Bellville man earns 'Saved by the Helmet' award from highway patrol
MOUNT GILEAD ― James Crowl of Bellville is lucky to be alive after a deer decided to cross the road just when he was riding his motorcycle along Ohio 314 in southern Morrow County over 10 months ago.
Crowl, 66, suffered 12 fractures in 8 ribs and a punctured lungafter the motorcycle he was riding at 62 mph collided with a buck at 6:38 a.m. Oct. 25.
According to the Ohio Highway Patrol crash report, Crowl was southbound on Ohio 314, struck a deer that was crossing the roadway, then drove off the right side of the road and struck a guardrail. He was ejected and landed in a ditch.
At the Mount Gilead post of the highway patrol on Ohio 95 on Friday, Crowl, joined by his wife Dr. Deborah Celec, accepted a "Saved by the Helmet" award.
Crowl was wearing full safety gear, jacket, helmet, boots and gloves.
"I've been riding for 58 years and have a short racing career behind me as well. I was very fortunate to have not only survived this, but without any lasting physical limitations," Crowl said.
Motorcyclist meets Good Samaritan who stopped to help him
At the presentation, Crowl also met Mike Lusher, the Good Samaritan who found him in a ditch that dark morning on Ohio 314 as Crowl was en route to work in New Albany.
"He was vehicle #5 that actually stopped," Crowl said. "The first four cars didn't stop but did swerve to miss my body lying in the road."
Lusher at first thought Crowl may have walked to a nearby residence.
Lusher recalled the motorcycle was in the middle of the road and he figured its rider couldn't be far away. And so he searched the area and located Crowl 40 yards away.
Crowl never lost consciousness.
"All I saw was an eyeball and antlers. A quarter of a second is all I had," he said. "I didn't have time to even grab the front brakes."
Michele Piko, statewide coordinator of Motorcycle Ohio, a division of the Ohio Traffic Safety Office, presented Crowl with the “Saved by the Helmet” award.
The modest Lusher, who works for Lutheran Social Services in Delaware County, said he would never hesitate to stop and help any person.
"I would do it again," Lusher said.
Crowl said he had somehow slipped himself over the guardrail, fearful of being hit by a car after he was thrown from 2017 BMW motorcycle. He remembered he couldn't go under the guardrail to get away from traffic.
Crowl said he asked Lusher to call his wife from the scene, telling him slowly one number at a time because the broken ribs made it difficult to breathe.
Celec said she didn't pick up at first thinking it was a telemarketer. Lusher kept calling back and she then listened to the voicemail that her husband had been in a crash.
Her husband spent four days in Grant Medical Center in the trauma center.
Crowl said the EMS cut all his clothes off much to his surprise and he arrived naked at Grant, a procedure done to allow the medical team to begin treatment immediately.
Award ceremony was a joyful reunion
The award ceremony was more like a reunion.
Crowl met Trooper Philip Schaffter, who was on the scene of the crash Oct. 25. He met Motorcycle Ohio representatives and the post Commander Lt. Coby Holloway.
Crowl said he no longer owns a motorcycle but when he wanted to get one last March his wife voiced her concern against it.
"My wife said if I were to get a motorcycle she would make me sign a contract that if I were to get injured again she was not going to be my caregiver and put me in a nursing home (to recover)," he said laughing.
Crowl said he grew up in Lexington in Richland County and served as a ski patrol instructor and was a skydiver for 22 years.
No stranger to broken bones, Crowl said in 1989 he ran his own self over with his own backhoe and broke his pelvis.
"And 10 years later then I was getting married to Deb I flipped my Bobcat over into my pond," he said.
Although everyone was serious about the importance of wearing a helmet, even the commander couldn't help but joke with Crowl after hearing of his past injuries.
"Is that how you met your wife?" Holloway asked.
"No, it was actually a blind date," Crowl said.
"In my house I can tell you getting injured is 10% of the pain and 90% is the lecture coming afterwards," he chuckled.
Included in the presentation was a certificate of recognition and a new replacement helmet.
Crowl selected a hot pink helmet to fit his head.
'Saved by the Helmet'
Riders over 18 are not required by Ohio law to wear a helmet, but Motorcycle Ohio hopes that acknowledging riders who wear protective gear will help to promote and increase awareness of the life-saving value of motorcycle helmets.
Trooper Schaffter said he recalled the deer ran on.
"The helmet definitely helped out quite a bit. If he wasn't wearing his helmet, injuries would have been much worse or possibly he could have been killed from the crash itself," Schaffter said. "Thankfully he was wearing his helmet."
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Mount Gilead post of Highway Patrol lauds Crowl for wearing helmet
