Bicyclist Ed Farrar's battle to recover from crash

The Wenatchee World has published an inspiring story about bicyclist Ed Farrar's rehabilitation from spinal injuries he suffered in October when a car crossed the centerline and crashed into him head-on.

People in central Washington know Farrar, 57, as a respected surgeon with Wenatchee Orthaepedics. Cycling fans know him as the father of Tyler Farrar, 24, a sprinter on Garmin Chipotle.

Some 13 weeks after the collision, Farrar has returned home and is getting used to life in a wheelchair. Everyone agrees that the crash could have killed him, but a set of circumstances combined to accelerate this treatment.

Teamwork

After describing his ordeal to the Wenatchee Valley Sports Council recently, he attributed his survival to quick action and teamwork by medical personnel as well as his own fitness.

“If, God forbid, you are ever in that kind of trauma, if you are fit … you have a much better chance of survival.”

Collision

As explained in the World, here's what happened to Farrar.

A car crossed the centerline, struck Farrar on his bicycle. He hit the grill and hood and was then run over by the car. His partner, Dr. Hank Vejvoda, happened to be riding on the same road and arrived at the scene two minutes later. While he immediately started attending to Farrar, an ambulance from the nearby Central Washington Hospital arrived within four minutes.

Ironically, nurses and specialists were waiting for Farrar to show up at the hospital to begin an operation on one of his patients. The surgery room was converted for the care of Farrar, who arrived with broken bones and a crushed chest.

Family website

The Farrar family set up a website at CaringBridge.org to inform on his rehabilitation. That account has been suspended, but some of the posts were picked up by WenatcheeOutdoors.org. 

There are posts by an amazingly upbeat Ed and Cindy through his treatment in  Wenatchee and Seattle. There's also coverage of the Rally for Ed bicycling event that drew 600 cyclists to the community.

I'm very happy to read that Farrar survived this brush with death. I wish him well in his recovery.