A few weeks ago, Rio Wrangler Drive was the training route for a local fire captain with Truckee Meadows Fire. Bill Winchester was on a 70 mile bike ride, preparing for a century ride in October in Napa. What happened next changed his life forever. "I was shifting gears and making sure my gears were shifting right, I looked down for just a few moments and obviously I hadn't looked far enough ahead and ran into the back of a trailer."
The crash left his back broken, ribs crushed and his sternum bruised. His first phone call was to his wife, Heather. "I told her I loved her and I was involved and I'm being taken by ambulance to the hospital." Heather knew something was horribly wrong. "I hung up and panicked. My body just turned to mush. I got in my car and couldn't feel my hands when I drove over here."
A surgeon fused several of his thoracic vertebrae together. A brace supports his injured cervical vertebrae. But from the chest down, he has no feeling. It will take weeks, maybe months to know what, if any, permanent damage was done to his spinal cord. Beginning Thursday, he will spend that time at Craig Hospital outside of Denver. This world-renowned hospital is for spinal cord injury patients with an athletic, competitive and strong desire to have a complete recovery, like most recently Olympic swimmer Amy Van Dyken. "I'm going to give it my all and I just hope people find some inspiration in my story and see if they can help each other out to help themselves or others in this situation." While many questions still remain about Bill's future, he's already thinking about others who will one day find themselves in his position. His goal is to create a foundation to help other spinal cord patients. "Accidents do happen and this is obviously an accident. But I want to make sure everyone knows to not give up and to keep on chugging along."
The Winchesters' medical bills are soaring. To donate to the family, follow Bill's progress and leave notes of encouragement to him, go to http://helpthewinchesters.weebly.com/
