It was cold. Huddled in the comforts of Starbuck’s with both hands wrapped around a very warm coffee cup my brain began the weekly thawing process after another frigid winter ride. Seated next to me was a member that I wasn’t sure that I had met. I say that because he was no longer wearing his helmet, gloves, hood, and jacket and wasn’t seated on a particular bicycle. (I have come to realize that bicyclist associate a rider with his bike as in, “Yeah, you know Marty, he rides the black Specialized S-Works.”) He might have been riding next to me the entire chilly morning but without the costume and his bike; well I wasn’t sure.

He introduced himself as Steve Standifer who had indeed been riding a bicycle for a short time and was fairly new to our club. As he spoke in his deep southern drawl, I could tell that he wasn’t from Kansas.  I guess my brain actually was thawing. I told him we were glad to have new members join the Plano Bicycle Association (PBA) and hoped that he was enjoying himself. He said that he was and judging by the group he had just ridden with it was obvious that Steve was in pretty good shape.

I discovered that he enjoyed talking which was good because as tired as I was from the ride I was content to just sit there and listen.  And listen I did as he had an incredible story to tell. About half way through, I was thinking that there was no way this guy should be even walking, let alone riding a bicycle 50 miles at an 18 MPH pace. I hope my jawbone wasn’t dangling open for too long.

We have all heard the phrases about our lives changing; “in the blink of an eye”, “at a moment’s notice”, “at the snap of your fingers”. They all mean basically the same thing. Steve had one of those “moments” that changed his life forever.

The accident: In July of 2007 he was driving his Acura MDX on Highway 380 headed west from Denton towards Amarillo to visit his father. If you have driven that stretch of highway you’ll know its only two lanes, has many twists and curves resulting in a nerve-wracking drive.  Approaching Decatur a rock hauler truck travelling the opposite direction crossed over the line and unfortunately struck Steve’s car on the left front of his MDX. His entire life was changed “In a nanosecond…”

His 2 ton Acura was no match for an 80,000 lb. vehicle coming at him at the equivalent of 120 mph if you take into consideration the speed of each vehicle traveling in the opposite direction. According to federal safety officials, “rock haulers are among the hardest-working and lowest-paid drivers in the commercial trucking industry. Their trucks are among the most dangerous on the road.”  In the 12 county area around DFW alone, 467 people were killed in accidents with large vehicles between the years 2000 and 2005. Steve came real close to adding to that horrendous number.

They nearly hit head-on, just left of center spinning the little MDX several times but it did not flip over. The impact sent the dashboard into Steve’s left leg and drove the bone into his hip and pelvic area shattering the surrounding bones. Given the speed of both vehicles and the weight difference between the rock-hauler weighing several tons and Steve’s little MDX, it’s amazing he even survived the crash. Most wouldn’t have survived a horrific collision such as this.  Steve did although I don’t imagine he felt very lucky at the time.

Paramedics arrived a short time later and it took 45 minutes to get him out of his car. Unable to get the “jaws of life” to work properly they had to pull his broken body out through the driver’s side window and then care-flight him to Parkland Hospital. He was conscious throughout the entire ordeal and even asked to be taken to a closer hospital. Have a wreck as bad as he had and you’re going to Parkland; end of story, as Parkland is the best trauma center around.   Luckily, mankind was designed with a wonderful mechanism for these moments; it’s called shock and Steve had a big dose of it hopefully dulling his pain and extreme discomfort.

After waiting three days for him to stabilize, the Parkland doctors, some of the finest in the country, performed a six hour surgery to reconstruct his hip using 20 screws and metal plate in an attempt to put him back together.  He was a guest at Parkland for a total of 14 days and then was moved next door to Zale-Lipshy to begin his rehabilitation process. He spent another 11 days in the rehab facility and finally went home 25 days after the accident in a wheelchair, too weak to even attempt to stand.

Steve certainly didn’t realize it at the time, but for years he had been preparing for this moment.  For the 15 years prior to his accident he was an avid runner. That might be an understatement, though.   He had participated in thirty-four marathons including five Boston’s, one of which he ran his personal best of 2:52 just shy of his 40th birthday.  Besides his long distance running, he spent three to four days a week in the gym lifting weights. The resistance exercises and the 25,000 miles of literally pounding his skeletal structure by running not only equipped him with sturdy bones but allowed him to develop  a great deal of intestinal fortitude which he would certainly need for the next several months of rehab. Human bones are similar to muscles in that they need to be worked to become stronger. By taxing them through resistance training, muscle fibers are torn and rebuilt; bone cells are crushed signaling the body to send the nutrients required to make them stronger. All the running and lifting put him in the best position to be able to recover from this horrible ordeal.

According to Travis Stork, M.D. and TV host of “The Doctors”, “I can’t stress enough how much better your odds are of surviving a trauma or serious illness if you’re fit. When people are overweight and out of shape, fall sick or are hurt, they tend to suffer more because they don’t have the underlying fitness to help them bounce back. So remember that staying fit is about survival.” Dr. Stork is an ER physician by trade and has seen it all.  The benefits of diet and exercise have been well documented over the last several decades and junk food eating couch potatoes either get it or they don’t by now. However, there is the new benefit of diet and exercise of being better equipped to survive a personal trauma by being physically fit. Talk about being prepared for what life throws your way!  Getting off the couch and out of the fridge can literally save your life when confronted with a traumatic experience.

Rehab: This was no walk in the park. Just to be able to walk again would take a great deal of effort, a lot of faith and support, tenacity and probably a little luck. Steve had all of this. He had been happily married to Sheryl, his wife of over 30 years, had a college aged daughter Caitlin, a great group of friends (many were the friends he gained through running) and a support group from his church.  Bring it on…

Once home he began physical therapy three days a week and was ordered not to put any weight on his left leg for three months. At the end of this period he moved on to a pool for another three months and was finally able to walk with the assistance of a cane.  Upon a subsequent visit to his orthopedic surgeon he was told that the cartilage in his hip joint was gone and no matter how hard he worked out he would still need a cane for the rest of his life unless he agreed to have a total hip replacement. We, of course, know the answer was, “Yes let’s get it done”.  As an outsider, I’m not sure the answer was that easy. To have another major surgery in the same area is a huge ordeal and, I’m sure, wrought with a lot of pain and discomfort. But, this is what was needed to be done for Steve to have some semblance of a normal life. So, bring it on again…

In October, 2008 Steve had the hip replacement surgery. They removed the plate and all but 8 screws and installed the new hip.  The procedure was a success. After a short time Steve was walking for the first time without the use of a cane since the accident, over a year earlier.  He was given permission to get back to the gym and started lifting weights and riding a stationary bike in early 2009.  “I knew that my running career was over but I had to do something physical to challenge myself and why not try biking?”  Bicycling is a very low impact sport as long as you stay upright (don’t fall) and was perfect for Steve. The cardiovascular workout is every bit as taxing as in running and there is little stress on your bones and joints as long as you’re riding a bike that fits your body and matches your goals for riding. A visit to a local bike shop is the best advice and that’s what Steve did.  He bought a used road bike on Memorial Day and hit the North Texas roads by himself. He had heard of the Plano Bicycle Association and decided to try a ride the very next weekend. He rode with the DB1 group and might have bitten off a little more than he was ready for at that point in his recovery. Other than the cushy stationary bike seats the last bicycle seat he had sat on had a banana seat and high handlebars!  This was a little different than his old Stingray. He struggled with that ride as you might expect. Let’s just say he welcomed the challenge and stayed with this ride all summer long, deciding to ride in the Hotter N Hell 100 ride in Wichita Falls at the end of August, two and half months after first getting on a road bike. He called it his first bicycle marathon and rightfully so as that ride can be a beat-down. The name of the ride accurately describes the conditions in which you and 12,000 other riders experience. He made it through his first “bicycle marathon” and  rode strong for the remainder of the riding season by himself and with the PBA.

Fast forward to today and Steve is still bicycling. In fact, he is putting in 120-140 miles a week and has made an entirely new group of friends from his association with the PBA. He has run a couple of 5Ks since but he has left the bulk of the running to his daughter who is running track and cross-country while attending Belmont University in Nashville.   She bought her dad a Road ID for his last birthday. This handy identification bracelet is important to carry while exercising and the company allows you to place a motto on it along with all of the identification information. Steve had them engrave “Second Chance” on his because he believes he was given one through surviving a horrible accident, fully recovering and then discovering a new sport that he will be able to enjoy for the rest of his life (along with the new friends he has gained.)  He now enjoys his weekend PBA rides on his brand new Cervelo RS road bike.  You never know who you’ll be riding with on a PBA ride.