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Adam Meyers, 19, left UC Davis Medical Center on Jan. 17 after being treated for a month at the hospital. Meyers was hit by a utility truck while riding his bicycle east on Kettleman Lane on Dec. 17 and sustained arm and brain injuries. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)
Lodi man recovering after bike accident
To look at Adam Meyers, you wouldn't think he'd just spent a month in a hospital after being hit by a truck while riding his bicycle.
Even though he has to see four therapists to help him make a full recovery from arm and brain injuries, he makes jokes like any other 19-year-old. The Lodi High School graduate is also a bit in awe of the community response to his accident.
"People I don't even know are asking about me," he said.
An optimist to the core, Meyers is now back at his Lodi home, where he is once again making plans to go on a Mormon mission. He might even be ready to go by this summer, he said Monday.
Meyers has no memory of the afternoon of Dec. 17, when he went out for a bicycle ride in preparation for a two-year mission during which a bicycle is the mode of transportation.
"I remember my little brother's birthday party was the night before. That's all I remember," Meyers said. He doesn't remember riding east on Kettleman Lane, past Highway 99. Witnesses told California Highway Patrol officers that a white utility truck hit Meyers. The truck never stopped, and officers haven't found it.
Meyers had severe enough injuries that paramedics at the scene immediately asked for a helicopter to take him to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.
A letter from the Meyers family
To our beloved family, wonderful friends and the amazing community of Lodi:We would like to take this opportunity to express our thanks for the overwhelming support you have been through this life-changing ordeal. We are so appreciative for the many thoughts, prayers, well wishes, phone calls, text messages and cards given to us throughout Adam's recovery.
We have found it difficult to find the words that would convey our feelings. Please know that we are so thankful and grateful. We are in awe of the tremendous response to Adam's accident. This is one of those situations that change you forever, not because of the tragedy and trauma that occurred, because of the support and love from the people who help you get through each day.
We have been reminded that life is fragile, can change in an instant and is precious. Never assume that you'll have the chance to tell the people you love most how you feel, always take the opportunity to let them know each and every day. Again, we thank each and every one of you for sharing in this experience and giving of yourselves so freely to assist us in our time of need. Adam would like to say that he is speechless and humbled by the love, care and concern he received from everyone. He extends his love and thanks to all of you who were there for him.
Our sincerest love and thanks: Nolan, Kris and Adam Meyers.
He spent the next four weeks there, and at first the head injuries were severe enough that doctors didn't want to operate on his broken arm.
But Meyers began to improve. Though his right eye looked like he'd been in a horrendous fight, due to broken orbital bones, that began to heal. A little more than a month later, it's barely noticeable.
"He's a walking miracle. If you saw him a month ago, and the shape he was in," his father, Nolan Meyers, said before pulling out his cell phone to reveal the "before" pictures.
Doctors put a metal plate in Meyers' left arm, which also began to heal. He has nerve damage so his fingers are limp and cannot yet move on their own. But just one week ago he couldn't move his wrist and now he can, so he's quite sure everything else will soon work, too.
Four therapists — occupational, physical, speech and neurological — come to his Lodi home to help get Meyers back to normal. The other night he was able to make macaroni and cheese, said his mother, Kris Meyers.
For his parents, life might finally be getting back to normal now that Meyers is home. They still haven't really celebrated Christmas, since they were in the hospital during the holidays.
Both are very grateful for community support; Kris Meyers wants to send thank you notes to everyone who helped, but the list is incredibly long — and some of them are strangers whose names she doesn't know.
"The response is just overwhelming," she said. "(We) realize what this community is capable of doing."
She was told that a fund-raiser at Rick's Pizza, which often offers fund-raisers for local causes, was perhaps the best-attended ever on a weekday night. A family friend set up a trust fund at Umpqua Bank, and another replaced Meyers' broken iPod.
As for her son, Kris Meyers credits the doctors among other factors, including his youth, healthy eating and regular exercise.
Meyers quietly and quickly interrupted his mother.
"And the prayers," he said. "I think that's a lot of what helped me."
Along with his unshaken faith, Meyers remains a big brother. He's actually grateful that the accident happened to him, rather than his two younger brothers.
"I'm glad I went through this, and not them," he said.
Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.
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opsu92mama wrote on Jan 27, 2009 2:21 PM:
You make soooo easy to love you just by being you! I'm not surprised at the support you're receiving. We will continue to pray for you! "
LUSDParent wrote on Jan 27, 2009 1:39 PM:
Lodian wrote on Jan 27, 2009 9:17 AM:
Patricia wrote on Jan 27, 2009 7:53 AM:
Patricia wrote on Jan 27, 2009 7:52 AM:
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