For the past five years my cycling partner, J, and I have participated in a seven day, 500-mile charity bike ride. The ride departs from different locations each year with about 200 cyclists and support staff participating. In 2010 the ride departed from Charlottesville, VA. The second day of the ride took us from Culpepper to Winchester; however approximately 15 miles out from Winchester; J was involved in a serious accident. I didn’t see the accident, but I heard it and I knew it was bad. J’s cycling clothing was ripped, his helmet cracked and he had wounds up and down the left side of his body. I wasn’t sure what other injuries he had, but he was in bad shape and I knew he needed medical care. He was brought to the ER at Winchester Medical Center.

Once behind the ER doors, we were met by Erin Reeve, who introduced herself as an ER nurse. So much of what happened next was a blur because so many things were happening. I followed J into the ER not sure what I would see or what would happen. I am a project manager by trade and am used to being in control of situations, but in this situation I had no control or knew what to do to help, other than being with J. I was, in fact, worried about myself. If you had asked me earlier that day if I wanted to accompany an injured cyclist to the ER, I would have quickly and firmly declined. I am simply not a great “hospital person”. I am guessing Erin sensed this and calmly showed me she was in control. Within minutes in Erin’s presence, I actually felt okay and that I could do this.

As Erin clinically attended to J, I was calm, something I never thought I would be able to do in that situation. Erin’s actions were instrumental in helping me overcome my fear of hospitals, which in turn would help both J and me the many months to come. I don’t have the adequate words to properly thank Erin. All I can say is thank you, Erin. Thank you for staying with us the whole day, thank you for helping Jclinically, thank you for allowing me to stay with J, thank you for communicating clearly and honestly with me, thank you for teaching me the skills needed to be his caregiver, thank you for making us laugh and smile in a situation that should have made us cry, thank you for helping us with the big and the small needs, thank you for never making me feel stupid for asking a basic question, thank you for being an outstanding nurse and a compassionate and patient caregiver. Both J and I are humbly grateful. Thank you, Erin!

Not long after J returned from radiology, Dr. Y and Erin came in with devastating news, in addition to the broken clavicle, that by this time J had suspected, he also had a broken scapula, two broken ribs, and the blow to both of us, a broken leg at the femoral neck that would require immediate surgery. As I listened carefully to this news, I struggled hard to comprehend it. While I appreciated the honesty and absence of clinical terms in how this news was delivered by Dr. Y and Erin, I was at a complete loss for words. This all seemed incomprehensible. Dr. Y, I suspect sensing my reaction, went on to explain that immediate surgery would be needed to repair the leg fracture and restore blood flow to the leg, and to do this J would need to be transferred to another hospital for the surgery. As I started to absorb all he was saying and what this meant, Erin told me someone would be in to clean and dress the wounds Jsustained in the accident, and that they would start work on getting J transferred to a hospital to do the surgery.

Dr. Y and Erin left leaving J and me alone for a few minutes to absorb this news. It was clearly shocking for two young, vibrant, healthy individuals who at that moment should have been on our way to dinner with other cyclists, retelling stories from the day, laughing, feeling good with a sense of physical accomplishment – instead I started working the phone calling J’s work colleagues to plan his transfer to Philadelphia and Albert Einstein Medical Center, where J worked. The reality of the situation set in, and it was mixed with me reassuring J that “we’ll get through this”, me not sure what would happen next, but convincing myself that whatever it was I could do it, and the reality that the ride that both J and I had trained months for was over for both of us.

I am happy to report J has fully recovered. He’s back to cycling, and this July we’ll both be back on our bikes cycling 500 miles. This is in no small effort to the ER team at Winchester Medical Center. The chief trauma doctor at Einstein Hospital commented that J received excellent care at Winchester. I only have the highest praise for the ER staff at Winchester Medical Center. I am sure you know you have a great staff, but I hope it is nice to hear again.