antics@druak.UUCP (GeigerL) (10/18/85)
<bugs> "Shortly into RAAM [Ride Across America] '85, at 2 a.m. near Tucumcari, New Mexico, rider Wayne Phillips was struck by a hit-and-run driver. The accident left him paralyzed below the middle of his chest. Phillips, a 35-year-old native of Vancouver, British Columbia, is the trans-Canada record holder. He was riding the RAAM without a support crew. Although it appears he was traveling well off the main road surface on a wide shoulder, doctors deduce from his injuries that he was struck squarely from behind and then run over. According to officials, Phillips was wearing numerous pieces of reflective material and his bike was equipped with a generator- powered headlight and taillight. Evidence suggests that the lights were working at the time of the accident. Phillips' injuries included two fractured vertebrae, a ruptured spleen, a collapsed lung, and a concussion. At press time, doctors said it was unlikely he will recover from the paralysis. The hit- and-run driver was still being sought. Donations to help defray the cost of Phillips' rehabilitation can be sent to: The Wayne Phillips Trust Fund PO Box 34233 Postal Station D Vancouver, B.C. V6J 4N8 Canada" Reprinted without permission from Bicycling Magazine, December, 1985. Lisa Geiger ihnp4!druak!antics AT&T Information Systems, Denver, Colorado