Injured motorcyclist Mayer's recovery called 'remarkable'

Curt Mayer had made great progress when his sons Tyler and Caleb visited him in the hospital recently. Photos courtesy of Mayer family

By Doug Spoon, Editor

Colleen Mayer walked into a hospital room on the morning of July 12 and refused to believe what she saw.

“That’s not my husband,” she said to hospital workers.

It didn’t take long, however, for Mayer to admit that the mangled body under all the bandages and tubes was in fact her husband. Curt Mayer, 45 and a longtime resident of the Menifee area, had been knocked off his motorcycle on the Scott Road bridge by a man police said ran a red light. Mauricio Felix, 27, of Perris was arrested for DUI.

Curt Mayer was on his way to work when the accident occurred at 5:15 a.m. Exact details of the accident have not been released by police, but Colleen Mayer said she believes her husband was preparing to turn onto the freeway on-ramp when he was struck by the other vehicle.

Curt Mayer took the brunt of the collision on his left side. His left leg and foot were so badly damaged that a doctor recommended amputation. As a result of his helmet flying off his head at impact, Mayer needed 15 staples to close a wound in his head. He suffered a minor concussion, fractures in the area of his spine, and was on a breathing machine when his wife first saw him.

“His foot had no circulation, no pulse, the first three or four days,” Colleen Mayer said. “That foot should’ve been dead. They wanted to cut off half of his leg, but I said no. As long as it wasn’t life-threatening, I wanted to wait.”

And look what has happened since.

Today, Curt Mayer not only is listed in stable condition, his recovery so far has been what Colleen called “remarkable.” Surgeons at Loma Linda Hospital were shocked, she said, when a leg that came in pointing in three directions regained circulation a couple days later. Curt Mayer is conscious, communicates with family members and -- although he has had three surgeries and faces more – has made tremendous improvement.

“He’s getting stronger every day,” said Colleen Mayer, who has rarely left her husband’s hospital room since the accident. “His leg is doing remarkably well. He’s coherent, he talks, he remembers things – just not the accident.

“I believe that through all the prayers from everyone and the positive vibes, this healing has happened. There’s so much love around us. He’s had 15 people in his room at once. People he hasn’t seen for years have been here.”

Colleen said she isn’t surprised that so many have been so supportive and willing to visit Curt. She describes him as an extrovert who draws others to him.

“Curt will make friends with someone in an elevator before it reaches the third floor,” Colleen said. “He’s a very active person, and that has helped him start to heal. It’s killing him to stay in bed.”

Curt Mayer is a former professional dirt bike rider who enjoys sharing that activity with his 9-year-old son Tyler. Tyler and Curt’s oldest son, 22-year-old Caleb, have visited Curt in the hospital, and it has been especially difficult for Tyler, Colleen Mayer said.

“He’s sad when he sees his dad hurting,” she said about Tyler. “He’s devastated, but he’s also strong.”

The next several months will be difficult for the Mayer family. Curt, who operates heavy machinery for a living, will be out of work for an extended period of time. Colleen owns her own pet grooming business but has missed a lot of work to be with her husband.

A GoFund Me site established for the family had raised over $7,000 as of July 24. More important, the love shown by people both known to the family and unknown is making a difference in the healing process, Colleen said.

“I have high hopes he’ll be out of the hospital sooner than everyone thinks,” she said. “I have a feeling he’ll be going home in two weeks to start the road to recovery.”

Colleen still tears up when describing the frantic first hours of that Friday, July 12.

“We always get up at 4 a.m. to get ready for work together,” she said. “I was waving goodbye to him at 5, and by 5:15 he was hit.”

On days that he rides his motorcycle to work, Curt meets up with his friend Carlos at a gas station to finish the ride to the job site. On that day, Carlos called Colleen at 7 a.m. to say Curt never showed up. Curt’s boss soon called with the same message.

“Carlos said, ‘Don’t try calling Curt; he isn’t answering. I need you to call 911 and give them the VIN number of his bike. Find out if there were any accidents,’ ” Colleen recalled.

The VIN number didn’t show up on any accident reports, but a police dispatcher told Colleen there had been an accident involving a motorcycle on Scott Road.

“I got to the scene to find the freeway ramp closed and my husband’s bike on the ground,” Colleen said. “He had already been transported. I was hysterical. I called my father to drive me to the hospital.

“We waited five hours in ICU. They told me he was hit on the left side but it wasn’t that bad. I think they just told me that so I wouldn’t worry. When I saw him, he had every kind of tube in him and he didn’t even look like my husband.”

Colleen said Curt’s body is not stable enough to be moved from ICU yet, but an initial surgery and two subsequent surgeries to repair his shattered femur have had great results. And there is that magic word called faith.

“I’m not a strong religious person, but I do believe in God,” Colleen Mayer said. “I keep praying to the Lord and hoping for miracles.”

Here is a link to the GoFundMe page for the Mayer family.