He sustained five broken ribs, a punctured and collapsed lung, road rash and knuckles scraped to visible tendons in a motorcycle wreck in June, but Marty Lesperance, 25, is alive this Thanksgiving.
And when his girlfriend, Patsy Haynes, is reminded of his recovery, she's thankful.
"Every time I see his scars, I have a new appreciation for him," she said.
Mr. Lesperance was riding his motorcycle home on June 6 after a memorial ride with the U.S. Military Vets Motorcycle Club when a driver pulled out in front of him from a subdivision on Wrightsboro Road.
Mr. Lesperance made the split second decision to slide, rather than strike the car.
His girlfriend Ms. Haynes was waiting for him in their Grovetown home.
"He sent me a text right before he got on the bike that said 'I love you baby, I'll be home in 10 minutes,' " she said.
An hour after the text, she got a call from Medical College of Georgia Hospital, saying he had been injured.
He spent the first three days in the hospital with a chest tube in him. He developed pneumonia and an infection, then had to undergo lung surgery. Three more infections and four antibiotics followed.
"Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong," Ms. Haynes said.
He finally was well enough later in June to be sent home, but he required three weeks of home health care and four months of recovery.
But they're thankful: Doctors said he would've been killed if he'd collided with the vehicle, rather than slid, Ms. Haynes said.
They also caught breaks with bills. Mr. Lesperance was able to use vacation time and received short-term disability. The insurance provider accepted all the claims, too.
Now, he's back at work as a network engineer for DRS Technologies at Fort Gordon.
Mr. Lesperance said he is grateful to the doctors and surgeons, and to Brent Shafer, the physician assistant in cardiothoracic surgery who was so helpful. "It kind of opens your eyes," Mr. Lesperance said.
It's changed his approach to life and attitude, and he's thankful for the people who were there for him, his family, Ms. Haynes and her family, and the members of the motorcycle club. "Without those folks, it would've been unbearable," he said.
The experience has also changed Ms. Haynes' outlook on the minor annoyances of day-to-day life, such as her boyfriend forgetting to do the dishes," Ms. Haynes said.
"I'm just grateful he's here to not do the dishes," she said.
Reach Sarah Day Owen at (706) 823-3223 or sarah.own@augustachronicle.com.
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Too many riders haven't been so lucky. I've lost two friends over the last 20 years to motorcycle accidents. So far, I've been fortunate, but as a rider you always know that your day may be coming. PLEASE, look twice and save a life.
Advanced rider safety training teaches to NEVER, "Mr. Lesperance made the split second decision to slide, rather than strike the car." Riders, please take training.
@grinder48
Advanced rider safety teaches you some great things. You can take all the training you wish, but it is up to the rider to find a way out of the situation and react when it is time. I was less than 50ft away going 55ish when the car pulled out infront of me, and I tried to avoid it. That isn't very much room or time to react. I'm very happy with the outcome being as I am alive. Had I not went down trying to turn out of the way I would be dead. I can only hope that you will be able to react in the same fashion if and when the time comes.