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Thursday, January 14, 2010
Cyclist remains in ICU after hit-and-run
UPDATE JAN. 20:
From Mariel’s sister Christine Mentink:
“Mariel is going through a bit of a rough patch this week and last. Part of recovering from brain trauma is going through storming, and she is experiencing quite a bit of it. During this process, Mariel cannot have a many visitors or noise around her and cannot be moved much. Her physical therapy is also extremely limited because of storming, so she has been very immobile the last 20 days since the accident and hopefully that changes soon. Once storming subsides and some troublesome brain fluid subsides (another small setback), the family hopes to move her out of the ICU and to a Chicago rehabilitation facility. Our mom and many relatives live in the area, so it is a better location for her during recovery. So, at the moment, we’re in a waiting period and anxious to start seeing more dramatic progress. However, she is heading in the right direction and we are thankful for that.
Mariel’s friends have put together the following site to try to help her with the costs incurred during this process. It is www.supportmarielmentink.com.”
A 24-year-old woman remains in intensive care at Brackenridge Hospital after she was struck from behind while riding her bike home early New Year’s Day.
Mariel Mentink was pedaling west in the 4700 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at about 2:30 a.m. when she was hit. She and another cyclist were riding home after a late-night group bike ride to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
The driver fled the scene.
Mentink, a recent graduate of Northern Illinois University who worked as a bike delivery person for Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches in Austin, was wearing a helmet and lights when she was hit.
“That helmet was the difference between life and death,” says her sister, Christine Mentink.
Mentink suffered multiple skull fractures, brain trauma and broken bones in her neck, back, hip and leg, according to her sister. She’s undergone three surgeries. She’s not in a coma, but is medically sedated to reduce the pain.
“She can open her eyes half way and we think she’s tracking people,” Christine Mentink says. “We don’t know how much she’s perceiving because she can’t speak or move.”
Mariel Mentink is the youngest of four siblings, “the baby and the favorite” in a family of urban cyclists, her sister says. She’s an avid seamstress who was trying to start a business selling hats for cyclists at local bike shops. She has a degree in graphic design.
“She had a car that didn’t work, so her primary mode of transportation was her bicycle,” Christine Mentink says.
Two benefits are being planned to help cover Mentink’s medical expenses.
Social Cycling ATX is planning an event Feb. 5 at Red 7, 611 East 7th St. (No details yet.) Another is planned for 5 p.m. Feb. 25 at Shangri-La, 1016 E. Sixth St. It one will include live music, raffles and donations.
The family is also setting up a fund to help cover medical expenses. I’ll post that information when I get it.
The cyclist who was with Mentink when the wreck happened thinks a gray SUV or pickup truck hit her. Anyone with information about the hit-and-run is asked to call the Austin/Travis County Crimestoppers at 472-TIPS.
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Time for a Snow Day!
I know we live in Texas, but sometimes we need a snow day, too.
Check out the helpful new service from Copper Mountain Ski Resort at www.yoursnowday.com.
Click on “I’m employed” and enter the phone number of your boss.
Just like that, Capt. Fred McGilicutty of the Copper Mountain Ski Patrol will call and ask him or her to give you a day off to ski.
Actually, it’s a recording made by McGillicutty. But who’s quibbling? In the recording, McGillicutty’s assistant comes on the line and says she is “connecting a call on behalf of your employee (insert name here).” Then McGillicutty’s voice comes on, saying that “all your employees deserve a Snow Day at Copper.”
I think I’m going to try it. Only I need more than one day, don’t I? I’ve got to get myself all the way to Colorado, and that takes time!
Your boss won’t cooperate? Maybe what you really need is a sick day or two.
Again, Copper is there to help.
The website features a “sound board” of disgusting noises to help convince your supervisor you’re in no shape to report to work. Just click on the different options (throat clear, hack, nose blow, sneeze, throw up, etc.), sit back and enjoy.
While you’re on the website, you can also get your own Ski Patrol name. (Mine is Pam “The Eagle Has Landed” LeBlanc.) You can print it out, too.
See you on the slopes!
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