I didn’t know Gary very well at all but would see him at the local pools and races from time to time. Gary was racing in the Dunkirk Tri and was bent over trying to get his foot unclipped while riding when his head struck a cement post. Gary was flown by Mercy flight to the hospital where he was in critical condition the last couple of weeks. Finally, Gary’s wife was forced to make one of the most horrible decisions imaginable as a loving wife and mother…she had to pull the plug. Very sad. My condolences to his family.
Very sad. RIP
ugh…so sad.
Condolences to his family and friends.
Train safe, have fun.
Wow. Dead is dead and they all suck to hear, but somehow that sounds like an even worse way to have it play out than getting hit by a car and being killed on the spot.
I was in that race doing the OLY and i believe he was doing the sprint. Literally if he was 6" one way or the other he wouldn’t have even wrecked or at worst had a bad road rash. From what i understand though the family didn’t have to make that tough decision. I work with a woman whose son was his best friend. From what i was told, he had made some progress over the past couple weeks but then his body just gave out and he passed away without having the family pull the plug. I think the fact that he was in phenomenal shape was what allowed his body to keep on fighting so long. A lesser person would have passed away much earlier. Just a freak accident.
This is horrible to hear. As a fellow athlete who went head first into "cement’ while racing, this is really rough hearing. In my case 6 inches to the right, and I hit the corner of the house at 35 kph, which could have been much worse. Instead I hit the front of the house at 35 kph, which meant more like being hit by a blunt sledgehammer rather than something sharp or cylindrical. Very lucky the way mine panned out. Sadly he seems to have hit exactly in the worse spot from what has been posted. Prayers to family and friends.
This was what he hit… probably the only thing on that 1/4 mile stretch of road before T2 that could have done him any harm…
I was also at that race. I knew that there was a crash but didn’t know it was serious until days after the race. Very sad.
Ugh indeed.
Thoughts and prayers to all involved. Very sad.
I am reading this thread as I sit next to one of my best friends who is fighting a losing battle with a brain tumor (he is currently sleeping). I’m getting kind of tired of people leaving before their time is up…
Fook cancer and Fook bike accidents.
Peace to his family and friends.
Very sad for all involved. RIP
My condolences!
I was in that race doing the OLY and i believe he was doing the sprint. Literally if he was 6" one way or the other he wouldn’t have even wrecked or at worst had a bad road rash. From what i understand though the family didn’t have to make that tough decision. I work with a woman whose son was his best friend. From what i was told, he had made some progress over the past couple weeks but then his body just gave out and he passed away without having the family pull the plug. I think the fact that he was in phenomenal shape was what allowed his body to keep on fighting so long. A lesser person would have passed away much earlier. Just a freak accident.
Thanks Jeff. I had heard from some folks at the Y that I swim with - so rumors more or less regarding the “decision.” I certainly don’t want to be embellishing such a tragedy so I appreciate the insights. I too did the Oly and really had no idea there was even a problem. I heard about the accident a week after the race and that he was in CC. Then just a few days ago, heard the bad news on the outcome. Freak accident indeed…especially given the bike course for that race. Swerving semi or car maybe, but not this way.
This was what he hit… probably the only thing on that 1/4 mile stretch of road before T2 that could have done him any harm…
http://www.observertoday.com/...athlon.html?nav=5047]
That’s just terrible. Sometimes life is a game of inches, but it sucks when it has to be one of us athletes.
i heard about an accident when i was leaving T1 at the mount line. They said to watch out because there was an accident up the road. I didn’t see anything when i passed through but i did see a guy about 2 miles up who was getting put on a stretcher with an apparent broken leg from the sprint race. my father in law was at the race watching and he mentioned it to me after and i have a bunch of friends from the fredonia / dunkirk area who informed me just how bad the accident was. You don’t think something that crazy could happen on what was basically a straight piece of road with a very slight decline and pretty much straight on through to T2.
scary stuff…
multisport where you located? i’m down in Hamburg area.
Wow !! Very sad news. Condolences and prayers to his family
Thoughts and prayers from our family. Please know there is a ST circle of support sending condolences.
I was in this race as well. It’s just a really sad situation. None of us goes into a race expecting to not come out of it. Makes you realize just how fragile life is and how things change in an instant. Like my brother said previously, 6" in either direction and this is just a bad bike wreck. Maybe a broken shoulder or something.
I came up upon this shortly after… Really sad
So sad. RIP.