I spent some time on the phone with Keith yesterday and he OK’d me to update you on how it’s going for him right now . . .
• First, this is his second brain injury of 2023. He had an earlier crash back in March and he remembers he posted something about it on the forum but doesn’t remember how much.
• He doesn’t remember anything about this crash, and all he knows had been told to him by others. He was found immediately after the crash, and it happened only about five miles from the hospital, but because of the severity of his injuries the chopper was called. As best I understood what he told me, he hit something and went over the bars during a group ride. He was found holding a water bottle in his hand–apparently not his own bottle.
• He was in the regular hospital in Jacksonville for two weeks and has now been in the rehab hospital (also in Jacksonville) for a week. He’s hoping to be able to go home and continue his rehab there in another week. But that is by no means assured at this time. There is apparently not a comparable rehab facility in his hometown, a two-hour drive from Jacksonville.
• His wife has been with him in Jacksonville for the past three weeks, staying in a hotel, and will stay with him as long as needed. So extra expenses and the GoFundMe is a huge help with that. He is very grateful for everyone’s help!
• He was talking slowly but clearly when we spoke for almost an hour. He tells me he currently can remember how to do things when needed or asked, but actually getting his body to execute them is only done with difficulty. He also can see and process things fine on the left side of his field of vision but has trouble on the right side. But these things have been improving and will hopefully continue to improve. His balance is for the most part OK and he can walk OK, but of course can’t really go anywhere.
• He’s anxious to go home because while his therapy involves almost three hours per day, the rest of the time he’s sitting around doing not much of anything, and you can only take daytime TV for so long before you go crazy. He also wants to see his family again, including two one-year-old grandchildren.
• He’s having the most difficulty with processing and executing new things. This is a big problem for future work, since he supervises both domestic and overseas engineers and almost everything he has a hand in includes correcting software issues that involve answering new questions and making new corrections to several hundred issues every week. Fortunately, his boss (who has also been a friend for many years) has been very supportive and understanding.
• Cycling? Forget it for the immediate future. He’s been told if he rides and crashes again, it would most likely be fatal. We’ll see how this develops as time passes.
• He says right now he is open to emails from those who already have his address, but his wife is helping him with answering them so it might be a while before he responds. Most of his communication has been calling folks he knows.
The most important takeaways for me are that he is alive, he is in good hands, he is deeply appreciative of all the good thoughts and positive energy you all have been sending and all the support from his forum and other friends through the GoFundMe.
GO KEITH!!!!
BBD