A Split Second

By Gail Myers

Dean Waters was a physically fit man, a runner and a bicyclist. His daily routine was to ride his bicycle to stay fit for the races he participated in on weekends. Sometimes he would ride a total of 1,000 miles a month. At about 6 p.m., one summer evening in August 2002, while Dean was riding his bicycle on TriCounty Boulevard in Oliver Springs, all that changed. In one split second his life and the lives of his loved ones changed forever. A van came up and struck him from behind. The driver did not stop. A witness to the accident followed the van and wrote down the license plate number and called the police. In the meantime, Dean was left in the road with very serious injuries, his bicycle was demolished. All of his ribs were broken, two vertebrae in his back were shattered, his liver was torn, his pelvis broken, ligaments were torn in both knees and he had a large amount of skin scrapped off his body by the impact with the asphalt. A nurse was a witness to the accident and stopped to help. She would not let anybody move him and she held his head and neck perfectly still, this probably saved Dean from being paralyzed, as the doctors later discovered that a shard of bone had pierced his spinal sac. The LifeStar helicopter was called to transport him to UT Medical Center in Knoxville.

Upon arriving at UT, doctors were not sure he would even survive the night. He endured ten hours of surgery on his back and was put in the trauma unit. He remained at UT for three weeks and then was transferred to Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center, where he was a patient for two months. Doctors told his wife that they were looking at a year of rehabilitation! He will need surgery on his knees, but that can be put off for now. His wife told me that he is determined that he will walk and be able to enjoy his running and other activities again. It is a miracle that he even survived! The doctors told the family that the fact that he has been a runner for 20 years and his heart was so strong and he was in such good physical condition is the reason for his surviving his injuries.

The driver of the van was questioned by the police and given a Breathalyzer test. It showed a blood alcohol level of 0.16 percent about two hours after the accident. He did not even know that he had hit anyone! He has been charged with leaving the scene of an injury accident and driving under the influence. The case has not been presented to the Grand Jury yet.

I plan on updating this case in future newsletters. Dean will have a long and difficult rehabilitation ahead of him, but in the words of his wife, Jackie, ≴At least he is alive and still with me!≵ This is just another example of how the life of an innocent victim is changed forever when the laws are broken by others. It can happen to anyone at anytime!

Update on Dean Waters

by Gail Myers

It has been eight months since Dean was hit from behind by a van while riding his bicycle in Oliver Springs, TN. He was severely injured and not even expected to survive the first night. He had been making a remarkable recovery, a tribute to his determination and the love of his family. Dean has suffered a setback recently. He is currently a patient in the Special Care Unit at UT Medical Center in Knoxville. I spoke with his wife, Jackie, briefly one night last week and she said that he was battling a staph infection and having trouble with the incision on his back. He had to have rods put in his spine to stabilize it the night of the accident.

I will continue to check on Dean’s progress and I will also continue to check on the progress of our justice system in charging and punishing the man that almost took Dean away from his family and friends.