S.C. Firefighter Hit While Biking on Comeback Trail

Asked why he's alive, Columbia firefighter Travis Kinley doesn't hesitate.

"Helmet, health and God -- but not in that order!" Kinley, 23, laughs and sits up straight as if he's ready to jump out of his chair and rush to fight a fire.

Kinley -- spirited bicyclist survivor of a hit-and-run accident -- can't fight fires yet.

He's in an upper body torso brace to stabilize his broken spinal vertebrae so they can heal. And he's got a compression bandage on his right foot so his broken ankle bones can heal.

A punctured right lung has healed so well he has started playing his beloved trumpet again. He just started practicing with his church choir in Sumter. He does physical therapy twice a week, sometimes for more than two hours at a time.

"I took my first steps this week without a walker," he says.

Eight weeks ago, Kinley was riding his bicycle at dawn on Bluff Road, going from his apartment there to work at Columbia fire department headquarters downtown. He was struck by a hit-and-run driver and thrown 70 feet. He was doing things right -- riding on the right, wearing mostly white cycling garb, and the rear of his Trek 100 aluminum cycle had extra bright flashing lights on the back.

The driver sped on. Minutes later, the mangled, unconscious Kinley was run over again -- this time by a driver who stopped and called 911.

"Fortunately, I didn't sustain any permanent injuries," says an animated Kinley, who's staying at his mother's house in Sumter while he gets better. "I've just got a tough road that I have to go down."

One of the worst parts, he says, is over. That came in the first weeks when he was at times wallowing in despair. "A whole lot of pain and tears came to me. Just thinking that, 'Oh my goodness, my life is over. I'd never fight fires again. I'd never cycle again -- and what if I don't walk again? Just so much worry."

On July 12, he woke up early and decided to leave early, taking a long bike ride. At that time, a dedicated cyclist, he rode "hundreds" of miles a week. Soon, he was on Bluff Road headed toward the State Fair grounds.

"I just remember looking down at my legs to get my cadence right. I don't remember seeing anybody, and that's it, I black out. I black out, and Chief (Mark) Wright, the battalion chief at the station closest to the accident was in my face, telling me, 'Kinley, it's going to be okay.'

"I asked him what happened, but before he could tell me, I blacked out again. Then, I wake up in an ambulance and there's a guy named R.J. who is doing the EMS script, like 'Hi, I'm R.J., I work for Richland County EMS, I will be taking care of you.' I asked him what happened, and he says, 'You got hit by two cars.'"

Kinley grins. "That's something most people go their whole lives without being told. ... That sent me into a panicky state. I made him promise me, 'Just check on me at the hospital.' Then I blacked out again."

At the hospital, he remembers R.J. checking on him. "That was just the nicest thing. He held to his promise." But Kinley said he has no other memories of the first four days, when he underwent two operations -- the first to repair his shattered foot and the second to fuse his broken back bones.

"I was living the dream, man." In March, he had started with Columbia fire department -- a longtime dream -- after two years with Sumter fire department. He had moved to Columbia and started attending Bibleway Church on Atlas Road.

"I'd have been dead if I hadn't had the helmet," says Kinley whose face was battered and scraped.

And he believes his riding -- serious cyclists have exceptional heart-lung capacity, strength and endurance -- helped him survive.

"They say if I hadn't been healthy, I would have died," Kinley says.

Then there was help from above. "You don't get hit by a car and then run over by the next car. This truly shows there's a God."

Kinley says he continues to ponder the reasons why someone would hit him and not stop. "I can't figure it out." Some years ago, he says, he was driving and hit a dog. "I completely freaked out. I got out of my car and went around to all the neighbors. I cannot imagine hitting a human being and leaving them there for dead."

An S.C. Highway Patrol report on the incident clearly says the unknown hit-and-run driver was at fault. The investigation is continuing as to who that driver might be.

Patrol Sgt. Bryan McDougald says anyone who wants to call in a tip should contact Crimestoppers or call the patrol's Midlands dispatch at (803) 896-9621. "A supervisor will return the call," he says. While it's possible the driver was unaware of striking Kinley, "It's strongly likely they did know."

According to the patrol, 11 bicyclists have been killed by motorists in South Carolina so far this year.

At first, Kinley was furious at the hit-and-run driver. "But I've forgiven him. I could sit here and be so bitter about that first driver, but you just have to forgive and keep moving."

At the same time, he hopes the driver is caught. "He's still out there, and if he does it once, it will be easier the second time. His heart is hardened now."

Kinley says he's doing well, but doesn't have a fixed date when he will be back at work.

He makes it a point to keep upbeat and think Christian thoughts. "All things work for those who love the Lord. And so on. This is an ongoing thing."

When he gets well, he has two things he wants to do.

"Cycle and fight fires," he says without a pause. "I can't wait."

The biggest thing he has learned: "I've learned to be absolutely grateful for everything in life. Even the small things, like bending over when you are brushing your teeth, or picking something up off the floor. You just really never know -- it can end that fast." He snaps his fingers.

Doctors expect him to have a full, or nearly full, range of motion in his back and foot, he says. He will have the strength to carry the 60 pounds of firefighter garb and equipment, he says.

"We're just in a waiting game now -- waiting and physical therapy."

McClatchy-Tribune News Service