Rider down, needs major MoJo

[RM_guy]

I hate to read these things, much less report on them. :( I wasn’t there so I heard this last night after the fact. Wayne Ryerson, friend of a friend of mine, was racing this past Sunday and pulled a hole shot in his race. He crashed shortly after the first turn and got run over by 3 other riders. He had to get air lifted out to the hospital.

It turns out he collapsed both lungs and severed his spine. They took him off the respirator yesterday so he can breathe on his own and talk. One lung is still in bad shape but the other seems to be OK. He is permanently paralyzed but can at least still move his arms. The doctors have no hope due to the damage to the spinal cord. He’ll never walk again.

This really hit home for me. He is 42 (same as me) and has a 10 year old son that rides too. I’ve only ridden with him a couple of times and he’s a pretty good rider that doesn’t ride over the edge. He’s the nicest guy and really enjoys helping out.

We think and hope he has got good enough insurance but even if he does he is going to need a lot of money for all of the other expenses involved. His wife has gotten an apartment near the hospital (yes, it was an out of town race) and my friend is sending a few hundred dollars to her to help her get set up.

I talked to my friend this morning about setting up a fund for him. Until then we are asking for donations made out to Wayne’s wife, Linda. He willing to have everything sent to his place of business and he will forward funds to Linda.

If you choose to donate please make checks out to “Linda Ryerson” and send to:

Wayne Ryerson Fund
C/O Graham Hall Auto Sales
1749 Upper Front St
Binghamton, NY 13901

If anyone wants more details please email me at [email protected] I can’t always get on DRN to check my PMs.

 

[Senior KX Rider]

Thanx for the info RM. Very sorry to hear that. That is the tragic reality of the sport that we love and it strikes a lot closer than we feel comfortable with sometimes. Our prayers go out to him and his family.

 

[yzeater]

I'll pray

 

[KWJams]

Hate to hear things like this.

Have the family contact--"The Clayton Foudation" <<--LINK HERE-->> and maybe they can help.

Maybe Okie could put up a pernament link for the Foundation.

Every little bit helps, we will do what we can to help.

 

[WoodsRider]

:(

 

[RM_guy]

KW,
Thanks for the link. I'll let them know.

 

[CanadianRidr]

That's so horrible to hear rmguy :( As soon as I hear of someone not being able to walk again it almost makes me want to just sell my bike and never leave the house :whiner:
Please keep us informed so we can do whatever we can, my prayers go out to him and his family.

 

[MikeT]

Originally posted by yzeater
I'll pray

Me too.

 

[Danman]

I will as well. That is very sad news.

 

[FLYIN_KAW]

sorry to hear that RM_guy, will be thinking of him here.

 

[MONKEYMOUSE]

??

Hmmm. . . by any chance did this happen at Silvaroles Batavia Motocross Park in NY?? My friend was just telling me how he was at the races in Batavia and some guy crashed, gut hurt bad. He said it was his cousins friend? Hmm. That would be weird if its the same person. :eek:

 

[GETMETOCA]

That is awful news. Very sad and sobering. My heart goes out to your friend and his family. I will also donate and encourage others to help out as well. When you have your health you have just about everything. This is sad, sad, sad.

 

[Michelle]

Best wishes to your friend and his family. That is really horrible news. We so much take things for granted and it can be taken from us so quickly.
Michelle

 

[BSWIFT]

Very sad. I'll see what I can do to help out. My prayers are with him and his family.:(

 

[RM_guy]

Re: ??

Originally posted by MONKEYMOUSE
Hmmm. . . by any chance did this happen at Silvaroles Batavia Motocross Park in NY?? My friend was just telling me how he was at the races in Batavia and some guy crashed, gut hurt bad. He said it was his cousins friend? Hmm. That would be weird if its the same person. :eek:

It happened at Hurricane Hills in Clifford, PA.

Thanks for everyone’s support. This whole thing has really got me thinking about the dangers of riding and the affect on loved ones if I get hurt. I know there have been several threads on this and I’ve always justified it by saying to myself that I wouldn’t have done that, or tried this. I’ve accepted the risk but have my loved ones? They don’t have the same passion I have so I’m not sure they even could.

I sure I’ll continue to ride but certainly with a different perspective.

 

[KLRay]

:ugg:

 

[MONKEYMOUSE]

I thoug it might of been the same crash because all most the exact same thing happend, rite down to him being run over by 3 other bikes! Thats just rather freaky that 2 crashes were allmost exactly the same. but he didnt have any MAJOR injuries. It was more like a cuple brokend ribs and lil stuff like that.

 

[RM_guy]

Update

Wayne was doing a little better. He was eating solid foods and had been in pretty good spirits. Yesterday one of his lungs started bleeding out and he had to go into surgery. Not sure of the out come but will keep you posted.

On the fund raising front, my friend who owns a used car lot is raffling off a car for $10 a ticket. He plans on taking it to most of the local races and to the Binghamton National and having a drawing sometime after the Nationals.

 

[RM_guy]

Wayne’s surgery went OK. They were able to stop the bleeding in the lungs but he had to go back under the knife again. This guy is in incredible good spirits. I’ve been in contact with his sister and she says everyone around him is having a tougher time coping than he is. He has accepted that he is permanently paralyzed form the waist down and he just wants to get started with rehab and get on with his life. I give him a lot of credit.

It turns out that he has no health insurance at all and the bills have already started to roll in. The medivac airlift to the hospital alone was $18,000. He has a long way to go and he is going to need help. If there is anything you can do to help, please do so.

If you take anything from this, take that health insurance is very important if you are going to ride. I know several people that ride while uninsured and it makes me cringe. Wayne’s accident is the extreme but even a broken leg can be very expensive.

Thank you

 

[Senior KX Rider]

Good to hear that he is coping well. I can't imagine being in that position

 

[RM_guy]

Yeah, it's amazimg how well he is coping. He told his boss yesterday not to get rid of his tools. He plans on returning back as a mechanic.

 

[zcookie49]

RM Guy, Can you look into seeing if there is anyway a donation area can be set up here? I just advised my wife of this and she agrees that we both would like to contribute somehow.
** She knows what it is like since I was airlifted last month with broken legs,(you guys know the story...)
I am so sorry to hear about this, I prayed for him , his family and son. It is very hard on everyone else let alone him.I hope some type of miracle can reverse his paralysis, just tragic. I was just stating the other day how lucky I realized I was that I will be able to walk soon and after reading this, it really sinks in.
I wish all the best to Wayne and his family.
.
People! please dont ride without health insurance, I rode 2 months ago with 3 guys at this track I didnt know, they all didnt have any insurance and were cocky about it, the rest of us did.... my bill first bill for the trauma surgery along was $29k, that is probably the tip of the iceberg, but my insurance is great, 100% covered.
I think hospitals dont charge any interest if you have to make payments, which is a good thing. But I am sure his family can use any donations whatsoever to help them out, let us know more when you can RM guy.....

 

[RM_guy]

Zcookie,
It's in my original post but here's the info again:

If you choose to donate please make checks out to “Linda Ryerson” and send to:

Wayne Ryerson Fund
C/O Graham Hall Auto Sales
1749 Upper Front St
Binghamton, NY 13901

My friend that owns the car lot (Graham) has been fowarding money to Wayne's wife. Thanks for offering to help.

BTW, I hope your doing better. That was a nasty crash you had.

 

[zcookie49]

I know I saw that info earlier, but I must have forgot about it while talking to my wife on the phone about it. Thanks for posting it again ...
I just wrote down the info, will have to write out something for Linda.
That is really cool you guys are doing this for him.
.
Man, it is close to 80 here today, I actually went outside and sat out for about an hour... DARE I say that if there was a Q*U*A*D, sitting there, I would throw these legs up on it and putt around.......
Just kidding.

 

[RM_guy]

I just got an email from Wayne’s sister and she has informed me that he isn’t doing so well. He has been unable to really get into the rehab due to several complications, the worst being blood clots in both legs.

She asked if I could get a bunch of people to send him a card with a short note to help cheer him up. I now he’d get a kick out of hearing from a bunch of fellow rider’s that he has never met. DRN has always been a tight group when it comes to supporting each other and I hope this is no different.

This may be asking too much but I was also thinking that if any of you live in or near Philadelphia, a visit would really lift his spirits. Make sure you call first to make sure he can see visitors at the time.

He has no room number because he has been moved several times due to the complications he’s had but if you send something to this address, he will get it:

Wayne Ryerson - PATIENT
c/o Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
111 South 11th Street
Philadelphia, PA
19107-5098

Thanks,
Dave