Mark Gephard Augustine, KTMotorsport enthusiast

The weekly Sunday ride turned out not so rejeuvenating on June 27. Despite every bit of safety gear, 40 years of riding skill and being in the middle of nowhere without even Verizon service, two foolish kids on a quad managed to bring my husband to within an inch of his life. The collision landed him at the University of Pittsburgh Presbyterian Hospital Trauma unit where the most phenominal operation is putting him back together as his valiant heart allows. The sight of my husband, eyes swollen and bruised, a leg and arm in a cast, choking on the fluids of healing in a trache and feeding tubes is unbearable. The goal, each day, is to stay in the center emotionally, mentally, psychically... in my vortex of balance and faith in the highest energies and wisdom. The amazing teams of care providers just continuously study, adapt, listen and find a better and better way. In bed #1, he spares me the walk through the ICU past others in equally shocking conditions, yet though I may scoot through the secure doors to his side, I can see down the endless hall and understand the massive demonstration of what people working together can do to change the universe. I could just have easily been looking at a casket instead of a person plucked from the jaws of hell by faith in life.