to rest & recover, & gave us all a bit of breathing space to figure out what to do next. There's no way Bob could ride as his shoulder is badly sprained, & both of them are too sore. So we booked them some extra nights in the same hotel, while their insurance is sorting out flights to take them back to Manchester, business class to give them more room on the long flight home.
Of course, we had to leave San Fran after our two nights, & carry on with the tour, & we felt terribly sad to leave them. But we've spoken to them several times, & are happy to say they're feeling much, much better now, & may be flying home in a day or two. But we miss them, & are thinking of them often.