Sunday, May 16, 2010

Joey Holland

Hey everyone,
I know a lot of you know Joey so I wanted to share this with you all. He was involved in a very serious crash yesterday at our race event in McMinnville and due to the extent of his injuries had to be airlifted from the race course to Chattanooga. Some details are below but I would ask that you keep he and his family in your prayers. Frank Bowyer has been in the most contact with him and has been keeping us updated.

Frank Bowyer Update on Joey: Just talked to Joey on the phone. He does not remember the crash...probably symptom of the head injury. Due to the head injury, he is on anti-seizure medication. He will have surgery tomorrow (Sunday) on his broken femur. The femur is broken near the hip socket. After that surgery, the doctors will asse...ss the broken collar bone. As of now, the doctor is expecting to operate on it, too. He has a slight headache, but he thinks that's mostly attributable to his allergies. His back is fine, no injury there. He will be in Chattanooga at Erlanger (see David Hardin's post) until at least Thursday. When we talked, his boice sounded kind of slurred, so I'm not sure if that's a symptom of his head injury or just how he was laying in his hospital bed. I'll continue to keep you updated as I find out more information. Please continue to keep Joey and his family in your thoughts and prayers.


Frank Bowyer Update on Joey: Pretty serious crash during race today in McMinnville. Joey suffered broken collar bone, broken leg, head trauma and possible injury to back. The head trauma was the reason for his transport to Chattanooga. Shelley (his wife) was able to talk to him via phone and he's fine. He, of course, has already as...ked if his bike is okay...so that's a "normal" cyclist's response to a crash. Shelley and Jamie are on their way to Chattanooga to be with Joey. Please continue to keep Joey and his family in your prayers for a speedy and full recovery.

Frank Bowyer Several people have expressed interest in visiting Joey while he's in Chattanooga. He's in Erlanger Surgical ICU (Bed #9). They have strict visiting hours and rules. Visiting hours are 4:00am - 5:00am, 10:00am - 11am, 4:00pm - 5:00pm and 8:30pm - 10:00pm. Keep in mind that he'll be in surgery tomorrow, but I don't know... the scheduled surgery time. You might want to call first before going to be sure the hospital is allowing non-family members to visit. The # is 423-778-7000.

Thanks!!
Mike Poole

11 comments:

Miley said...

This is very sad news. Joey is such a force for cycling - not only as a competitor but as a promoter for others, and not just in our area but state-wide and beyond. Here's to a quick and complete recovery! Thanks for passing on the news, Mike.

Mike Poole said...

well said Dave!!!

Blog Admin said...

Joey had 5 hours of surgery this morning. They installed a plate on his femur instead of a rod. The bone was too broken to use the rod. The surgery went well. His collar bone will be evaluated next. The concern there is with Joey using crutches as his leg heals, reinjuring the collar bone. Head injury is still a concern, too. He continues to have some bleeding on his brain, but the fact that he had surgery this morning is a good sign as far as the head injury is concerned. He is still in ICU at Erlanger; no word on when he’ll move to a room. He came out of surgery today in good spirits, but is experiencing discomfort and some pain. The doctors are keeping him sedated to ease the pain and help eliminate the muscle spasms he’s been having. His family has been with him throughout the weekend and he’s had a few visitors. Continue to keep Joey and his family in your prayers. I’ll update you as I know more. I’m continuing to update the Team Bikers Choice group page, too.

Frank Bowyer

Caledonia said...

Amen to all of the above. I just returned from the MBSP Spring Ride with a select group of Fogbees and had a message on my land-line from Kim Sparks, Biologist in Joey's office (TDEC/DWPC/NEFO). I called Kim and she and Barbara Loudermilk, Chemist same office, were returning to Nashville from Erlanger. They said Joey came thru the surgery okay, details as Frank described. Kim said this accident occurred during the McMinnville Road Races, Joey's being the second of five crashes, 80 riders total, 35+ and up categories. Kim said she understands someone hit Joey's rear wheel causing him to fall, then several behind him hit and fell on him. She said the race was stopped long enough to allow a medivac helicopter to land and fly him to Erlanger. I worked in Joey's office 1993-2008 before retirement and am indebted to him and the Stinkin' Fish NEFO bike club for getting me back into bicycling, one of the better health decisions I've made. Joey has been a positive influence for me both bicycling and professionally and I join Frank and all Joey's many other friends in wishing him a full and speedy recovery. DTI

Tom_E said...

TO Dave Irvine:
Hey, Several people have asked about Joey's head injury. A 3rd CT scan was done on Sunday morning and the bleeding had stopped on its own. His noggin seems to be working fine. We haven't learned anything new today.
Also, I had some request for his address: As of yesterday he was still in ICU, so no room number yet. The address for Erlanger Hospital is 975 East 3rd Street, Chattanooga, TN 37403. I'm sure if you send a card address to him in care of the hospital he will get it. Likely he will there till Thursday.

Thank you for being so supportive,
Kim Sparks

Tom_E said...

Kim Sparks wrote:
Barb just received this message from Jamie (Joey's son). "Joey is recovery well and still resting in SICU (Surgical Intensive Care Unit). They hope to move him to a more visitor friendly room later today."

Blog Admin said...

FROM Dave Power:

I was the motoref for this particular race on Saturday. I was riding 20 meters or so behind this still-large group of riders at the time of the accident. While it was impossible to see exactly what happened, I certainly saw the pile-up and aftermath. Big.

A few of us stayed with Joey and the other seriously injured racers (two others left via ambulance ...concussion and clavicle) to help control traffic and such. I mention this for two reasons:

1. Joey was in very serious pain until the paramedics arrived; his pain was exacerbated when they had to move him to a board for transport. I was holding his legs and the IV bag for a few minutes while the medics were securing him, and Joey looked up twice (amidst his understandable moans and groans) and apologized to everyone at the scene for "being such a baby about all this." You kidding me!? He is laying on the pavement in excruciating pain, and he's apologizing to us. What a man.

2. Two or three cyclists stayed around the scene to help with the injured and to monitor things in general. The wheel truck guy helped as did the Warren Co Rescue Team when they rolled-up (before the medics.) Lots of unnamed folks helped make a bad situation a little better...thanks to everyone for that.

Here is wishing Joey "I'm not a baby" Holland the quickest of full-recoveries.

Tom_E said...

Kim Sparks wrote:
Joey continues to recover well at Erlanger. He has been stepped down to room in Surgical ICU. Yesterday the surgeon decided his collarbone would heal better without surgery. He did mention he was exhausted, so if you have any contact with him or Shelley please keep it brief.
Thank you for all your concern,
Kim

Tom_E said...

Kim Sparks wrote:
Hey guys, a Joey update: someone I work with was able to visit Joey yesterday. He reported that Joey was in good spirits and looking forward to being transferred to a hospital in Nashville (probably Vandy). (No, we don't know when.)

Tom_E said...

Kim Sparks wrote:
Morning everyone, Joey ended up having surgery on his clavicle yesterday and as you may imagine he is still in a lot of pain. Erlanger is ready to transfer him as soon as he is ready to travel (probably Saturday). Most likely he will be transferred to Vanderbilt's Stahllworth rehab. hospital.
I'll let you know as when I find out more.

Blog Admin said...

Dear Stinkin' Fish,
Yesterday, Kim delivered the get well photo card from Thursday's ride group. I was quite impressed at your creative effort. Also, I was very humbled and appreciative that you would go to this effort for me. It's hard for me to put into words how much it means to me. I guess that I'll have to work very hard on getting better.

I didn't have everyone's e-mail address for this message, so please let them know how much their participation was appreciated.

Thanks,
Joey