Posted on 01/13/2020 7:51:17 PM PST by nickcarraway
A cyclist who is still recovering from serious injuries months after being hit by a truck in Huntington Beach is getting a lot of help from an unlikely new friend: the driver who struck him.
Tom Sovilla, left, and Jack Keith, right, are seen in a photo posted to a GoFundMe account. Tom Sovilla, left, and Jack Keith, right, are seen in a photo posted to a GoFundMe account.
The crash that altered the lives of Tom Sovilla and Jack Keith happened along the Pacific Coast Highway on May 25, 2019, according to the two men, who shared their unusual story Monday.
Jack Keith was headed home after he'd been surfing that spring day when he suddenly became distracted while looking out at the ocean and accidentally hit Sovilla, who was out on his usual bike ride from La Habra to Seal Beach.
"It happened so fast, I don't know where everything was, but all I remember was Tom flying through the air, like 30 feet, and I just freaked out," Keith said, his voice choked with emotion.
Sovilla was rushed by ambulance to the hospital after suffering injuries that nearly left him dead. He had a fractured back, broken pelvis, torn knee ligaments, bruised intestines and two blood clots on the brain, according to a news release from UCI Medical Center in Irvine, where Sovilla spent the next month after the collision.
But far from being angry and bitter over what happened, Sovilla wanted to forgive the driver and assure him that he would be alright.
“Holding on to things just eats away at you. It doesn’t necessarily hurt the other person," he said. "I think if people can understand that, then people would learn to forgive, because forgiveness is a big part about your own mental and physical health.”
So, five days into his 33-day hospital stay, Sovilla had his wife reach out to Keith. She got his number and sent him a message.
“I got a text from Jenette saying, ‘Hey, this is Tom’s wife Jenette, the guy you hit. We’ve been trying to get a hold of you, we’ve been praying for you and we just want you to know that he’s OK,'" Keith recalled. “I was blown away.”
From there, the beginning of an unlikely friendship blossomed.
While Sovilla continues to undergo rehabilitation all these months later, Keith has been doing what he can to help out the family.
For starters, Keith — a carpenter by trade — did some work at Sovilla's home to make it easier for him to get around with his limited mobility.
And he also started a GoFundMe account to help with medical costs.
"My insurance paid out the max which wasn't much. His insurance has paid the bulk of the hospital bills. But he is stuck with 7000 dollars having to come out of pocket," Keith explained on the fundraising page, which he started on June 29.
As of Monday afternoon, the GoFundMe had raised about $2,000 toward Sovilla's recovery effort.
For his part, Sovilla plans to continue cycling — although he says he may not be riding on roads like PCH in the future.
For all our political problems. We have plenty of angels in the city of angels.
Google only comes up with Publisher's Clearing House.
Pacific Coast Highway.
Riding PCH between HB and Seal Beach is a beautiful ride, but for a few miles you are riding with traffic that is doing 60-65 mph. I love that ride but hate that stretch.
Pacific Coast Highway.
Seen a bunch of cyclist on the PCH when I was there. Booking faster than the cars. Seriously dangerous stupid, but it’s California.
Even Google does not know that.
...”forgiveness is a big part about your own mental and physical health.”
Forgive them, they know not what they do. :)
Pacific Coast Highway
Highway 1
Well they certainly hit it off well.
I just had a flashback.
I was a long haired, 18 year old college sophmore, working on the side as a SCUBA instructor.
It was evening, overcast with no moon.
I was cruising northbound on PCH towards Long Beach in my Corvair, passing through Huntington, Bolsa Chica, Sunset. This was before that area was developed much past the pier, so it was pitch black out. The Pacific was on the left, a handful of oil wells were on the right. There was a steady breeze coming off the ocean, a blanket of drifting sand floating gently across PCH.
It was haunting, surreal.
This song was playing in the 8 Track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsH2In5r2sM
That’s Mick Taylor on guitar.
Good idea.
It was very kind of the cyclist to reach out to the guy who hit him. The driver's feeling of guilt must have been horrible.
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