My name is Pat Albert. My husband Dave and I have done all of the Bike NC rides along with a friend, Tom McCurry. Dave and Tom did the riding and I was the sag in an old Winnabago that we called "the tank". A lot of you got to know Dave and Tom because they loved to ride.
Our friend Tom had an accident while cycling Iron Mt. in Tennessee on their Sunday ride. His front tire went down on the down side of the mountain and he was thrown into the ditch head first. He had fractures to C1,C3 and C4 which has left him with no movement from the neck down. After surgery to repair the fractures, Tom was sent to Vanderbilt for rehab.
The first thing Tom said to me in the Emergency room was "I guess we won't get to do the NC ride."
Tom has a long road ahead of him and no insurance. Friends have set up a website for Tom and are helping in other ways. The website is: www.reumcomputing.com/tommy/ or you can link thru www.tcrc1.homestead.com, which is Tri-Cities Road Club.
Just a suggestion, if he needs assistance with some bills you could setup a paypal link on that website where people could donate a few dollars if they felt inclined to do so.
I've found people will donate more quickly using a method like this.
I do know how to spell and hate I messed up on that important word......cyclist.
Got a report about Tom which hasn't been posted on his website yet. He is doing his P.T. but it is very painful. He has a mouth operated nurse call button and will be getting a phone that he can operate soon.
Thanks for your prayers. And David and I hope to do a couple days of the NC ride. See you then.
Tom had surgery to stablize his neck and is now in Nashville at Vanderbilt Rehab Hospital. They are doing physical therapy and therapy to help him learn to eat again. The surgery was thru the front and back of his throat which moved things around and they have to get back to normal. Tom is happy to be moving forward and working toward getting movement back. There is some movement in his right leg.