Amy Avery Hampton, a member of Central Ohio Triathlon Club (COTC) and an age grouper at IM AZ last week, had a serious bike accident during the event. Cause unknown, as no one else was involved, and Amy does not recall the circumstances. She has 7 broken ribs, a broken clavicle, a concussion, a minor skull fracture and major road rash. Surgery has repaired the clavicle and Amy should be released from ICU today. Her prognosis is good (6 month total recovery time) but she will not be permitted to travel for 8 weeks. To assist Amy with AZ living expenses her friends are raising funds for her at GOFUNDME. On her behalf, we are also reaching out to the triathlon community at large for help in supporting her during this extended absence from home. If you can help, please make a donation at http://www.gofundme.com/hg8avg
Thanks from Amy’s friends!
Posted by JFM225/John Martin on behalf of Amy and all her friends and supporters.
Alexandria OH
The rest of you - Thanks so much for contributing! The scary thing for Amy’s friends in the Columbus tri community, is that this could have been any of us. Was it a wind gust? Debris on the road? She doesn’t know and that’s what haunts me.
If anyone on ST saw her crash, please contact John or me. Thank you.
Done. So much more worthy than a “pay my way to Kona” campaign. I hope she recovers quickly and fully.
This. Happy to help.
Was it a wind gust? Debris on the road? She doesn’t know and that’s what haunts me. Jeanne in Ohio
I had an athlete crash with no recollection of what happened with no witnesses last year. She woke up in the ER with a broken clavicle. Her best guess was that she hit a bump and her arm(s) slipped off the aerobar pad and she lost control and crashed.
I remember passing her down on the opposite side of the rode as I was on my first lap just prior to the turn around and aid station on Beeline (she was on the opposite side of the road just after the aid station)…although I did not know this was her as I really couldn’t see her very well with the other’s around her. I did not see the accident but it must have just happened. There were no other cyclists around me close and no other cyclists on the other side of the rode where she was lying on her back. There was already an aid person at her head and several others around her body and a moto bike rerouting the cycling traffic. I did not realize this was Amy until I was told at mile 25 on the run that she was in the hospital and had crashed just after the turnaround on the first bike loop. Not sure if a wind gust caught her (at this point it would have been a tail wind, but potentially could have caught a random cross wind?), or if she was attempting to drink or use nutrition just after the aid station, or other mechanical issue. The rode was pretty clear unless there was some nutrition or a bottle that was dropped just after the aid station. Perhaps we will never know. Thus I agree this could be any of us.
Amy Avery Hampton, a member of Central Ohio Triathlon Club (COTC) and an age grouper at IM AZ last week, had a serious bike accident during the event. Cause unknown, as no one else was involved, and Amy does not recall the circumstances. She has 7 broken ribs, a broken clavicle, a concussion, a minor skull fracture and major road rash. Surgery has repaired the clavicle and Amy should be released from ICU today. Her prognosis is good (6 month total recovery time) but she will not be permitted to travel for 8 weeks. To assist Amy with AZ living expenses her friends are raising funds for her at GOFUNDME. On her behalf, we are also reaching out to the triathlon community at large for help in supporting her during this extended absence from home. If you can help, please make a donation at http://www.gofundme.com/hg8avg
Thanks from Amy’s friends!
Posted by JFM225/John Martin on behalf of Amy and all her friends and supporters.
Alexandria OH
She caught me at Ironman Louisville this year at the finish. Super nice lady. I hope she makes a full recovery and can make it back some day to Ironman.
A good cause. I’ll sign in and give a her some support.
FYI–Amy is probably aware of this, but be sure to make sure she jumps on the USA Triathlon secondary health insurance. I had a very similar crash outcome at the Boise HIM (seven broken ribs, clavicle, scapula) but fortunately avoided any head trauma. Nonetheless, after a two day stay in the Boise hospital my total bill was over $45,000. Fortunately, my company health insurance was solid and my out of pocket was only about $4,000.
But here’s where the USA Triathlon secondary insurance comes in. After an additional $250 deductible, the USA Triathlon insurance reimbursed me over $3,400. I’m told that if you don’t have health insurance then the deductible is $1,000 and they then pick up the costs from there. In either case, it’s a terrific benefit of having an nasty turn occur in a sanctioned event.
Here’s the important point: Make sure Amy knows to get on the Ironman AZ Race Director immediately. The race director must submit an incident report to USA Triathlon. Nothing can move forward on reimbursement until this incident report is filed. In my case, Ironman Boise told me the incident report was sent. 10 weeks later when I’m waiting for reimbursement I call only to find out the incident report was never filed. Grrrrrr. So, more follow up and it apparently got filed. But it’s the key to getting the process started.
Second key tip: Tell Amy to get the claim number from the USA Triathlon secondary insurance company (American Specialty Insurance). She can get this number as soon as the incident report is filed. She should then NOT pay medical expenses, but refer all of her health providers to directly bill American Specialty as a secondary insurer. This will dramatically minimize her out of pocket medical expenses and get the healthcare providers immediately working with the USA Triathlon insurance provider.
Hope she heals fast. It’s been about a six month process for me, but I’m now back to running and biking…swimming comes next.
As a general surgeon with quite a bit of trauma experience, the 6 month travel ban doesn’t sound right. Bones heal in 8 weeks and are no reason to not travel. Even with a punctured lung, and splenic and liver trauma, it’s usually 6-8 week. Even if they ban flying, I can’t see why someone couldn’t drive her to her home.