This is a Get Well Card (Barrington, RI - Accident)

Oh thank you so much. It's is so amazing how the tri community is pulling together to help us. Words cannot describe what that means to me and Don. We are 100% supportive and appreciative of using social networking sites, etc as a means to get the word out that we need information.

I'll give you an update on what we have learned in case that information might help others come forward. A triathlete who was about a mile from the accident scene noticed a pickup truck (tan/gold) in the wrong lane. She thought that was strange and wondered why it was in that lane. The pickup truck started to move then stopped again. The passenger and driver doors flung open and a man and woman rushed out of the truck. When the triathlete got to the scene, the woman had a towel or shirt on a wound on Don's head. The triathlete went to the next intersection and told the race marshal to call 911. The marshal said that it had already been called in. In the meantime, the couple with the pickup truck got back into their pickup and left the scene before anyone else arrived. We know this because another triathlete came along found Don alone and unconscious on the side of the road. He checked for a pulse and then stopped a white a SUV and asked the driver to call 911. He got a towel from the white SUV and began to apply pressure to the deepest head wound. Another triathlete reported that when he passed the scene there was a gray pickup truck with construction workers providing help to Don. I need to find out when those construction workers arrived and what they had seen.

According to the triathlete who thought he was the first one of the scene, Don's bike was in the road, there were skid marks from Don's tires and Don's body was about 30 feet away next to the stone wall. It appears that Don needed to take evasive action to avoid something (maybe a tan/gold pickup), locked up his brakes, skidded, and then was launched head first into the stone wall about 30 feet away.

I am willing to share the severity of Don's injuries with the triathlete community so they can better understand the trauma caused by this accident. Don has a broken neck which is stable. His right shoulder is destroyed. The head of the humerus is smashed to bits, the clavicle is broken in pieces, and his scapula is broken and torn from position. The humerus is completely detached from the shoulder and has fallen away from his armpit. On Thursday, Don will have shoulder surgery and most likely will have a shoulder replacement done at that time. He has over 50 stitches many in facial and head wounds as well as a deep wound on his hand.

Many in the triathlon community may not be aware but seven years ago Don was hit by a car while on a training ride. That vehicle had taken a left turn into him and caused extensive injuries to the left side of his body. He spent a month in the hospital and two months in a wheel chair because of that accident, and has permanent significant damage to his left hip and shoulder. Because of that first accident, he had shoulder surgery, hip surgery, and has been delaying having a hip replacement to his left hip so that he can race bikes. Now the accident on Saturday has destroyed his good shoulder not to mention causing him to once again deal with more trauma.

Please keep the prayers coming. We need them.