A cyclist is injured, and friends start pedaling

By John Katsilometes

Friday, March 20, 2009 | 2:22 p.m.

What’s maddening about how and why Ryan Pretner lays in a hospital room, drifting somewhere beyond comatose but not quite conscious, is that he was not doing anything wrong. Ryan is an experienced, competitive cyclist who has biked all over this valley – I have very rarely seen him dressed in anything but this blue-and-white Spandex cycling suit and matching helmet -- his "I mean business" uniform. On the late afternoon and into the evening on Jan. 12, he was obeying the law, riding in a bike lane and wearing full cycling gear, when he was struck in the back of the head by the side mirror of a Ford F-150 pickup on St. Rose Parkway near the Henderson Executive Airport.

It was a little after 6 p.m., surely dark enough not to see a cyclist off to the side of the road. The driver of the truck was cited at the scene for a moving violation, but was also the person who made the call to 911. A right-of-way-agent who works on large road system expansion projects for the Nevada Department of Transportation, Ryan likely never knew the pickup was on approach when he was struck from behind and hit the pavement. He suffered multiple fractures to his skull, even while wearing his helmet. He was comatose for seven weeks and underwent a craniotomy, where a segment of his skull was removed to allow the organ to breath, swell and recover from the traumatic blow.

Ryan’s friends often hope that he’ll soon “snap out of it,” because he is 37 years old, built for speed and strong enough to pull a bus with his bike. But this is not a snap-out-of-it injury. It will be a years-long process, a long trudge, a day-to-day recovery in which progress is marked first by the flick of an eyelash or the gentle motion of a hand.

Recently, Ryan’s spirit has begun to resurface. His sister, Dana Andrew, says he is now making hand gestures – the peace sign, mostly. He seems aware of his surroundings at Kindred Hospital, a Las Vegas long-term care facility, stirring when his 8-year-old son, Max, and 4-year-old daughter, Olivia, come near.

To help in his long ride to recovery, Dana and Ryan’s friends have organized the Pedaling for Pret Dog fundraiser, set for Saturday at 7:30 a.m. at the Valley of Fire, about 55 miles northeast of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. (See my colleague Becky Bosshart's story about the ride.) Cyclists are asked to donate whatever they can to participate in rides of varying distances – 25, 36 and 48 miles. The starting point is behind the Moapa Tribal Enterprises Smoke Shop. About 200 riders are expected to show their support and help raise funds for Ryan’s long-term care.

“It is really incredible how his friends have mobilized for this,” Dana said today when I talked to her about Ryan’s fundraiser. “When something like this happens, you see what people are made of.”

I know Ryan well, in a specific sort of way. For nearly a year, up until his accident, I saw him almost every day. In talking with him, and in spending some genuine quality time in his presence, I have been reminded of what personal courage is all about. Ryan is ceaselessly fearless in talking about what is happening in his life and is a model for anyone interested in service work.

I was told of Ryan's accident the day after it happened. The person who told me the sad news was a common friend who was supposed to meet with Ryan at 7 p.m., but he never made it. As usual, he was pedaling to help someone sort out his life.

I believe Ryan feels the love today, that he knows a thousand friends would bike a thousand miles to help him get better.