Air Force cyclist overcomes injuries

  • Published
  • By Capt. Paula Kurtz
  • 47th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  On July 20, 2002, Capt. Matt Stanley was hit by a vehicle while cycling down highway near Del Rio, Texas. One year later, Stanley will celebrate recovering from serious injuries by cycling 500 miles across Iowa.

Stanley, a T-6 Texan II instructor pilot here, is taking part in the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, or RAGBRAI.

For the past eight years, the Air Force has participated in the RAGBRAI event by registering a 100-person team made up of active-duty and retired airmen known as Team Aim High. Wearing bold red, white and blue cycling uniforms, the team talks up the Air Force for recruiting while visiting towns across the state. Stanley is riding with people from Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., as part of Team Aim High.

In 2002, Stanley was on the return leg of a training ride to Brackettville, Texas, when a vehicle traveling about 70 mph veered onto the shoulder. The impact catapulted him 20 feet off the road breaking both his left leg and left arm in two places, and breaking his right clavicle. And, he landed on a rattlesnake.

In a stroke of luck, the snake did not bite him.

“I guess he figured when it starts raining people, it’s just time to leave,” Stanley quipped.

In another stroke of luck, the first responder to the accident happened to be Laughlin’s new medical group commander, Col. (Dr.) Chuck Hardin, who was on his way to San Antonio for a temporary-duty assignment when he came upon the scene. Hardin treated Stanley’s injuries and accompanied him to Val Verde Regional Medical Center in Del Rio.

Once he was stabilized, Stanley was taken by ambulance to Del Rio International Airport where a life-flight helicopter ferried him to Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland AFB, Texas.

Two months and three surgeries later, with a metal rod in his femur, Stanley was back on his feet learning how to walk again.

In January, after four months of rehabilitation and physical therapy, Stanley was cleared for flying duty and reported to Randolph AFB, Texas, for instructor training in the Air Force’s newest trainer, the T-6 Texan II. Stanley completed the 15-week course in May as the class distinguished graduate and returned to the familiar surroundings of the Laughlin AFB flightline.

“For pilots, flying is almost like an addiction,” Stanley said. “At one time I thought I might never fly again. So, it’s awesome to be back in the air and back to normal.”

As a boy, Stanley first took notice of the RAGBRAI event when it came through his small hometown of Dennison, Iowa, and his family opened their home to a few of the participants. He and his father set a goal of completing the tour the next year. Saving the entire $2.50 he made each week on his paper route, Stanley saved enough to buy his very first “real” bicycle for $117.

The 2003 tour will mark the third time Stanley has completed the RAGBRAI, which is in its 31st year and boasts 8,500 registered riders, plus another 10,000 unregistered participants.

“It’s great to know that I’ve come back from not being able to move at all to riding 500 miles,” said the 6-foot 4-inch tall triathlete. “It’s the anniversary of my accident, and it’s in my home state, so it has a lot of meaning for me.”