Cyclist Mindy Manyo, hurt in hit-skip, speaks out: Regina Brett
By
Regina Brett, The Plain Dealer The Plain Dealer
on October 09, 2013 at 6:00 AM, updated October 09, 2013 at 8:19 AM
http://www.cleveland.com/brett/blog/index.ssf/2013/10/cylist_mindy_mayno_injured_in.html
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Anyone who knows Mindy -- and that's nearly everyone in Cleveland Heights -- has probably heard the Mindy Prayer.
"God, place someone in my path that I can help or who can help me. I leave it up to You."
Someone just made Mindy's path a whole lot rougher. She wonders who that someone is. So do the police.
Mindy Manyo was riding her bike home on Thursday night after a day of mowing, weeding and watering at her landscaping job in Chagrin Falls. She was headed west and hugging the curb lane on Fairmount Boulevard around 9 p.m. when a car struck her from behind. The driver dragged her, stopped, then fled.
Who leaves a mangled person behind?
Mindy Manyo, recovering from her injuries at MetroHealth Medical Center, prays with United Church of Christ-commissioned minister Robb Forward for the driver who hit her to come forward so she can forgive him.Regina Brett
Police have described the car as a dark Buick Lacrosse 4-door sedan from 2005-09. The right front bumper area is damaged and the turn signal is broken. Anyone with information should call Cleveland Heights police at 216-321-1234 or 216-291-5010.
Mindy is lucky to be alive.
Her left wrist is shattered and will need surgery. Her left leg is broken, along with three ribs, a vertebrae and several teeth. She had a brain bleed that left her with temporary double vision in one eye. Her body is covered in road rash that is so bad she will need skin grafts.
As always, Mindy leads with gratitude. She's grateful she has no memory of the accident. Grateful her helmet protected her. Grateful the accident happened in front of a doctor's home. He told the paramedics to take Mindy to the trauma center at MetroHealth, the hospital where he works.
She's grateful for all the calls and cards from people she never realized she touched so deeply. Mindy waters the outdoor plant boxes in front of the stores in the Cedar Fairmount shopping area. "It's becoming a very small world very quickly," she said.
Mindy, who is 56, is five foot nothing, all muscle and has short dirty blonde spiky hair and an eternal tan from walking or cycling everywhere.
She's is a seasoned cyclist. This is the fifth time she's been hit by a car.
Her motto is:
Share the Road. She wishes everyone would adopt it.
Without looking, Mindy can tell if the vehicle next to her is a car, an SUV, a UPS truck or a school bus. She wants drivers to realize they have the entire road. "I have this little area full of debris and dead animals," she said.
The night of the accident she was wearing her bright yellow fluorescent vest, a headlight on her helmet, a tail light on her bike and reflectors on her shoes. The last thing she remembers is feeling grateful that it wasn't raining and that hardly any cars were on the road. She said a little thank you prayer, "God, this has been such a nice ride."
The phone on her hospital bed rings. "I kind of got run over a little bit," she tells the caller.
Mindy will be out of work for months. Her friends are planning a fundraiser. She agreed to it only if they called it Share the Road. (Anyone interested in helping Mindy can email
[email protected])
Her friend
Robb Forward, a commissioned minister with the United Church of Christ, stopped by to visit while I was at her bedside. They prayed for the person who hit her, prayed that the driver comes forward so he can forgive himself and that she can forgive him, too.
What would Mindy say to the person who hit her if that driver stepped forward? She sighed deeply, then leaned her head back on the hospital pillow and closed her eyes.
"Both our lives changed in an instant," she said softly. "God took care of me, took care of my side of the deal that night. I have no anger. I would thank him for having the courage to show up."
But she'd give the driver a lecture. "Do you pay attention when you're driving? Will this have an impact on you? Will you put down all the distractions?"
For now, she's practicing a new Mindy prayer: "May the person who hit me come forward so I can forgive him."
Even though the road ahead is going to be a long one, she insists it will be a blessed one.
"This is my new adventure for a while," she said.
