Travis Airman Rushed to Help Rider After Motorcycle Crash

Travis AFB Airman treats motorcycle crash victim
By T.C. Perkins
60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
Published January 09, 2017

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) -- Just nine days before Christmas, Airman 1st Class Richard Crawford, a 60th Communications Squadron cyber security journeyman, decided to take a break from the holiday hustle and bustle to go fishing in Northern California.

Little did he know that by the end of the day, he would be instrumental in possibly saving the life of an injured motorist on U.S. Highway 50.

“I was heading back from a fishing trip when a motorcyclist passed me, lane splitting,” Crawford said. “He got a few cars ahead of me and eventually out of my line of sight; soon after, I heard a collision.”

The collision Crawford heard was a car slamming into the motorcycle at about 50 mph sending the rider skidding across the highway.

Crawford exited his vehicle and noticed the man holding his left leg. He also saw blood dripping from the man’s left foot.

Using skills he learned in self-aid and buddy care training, -- a course that teaches Airmen how to prevent the loss of life, limb or eyesight and treat battlefield casualties -- Crawford tended to the man’s injuries.
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Wife Fights For Justice As Air Force Veteran Sits in Jail

'I can't be silent any longer' - Wife of veteran fights for husband's release
North West Florida News
Kelly Humphrey
September 3, 2016

A medical board issued him an honor-able discharge after four years and 10 months of service. The loss of his military career devastated him, Angela said, and he would later be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“He attempted suicide shortly after that,” she said. “It broke his heart to be out of the Air Force.”

At 9:18 a.m. on April 9, 2015, Aaron Wanless sent an email to his psychiatrist’s office at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs clinic at Eglin Air Force Base.

“This medication is killing me,” he wrote. “My brain is malfunctioning.”

At the moment he sent the message, the 35-year-old Air Force veteran was a fugitive, having spent the previous night eluding sheriff’s deputies following an armed altercation at his father’s house.

Shortly after sending the email, Aaron surrendered and was taken to jail, where he has remained for 17 months without bond as his case winds it way through the judicial system.

Aaron had confided in Angela when they first met that he’d experienced depression. She and Melendez attribute it to a serious motorcycle accident he had while stationed at Patrick Air Force Base near Cocoa Beach in 2001.

“Several bones in his lower leg were shattered,” Melendez wrote. “For a while, doctors thought they may have to amputate his leg. Aaron was in rehab for months.”

Although he would go on to serve with his Air Force unit at ground zero in New York following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, by 2002 the military decided he was no longer fit for service.
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UK: Soldier Left For Dead By Hit and Run Driver, Caught on Film

Soldier ‘left for dead’ after being hit by overtaking car 
METRO UK 
Richard Hartley-Parkinson 
20 Jul 2016

‘It’s disgusting that the driver wouldn’t even stop to check on me. For all they know, I could be dead right now." Patrick Casey,

A soldier had a lucky escape when he was hit by a car while trying to overtake two cars. Patrick Casey, 24, pulled out to pass the vehicles but the car in front of him moved out at the same time. He was then hit by the Volkswagen Passat while riding at 60mph sending him flying onto the road in Howden, East Yorkshire.

Incredibly he walked away with just whiplash and bruising but the car driver carried on. Mr Casey, who had just returned from a tour of Kenya, was being followed by his father Shaun who filmed the incident while on their way to a charity ride.
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Vietnam Veteran Died in Motorcycle Accident After Seeing The Wall

Vietnam veteran was making first trip to memorial
The Herald Bulletin
By Scott L. Miley

June 1, 2016

PENDLETON — Craig Van Brunt had hoped to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., for years.

This past Memorial Day weekend, Van Brunt, 66, of Pendleton, managed to see the symbolic wall Friday with about 80 other Hoosier motorcyclists participating in the annual Rolling Thunder Ride for Freedom and Ride to the Wall.

Two days later, he joined in a demonstration ride urging Washington political leaders to find prisoners of war and service members still missing in action. After the demonstration, his motorcycle crashed on the way to the group's hotel. He died at George Washington University Hospital.

"This is something unfortunately that we have to live with," said Mike Clark, president of the Rolling Thunder Indiana Chapter 1, which organized area residents in the ride. "Most of us who ride motorcycles all know that once you swing your leg over the saddle, it could happen to any of us at any time."

Clark added, "At least he got to see the wall and participate in the Ride for Freedom demonstration. He got to accomplish his mission."
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Fort Campbell Soldier, Father of 5, Needs Prayers After Motorcycle Crash

Fort Campbell soldier remains in trauma unit after motorcycle crash
WKRN NBC News
By Talia Kaplan
Published: August 26, 2015

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A Fort Campbell soldier, Nick Sprowl, is in the trauma unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Clarksville police said he was hit by a car on his motorcycle and was seriously injured.

“He’s a fighter,” said wife Stephanie Sprowl. She is wearing his wedding ring because he can’t.

“Both hands are broken,” said Sprowl. “Spine is fractured, neck injuries, both arms are broken.”

She said his jaw, sternum, and ribs are also broken.

“His liver and spleen both have lacerations; his left kidney is damaged,” Sprowl said.

She told News 2 the father of her five young children, ages 2, 3, 6, 8, and 12, will never be the same.
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Gulf War Veteran With PTSD Reaches Out to Others

Gulf War Veteran Suffers from PTSD
Marco Soto started a non-profit to help veterans
KRGV ABC News 5
Aug 12, 2015

After an argument with his wife, Soto locked himself in his bathroom. Marco Soto, a husband and father, soaked in a tub with a gun in his hand and wanted to die.

MCALLEN
Marco Soto is a Gulf War veteran who was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He said he found a “Buddy,” so he doesn’t have to go through it alone.

“I was stationed at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington DC,” Soto said.

He served four years of military service with the Air Force, in the Gulf War and on a medical readiness team.

“We saw all things,” he said. “From extracting bodies in pieces to putting them back together, to suturing, to trying to find out if there were any survivors at all. So that wasn't anything very pleasant to see.”

The Mission native served from 1994 to 1998. Soto said his life seemed fine until 2011.

“I was T-boned by a lady in a Chevy Cavalier, when the cars were made of metal,” Soto said. “It was like a 1984, or something; she T-boned me in my Harley Davidson.”

The father of four was hospitalized for six months. He survived 13 surgeries.

“I have a titanium rod from my knee to my ankle, and I've got a reconstructed hip,” Soto said.

The pain, smells from the crash and his injuries triggered the trauma of war.
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Combat Vets Motorcycle Association Member Hospitalized After Accident

Veteran recovering from serious motorcycle crash after visiting Chattanooga shooting memorials
WRCB TV
By Sara Sidery, Reporter
Aug 04, 2015

The ride was a way for the retired Army Colonel to help channel his grief and frustration for what happened -- and to show his support for the military.

CHATTANOOGA, TN (WRCB) - A veteran traveled to Chattanooga to show his support for the servicemen killed in last month's shooting rampage, and ended up in a fight for his own life.

Jim Bachman is a member of the Combat Vets Motorcycle Association. He was one of more than 100 bikers riding in support of the five servicemen gunned down at a military installation last month.

Bachman was on his way back to Nashville when he crashed in Marion County on July 25, suffering serious injuries. He has been upgraded from critical condition. He's still in pain, but has a long recovery ahead of him -- and says he considers himself "extremely lucky" to be alive.

"The road wasn't that bad, we weren't going that fast. I'm convinced the heat exhaustion played a part in it," Bachman said on Day 11 of his hospital stay at Erlanger on Tuesday.

He suffered 10 broken ribs, a broken shoulder and a collapsed lung after crashing his motorcycle on the way home from visiting the Chattanooga memorials.

The week after the shooting, the Vietnam veteran organized a ride to Chattanooga for 125 members of the Combat Vets Motorcycle Association out of the Nashville area.
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Canada: Afghanistan Veteran Denied Insurance Because of PTSD

Afghan war veteran denied insurance because of PTSD
CTV News Canada
Michael Shulman
Published Monday, July 27, 2015

"I did a job the government asked me to do (and) I did it to the best of my ability. I was injured during that but now I lack the ability to have the privilege of protecting my investment (and) my house," said Arnsten.

April 17, 2002 is a date that continues to haunt Shaun Arnsten.

The Afghanistan war veteran was part of the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group that lost four Canadian comrades and saw eight others injured in friendly fire at the hands of an American F-16 fighter jet near Kandahar.

"I was about 150 metres from the point of impact where the bomb was," Arnsten told CTV News.

In 2003, Arnsten, 38, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and a year later he received a medical discharge.

"I'm a young guy -- a soldier -- I went to war, I saw horrible things, I came back (and) I had a reaction to it," Arnsten said.

But the repercussions of his PTSD have affected his life back at home in Cochrane, Alta., as well.

Earlier this month, Arnsten says that he was rejected for mortgage disability insurance by Sun Life Financial because of his condition.

The veteran suffered a severe concussion in a motorcycle accident in April, which he says is preventing him from returning to his work as a heavy equipment operator.
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Near Fatal Motorcycle Crash Marine Veteran Proves Miracles Still Happen

Fundraiser launched for Boonton 'Miracle Marine' 
Daily Record
Michael Izzo
May 16, 2015

"His first words were 'hi' and 'I love you,'" Bucher said. "And 'orange juice … I'm thirsty.'"

Kyle Chappell in Afghanistan with the Marine Corps 2nd Light Armored Recon Battalion.

(Photo: Photo courtesy of Jennifer Bucher)

MORRISTOWN – A 26-year-old Marine veteran from Boonton has been in intensive care for more than six weeks after a grisly motorcycle accident in Denville left him with life-threatening injuries, including an "internal decapitation."

Kyle Chappell has a long road ahead on his recovery, and his friends and family have started a crowdfunding campaign to help with the cost.

Chappell was driving his motorcycle to work on Diamond Spring Road, four miles from his Boonton home, on the morning of April 2 when he was hit by a car.

Chappell later would find out he suffered an "internal decapitation," meaning his skull separated from his spinal cord, a typically fatal occurrence. There are only about two dozen documented cases of people surviving the injury.

"It's such a miracle. All the credit and gratitude to the first responders for safely moving him," Kyle's mother, Jennifer Bucher, said. "They didn't know about the injury and moving him safely was pivotal to his survival."

Bucher said her son also dissected his aorta artery in two places.

"That aorta was a ticking time bomb. Dissecting it once would typically cause someone to bleed out in 10 minutes," she said. "But somehow it clotted on the way to the hospital."

Chappell's extensive list of injuries also included two collapsed lungs, a lacerated liver, kidney, spleen, a fractured femur, a broken tibia and fibula on his left leg and a broken ankle on his right leg.
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Marine Airlifted to Hospital After 100 MPH Crash

Friday accident temporarily closes Neuse River Bridge 
New Bern North Carolina
By Crystal Garrett, Sun Journal Staff
Published: Saturday, February 14, 2015

Andrew Bolden, 21, a Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune, had to be airlifted to Vidant Medical Center on Friday night after his motorcycle crashed into a minivan, whose occupants included a mother and three small children.

Bolden’s Suzuki sports bike was traveling at an estimated speed of 100 mph when he was first spotted by Trooper M.C. Eure with the N.C. Highway Patrol. read more here

Veteran Dances With HIs Bride After Motorcycle Accident

Veterans Day 2014: Touching Photo, Video Show Paraplegic Veteran Dancing With Wife at Wedding
ABC News
By KATHERINE EMOFF and SUSANNA KIM
via GOOD MORNING AMERICA
Business Digital Reporter
Nov 11, 2014

Sgt. Joey Johnson, 27, a veteran who served for 10 months in Afghanistan, prepared the ultimate surprise for his new wife on their wedding day: a first dance without the aid of his wheelchair.

Johnson, from Fishers, Indiana, suffered a spinal injury in a motorcycle accident on Aug. 12, 2012, just four months after he met his future wife, Michelle Johnson, at a country music concert.

"We realized that we had the same birthday, June 29, and same last name Johnson," Michelle Johnson told ABC News. "Joey had just come back from a tour in Afghanistan a few weeks before."

Johnson had served in Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khowst, Afghanistan.

"We knew we were meant to be," she said. "Joey’s parents Ruth and Michael Johnson also have the same birthday, January 14."

Johnson suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after Afghanistan and needed a rush, his wife said, explaining why he turned to riding a motorcycle. Now, he can't feel anything from the chest down and is a paraplegic.

He proposed in April 2013 and the couple decided to have their wedding on on June 28, 2014 -- the day before their birthday.
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Iraq Veteran-Seattle Firefighter Back to Work

Seattle firefighter, Iraq veteran returns to work with prosthetic brace
NBC King 5 News
Alison Morrow
October 8, 2014

Seattle firefighter Matt Runte is walking again, thanks to a newly developed prosthetic brace.
(Photo: KING)

SEATTLE -- A Seattle firefighter is dreaming big again after nearly losing his ability to walk, much less work.

No stranger to training or training hard, it wasn't just war that pushed Matt Runte to his physical edge. More than a decade after returning from Iraq uninjured, a car hit Runte on his motorcycle.

"It wasn't until I got to looking at my feet that I saw my left boot had blown out," he said. "It's a non-functioning forefoot."

Runte lost two toes and suffered severe blood vessel damage. He could barely walk, much less run the marathons he once enjoyed.

Then, Hanger Clinical Director Ryan Blanck took on Runte's case with the prosthetic brace he just developed.
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Connecticut National Guard accident leaves one dead, one injured

Soldier Killed, Second Injured When Army National Guard Truck Crashes
Hartford Courant
By NICHOLAS RONDINONE and KELLY GLISTA
August 8, 2014

HARTFORD — No charges had been filed as of Friday afternoon in an motor vehicle accident that killed a Connecticut Army National Guard solider and injured another on I-95 in Rye, N.Y., New York State Police said.

The Army National Guard 21/2-ton truck and a civilian vehicle, driven by Odson Meritle, 40, of Stamford, were southbound I-95 in Westchester County when they crashed near Exit 21 at 10:22 a.m., New York State Police said.

A National Guard spokesman said Friday that Staff Sgt. Ronald Patterson Jr., of Bridgeport, was killed in the crash. Sgt. 1st class Kayla Anne Downey, of Shelton, was taken to a hospital for treatment.
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Camp Pendleton: Biker slides under big rig and lived

Motorcyclist crashes, slides under big rig on I-5
CBS 8 News
Posted: Jul 20, 2014 2

OCEANSIDE (CNS) - A 21-year-old motorcyclist from Camp Pendleton suffered major injuries when he struck the rear of a car, slid under a big rig and his legs became pinned under the trailer, California Highway Patrol sergeant said Sunday.

The crash was reported at 8 p.m. Saturday on the southbound San Diego (5) Freeway north of Cassidy Street, said Sgt. M. Kelley.

The crash occurred when the motorcyclist was southbound on the San Diego Freeway, "splitting traffic" between the two left lanes at 60 to 75 mph while traffic was congested and moving at 30 to 50 mph, Kelley said.

The driver of a 2005 Toyota Corolla checked her mirror and saw the center lane was clear so she began to move from the far left to the center lane and the motorcyclist collided into the rear of her car, the sergeant said.
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Iraq Veteran Killed Hours Before Graduation

Iraq War veteran from Lemont killed in crash hours before college graduation
Chicago Tribune
By Kim Geiger
Tribune reporter
May 18, 2014

Iraq war veteran Paul Davidson III when he graduated the Marine Corps basic training.

(Family photo)

Paul Davidson III was just hours away from receiving his degree in architecture from the University of Illinois when he was killed Friday night in a traffic accident.

Davidson, 30, originally of Lemont, was riding his motorcycle down an Urbana street when he was struck by a car and killed, according to police reports.

He was on his way to have his hair cut before his Saturday graduation ceremony, said his mother, Corinne Davidson.

An Iraq War veteran and motorcycle enthusiast, Davidson was an honor student with a passion for architecture, his mother said.

“You should see some of the models this kid has done,” Davidson said of her son. “He has designed the most gorgeous stuff. He was just something else.”

Even during his time in the Marines, Davidson’s interest in architecture guided his work. While in Fallujah in 2005, he was assigned to a combat engineering unit, which specialized in buildings, his mother said.
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Hit and run left Marine behind after motorcycle accident

UPDATE

READER LEFT MESSAGE A FUND FOR STAFF SGT. JOHN MIHELICH WAS SET UP ON GO FUND ME

Marine Survives Freeway Hit-and-Run, Driver Sought
Witnesses said it's a miracle the husband and father of two was not struck by another car.
NBC
By Tony Shin
Tuesday, Feb 11, 2014

A Marine was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding his motorcycle on a Southern California freeway, and police are asking for the public’s help to find the driver of a truck who left the veteran lying in the road.

The crash happened Feb. 7 during rush hour along the 15 Freeway in Temecula.

U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. John Mihelich was driving home from his work at Marine Air Station Miramar. He was about 2 miles from his exit on Winchester Road when, suddenly, a dark green truck swerved back and forth into his lane.

Mihleich -- who returned from a tour in Afghanistan a year ago -- tumbled into another vehicle going 40 mph before hitting the pavement, but was not seriously hurt, which he credits to his motorcycle body protection.

He said it all happened so fast, he doesn’t remember all of the details and at first, he didn’t even realize he’d been hit.

"As far as this guy knows, I could be laying on the freeway still," Mihleich said.

Witnesses said it’s a miracle the husband and father of two was not struck by another car.
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Camp Lejeune Marines Recovering After Motorcycle Accident

Motorcyclist released from hospital
Daily News Staff
By MATTHEW ADKINS
Published: Sunday, February 9, 2014

The driver who slid his motorcycle under an oncoming Ford Explorer is out of the hospital, according to officials.

Camp Lejeune Marine Charles Johnson, 23, was released from New Hanover Regional Medical Center Saturday night after receiving emergency medical care for wounds received during the motorcycle crash.

Johnson lost control of his vehicle at the intersection of Gum Branch and Howard Road and slid into oncoming traffic, striking a Ford Explorer.
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Veteran Marine committed suicide with homemade bomb

Ex-Marine, 70, uses homemade explosive device to commit suicide in Queens
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
BY KERRY BURKE AND MARK MORALES
JANUARY 7, 2014

Alfred Mayo set off the explosive device inside his second-floor flat and the blast annihilated part of his head and chest, and investigators believe he may have placed the device in his mouth, police sources said. Friends and neighbors described Mayo as a proud and tough-skinned, adding he had lost part of his left leg in a motorcycle accident and suffered from throat cancer.

A former U.S. Marine suffering from cancer crafted a homemade explosive device and detonated it to end his life on Monday night, police and his friends said.

Alfred Mayo set off the device inside his second-floor flat on Austin St. near Lefferts Blvd. in Kew Gardens about 6:45 p.m., and the blast annihilated part of his head and chest, police sources said. Investigators believe he may have placed the device in his mouth, a third police source said.

Friends and neighbors described Mayo as a proud, tough-skinned former U.S. Marine who had lost part of his left leg in a motorcycle accident about 40 years ago and suffered from throat cancer.
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Camp Lejeune Marine laid to rest after motorcycle crash

Lejeune Marine dies in motorcycle wreck
Daily News Staff
By MATTHEW ADKINS
Published: Thursday, November 14, 2013

A Camp Lejeune Marine was laid to rest this week after being killed in a weekend motorcycle wreck.

Mississippi native Sgt. Philip Stephen Shook was traveling east on Ramsey Road about 3 a.m. Saturday when he ran off the road and was thrown from his bike, according to the N.C. Highway Patrol.

Shook was airlifted to New Hanover Regional Hospital, where he later died from injuries sustained during the crash. He leaves behind a son and fiancé.
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Motorcycle riders show support for Army veteran paralyzed from the neck down

Riders show support for Army veteran paralyzed from the neck down
News 12 at 11 o'clock
By: Meredith Anderson
July 26, 2013

Chris Allison (WRDW-TV)

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW) -- The local motorcycle community is giving back to a man who gave so much.

An Army veteran who then went into the Coast Guard is visiting Augusta, but not because he wants to. Now, a group of riders are making him feel at home.

He cannot move, but Chris Allison's story will move you.

"He has two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star," explained his wife, Sharon Allison. "He was a rescue swimmer, he saved many lives."

He cannot talk, so his wife will talk for him.

"We're practically newlyweds. We were married, it was two months," she said. "Then was out on his motorcycle one day and a woman hit him."

A month or so after the accident in Douglasville, he ended up at the Augusta VA hours from home.

Sharon has been the only one by his side since he came here until Thursday night.

"I ride with the Christian Motorcycle Association," said David Kiser. "It's one of the things God has called us to do."
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