BIKE WRECK VICTIM HEALING
Tyler Morning Telegraph | 8 July 04 | ANGELA GRANT
PASSION FOR CYCLING: Cody Smith, Cobb's Bicycle Sports president, says "you can't let a little setback get you down." (Staff Photo By D.J. Peters)
The president of a new bicycling center in Tyler, TX is painfully recovering after being struck by a vehicle.
Cody Smith, president of John Cobb's Bicycle Sports, a shop and training center that attracts athletes from all over the world, probably wouldn't be here today if hadn't been for two doctors riding in the group of cyclists.
"If nothing was done, he would have died because he would have suffocated from his tongue in the back of his throat or the blood he was drowning in," said James Motlagh, one of the doctors.
It was about 10 a.m. on July 4, and the group set out to ride 20 to 25 miles. The plan was crushed at Farm-to-Market Road 848 and University Boulevard, only 2.5 miles into the trip.
Smith said the last thing he remembers was falling slightly behind the group and climbing a steep hill. Then he lost consciousness.
When he woke up again, he was in an ambulance on the way to Mother Frances Hospital.
Smith is recovering from an orbital fracture under his right eye, face fractures, a spine fracture, a pelvic fracture that widened the joint and a head injury that caused a small amount of bleeding in his brain.
"I was truly blessed that day," Smith said from his hospital bed, broken and bruised, trying to forget his pain. Speaking was difficult due to stitches in his tongue, which had nearly been cut off in the accident, he said.
Smith said he was glad his wife was not riding with the group that day, as she would have been under normal circumstances. She stayed home because she is recovering from childbirth.
The couple has a 3-week-old baby girl, Vivian.
A LIFE IS SAVED
Since Smith was at the rear of the group, no one saw the 1991 Acura Legend hit him.
Several group members said they heard a loud popping sound and saw the vehicle drive by, not slowing or stopping, with its windshield entirely smashed out.
"I heard something that sounded like a big pop and I thought, 'did someone go down?'" said Raynelle Thompson, one of the cyclists. She thought one of her riding mates had fallen due to a flat tire.
John Cobb, Smith's business partner and a cyclist trainer, said he also thought Smith had a flat tire until he rode back to help.
"When I got there, there were parts everywhere," Cobb said. "We turned out to be lucky that Cody wasn't killed."
The cyclists attribute Smith's survival to the actions of Doug Vermillion, a Trinity Clinic orthopedic surgeon, and Motlagh, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon at Tyler Plastic Surgery.
Motlagh said when he rode back to the scene of the accident, Smith was lying in the road unconscious, turning blue.
He was not breathing and did not have a pulse. Blood was pouring from Smith's mouth and nose.
"When I saw him initially, I thought he was dead or going to die," he said.
The two doctors began doing the "ABCs" - airway, breathing and circulation. Vermillion said he removed his own shirt to soak up the blood from Smith's lacerated tongue, then performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Smith began breathing and his heart began beating again. Then the doctors kept his airway open until an ambulance arrived.
"He told me he was scared," Motlagh said. "We tried to reassure him and calm him down."
Passers-by stopped their vehicles and helped by blocking the road on both sides and holding cardboard above Smith to keep him shaded, Vermillion said. One of them even called 911.
"It was kind of a team effort," Vermillion said. "Everyone was doing what they could to help."
Another man followed the driver of the Acura until the vehicle wrecked in a ditch, Vermillion said.
Officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety arrested the driver, Luis Alberto Varona Blas, a Tyler man.
"He had significant impairment due to some type of possible unknown drug use," said Jonathan Peters, DPS trooper. "He didn't realize he had hit a bicyclist."
Blas was unable to be reached for comment.
Blas has been charged with an accident involving injury or death, intoxicated assault with a vehicle and possession of marijuana.
He was released from Smith County Jail on Tuesday on bonds totaling $15,500.
DPS is awaiting test results on blood and urine samples to determine if Blas was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Such tests usually take three to six months to complete, Peters said.
"We have to show what he was impaired on and it helps our case," he said.
Smith said he did not want to comment on whether he would take any legal action against the man.
SHOP COULD AID RECOVERY
John Cobb's Bicycle Sports, the company Smith and Cobb run together, could help Smith recover from his injuries and return to bicycling.
The shop specializes in designing and producing custom-made bicycles and offers training services to runners, cyclists and swimmers to help them become more efficient athletes.
Cobb, who has worked with Tour de France five-time champion Lance Armstrong since the famous cyclist was 19 years old, said the main goal of the bicycle center is to help athletes overcome injuries and continue in their sport.
The target customers are 40- to 60-year-old athletes who have played sports over their whole lives, but are having problems with joints or other injuries.
Olympic-class athletes are also likely to visit the center to train to improve their performance or get help with injuries.
"World-class athletes don't get world-class help when they have troubles," Cobb said. "We'll be able to give them good guidance."
The same services are likely to help Smith get back on his bike. Cobb said the shop could custom design a bike that will make Smith comfortable by taking impact away from his spine.
Smith could be released from the hospital in three to five days. It will take 12 weeks to six months for him to recover from his injuries, Vermillion said.
Smith said he looks forward to jumping on his bike for a ride when he has recovered.
"I think I'd be a fool not to," Smith said. "If there's something you have a passion for, you can't let a little setback get you down."
Tyler Morning Telegraph | 8 July 04 | ANGELA GRANT
PASSION FOR CYCLING: Cody Smith, Cobb's Bicycle Sports president, says "you can't let a little setback get you down." (Staff Photo By D.J. Peters)
The president of a new bicycling center in Tyler, TX is painfully recovering after being struck by a vehicle.
Cody Smith, president of John Cobb's Bicycle Sports, a shop and training center that attracts athletes from all over the world, probably wouldn't be here today if hadn't been for two doctors riding in the group of cyclists.
"If nothing was done, he would have died because he would have suffocated from his tongue in the back of his throat or the blood he was drowning in," said James Motlagh, one of the doctors.
It was about 10 a.m. on July 4, and the group set out to ride 20 to 25 miles. The plan was crushed at Farm-to-Market Road 848 and University Boulevard, only 2.5 miles into the trip.
Smith said the last thing he remembers was falling slightly behind the group and climbing a steep hill. Then he lost consciousness.
When he woke up again, he was in an ambulance on the way to Mother Frances Hospital.
Smith is recovering from an orbital fracture under his right eye, face fractures, a spine fracture, a pelvic fracture that widened the joint and a head injury that caused a small amount of bleeding in his brain.
"I was truly blessed that day," Smith said from his hospital bed, broken and bruised, trying to forget his pain. Speaking was difficult due to stitches in his tongue, which had nearly been cut off in the accident, he said.
Smith said he was glad his wife was not riding with the group that day, as she would have been under normal circumstances. She stayed home because she is recovering from childbirth.
The couple has a 3-week-old baby girl, Vivian.
A LIFE IS SAVED
Since Smith was at the rear of the group, no one saw the 1991 Acura Legend hit him.
Several group members said they heard a loud popping sound and saw the vehicle drive by, not slowing or stopping, with its windshield entirely smashed out.
"I heard something that sounded like a big pop and I thought, 'did someone go down?'" said Raynelle Thompson, one of the cyclists. She thought one of her riding mates had fallen due to a flat tire.
John Cobb, Smith's business partner and a cyclist trainer, said he also thought Smith had a flat tire until he rode back to help.
"When I got there, there were parts everywhere," Cobb said. "We turned out to be lucky that Cody wasn't killed."
The cyclists attribute Smith's survival to the actions of Doug Vermillion, a Trinity Clinic orthopedic surgeon, and Motlagh, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon at Tyler Plastic Surgery.
Motlagh said when he rode back to the scene of the accident, Smith was lying in the road unconscious, turning blue.
He was not breathing and did not have a pulse. Blood was pouring from Smith's mouth and nose.
"When I saw him initially, I thought he was dead or going to die," he said.
The two doctors began doing the "ABCs" - airway, breathing and circulation. Vermillion said he removed his own shirt to soak up the blood from Smith's lacerated tongue, then performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Smith began breathing and his heart began beating again. Then the doctors kept his airway open until an ambulance arrived.
"He told me he was scared," Motlagh said. "We tried to reassure him and calm him down."
Passers-by stopped their vehicles and helped by blocking the road on both sides and holding cardboard above Smith to keep him shaded, Vermillion said. One of them even called 911.
"It was kind of a team effort," Vermillion said. "Everyone was doing what they could to help."
Another man followed the driver of the Acura until the vehicle wrecked in a ditch, Vermillion said.
Officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety arrested the driver, Luis Alberto Varona Blas, a Tyler man.
"He had significant impairment due to some type of possible unknown drug use," said Jonathan Peters, DPS trooper. "He didn't realize he had hit a bicyclist."
Blas was unable to be reached for comment.
Blas has been charged with an accident involving injury or death, intoxicated assault with a vehicle and possession of marijuana.
He was released from Smith County Jail on Tuesday on bonds totaling $15,500.
DPS is awaiting test results on blood and urine samples to determine if Blas was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Such tests usually take three to six months to complete, Peters said.
"We have to show what he was impaired on and it helps our case," he said.
Smith said he did not want to comment on whether he would take any legal action against the man.
SHOP COULD AID RECOVERY
John Cobb's Bicycle Sports, the company Smith and Cobb run together, could help Smith recover from his injuries and return to bicycling.
The shop specializes in designing and producing custom-made bicycles and offers training services to runners, cyclists and swimmers to help them become more efficient athletes.
Cobb, who has worked with Tour de France five-time champion Lance Armstrong since the famous cyclist was 19 years old, said the main goal of the bicycle center is to help athletes overcome injuries and continue in their sport.
The target customers are 40- to 60-year-old athletes who have played sports over their whole lives, but are having problems with joints or other injuries.
Olympic-class athletes are also likely to visit the center to train to improve their performance or get help with injuries.
"World-class athletes don't get world-class help when they have troubles," Cobb said. "We'll be able to give them good guidance."
The same services are likely to help Smith get back on his bike. Cobb said the shop could custom design a bike that will make Smith comfortable by taking impact away from his spine.
Smith could be released from the hospital in three to five days. It will take 12 weeks to six months for him to recover from his injuries, Vermillion said.
Smith said he looks forward to jumping on his bike for a ride when he has recovered.
"I think I'd be a fool not to," Smith said. "If there's something you have a passion for, you can't let a little setback get you down."
