Friends and family say only time will tell the extent of the injuries musician David Myers sustained in a motorcycle crash earlier this week.
Myers, 30, was thrown from his motorcycle after he collided with a car traveling on South Main Street on Tuesday. He’s already had a number of surgeries, says girlfriend Ashley Honbarrier, but more are expected.
“We are waiting to see what his body does,” she said by phone.
Myers has been at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center since the accident. He collided with a car driven by Rebecca Ann Peoples of Rowan County. On Thursday, N.C. Highway Patrol officials said Peoples was charged with a safe movement violation. Authorities say Peoples pulled into the path of Myers’ motorcycle while coming out of the Hot Spot convenience store located in the 5700 block of South Main Street.
He was seriously injured despite wearing a helmet. He was taken to the Rowan County Airport by ambulance and then airlifted to the Winston-Salem hospital.
Honbarrier has spent long nights at the hospital along with Myers’ parents, Lee and Karen Myers, as well as his stepmother Kathy.
Lee Myers said there hasn’t been a lot of change, but his son is in considerable pain.
“His spine is partially severed. The doctors are telling us to wait to let the swelling go down,” he said.
Lee said they won’t know the final outcome of his son’s injuries until then.
Myers’ right hand was damaged in the crash. His father said two bones in his son’s right hand were broken, one of which was shattered. Surgeons had to reconstruct one bone and put rods in the other.
Myers has no feeling from the chest down, Honbarrier said, but the paralysis could be from his swollen spinal cord or a pinched nerve.
Honbarrier said doctors will have to perform surgery on his right elbow and shoulder to avoid dislocation from everyday movement. Myers also has neck trauma and severe road rash on his back. Surgeons placed pins in his spine to stabilize him so that he could be moved from bed to bed without disruption of his injuries.
Honbarrier said Myers is strong and very much into outdoor activities like soccer, snowboarding and surfing.
“He’s just so energetic and spirited, to see him in this situation is a complete shock,” she said.
But she says she is confident Myers will have the strength and the determination to pull through.
Honbarrier said Myers is a talented musician, singer and songwriter. The two perform together with the band Big Break.
Myers is the front man for the group and plays guitar. Honbarrier plays the conga drum and is a backup vocalist.
Honbarrier said Myers has been a father figure for her two children.
“We help each other work our jobs and live out our lives. This devastating accident has put an unexpected surprising halt to all of it,” she said.
Friends have created a donation page for Myers on the fundraising site Go Fund Me, and it has already reached nearly a quarter of its $15,000 goal. In less than 24 hours, the page already had $3,595 in donations and more than 455 shares via social networking sites Facebook and Twitter as of 6 p.m. Thursday.
The fundraising page, Big Donate — A Page for David Myers, also includes updates on his condition as well as messages of support from family and friends. There is also a Facebook page, “Big Donate” that includes regular updates.
“We ask everybody to please keep praying for him because we have a long road ahead,” Lee Myers said.
Contact reporter Shavonne Potts at 704-797-4253.