GLENBURN, Maine — On Sept. 16, 2021, Brooke and Steve Ismail left their Glenburn home for a bike ride. They were training for the Dempsey Challenge, an annual charity ride to benefit the Dempsey Center.
The Ismails were two miles into their 13-mile ride when a pickup truck hit them both from behind. The driver said he was blinded by the sun and never saw the husband and wife. Steve said the truck hit him at an estimated 50 miles per hour.
"I don't really have a recollection of anything until just about Christmas day," Steve said.
Although he doesn't remember much from the accident, his wife Brooke does.
"I saw Steve, who had gotten thrown into a culvert face down," Brooke described. "It was scary and awful.”
Brooke said she remembers being thrown into the air when the truck hit her bike next.
Both Steve and Brooke suffered many injuries. Brooke broke her ankle, leg, and two vertebrae, which required surgery. Steve's injuries were life-threatening.
"I had 17 surgeries in the first 21 days," Steve said. "I spent from Sept. 16 until Jan. 5 in the ICU. Then from Jan. 5 to June 26 in acute rehab."
Steve’s injuries included a cracked skull and broken bones in his neck, both legs, hip, pelvis, and tailbone. He also had internal injuries preventing him from eating and drinking.
“You know, it was a roller coaster ride because he was doing better one day, and then the next day something happened," Brooke said about her husband. "When I was in my room at the hospital, physicians would come in telling me that they didn't know if he was going to make it. It was really hard."
Steve was determined to live. Nine months and nearly 30 surgeries later, including one to amputate his leg after it became infected, Steve was released from Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center. He credits his wife for getting him through the nine-month fight for his life.
"Without her, I’d be dead," he said. "Her coming every single day. No matter what day, she’d be there."
When Steve was released from the hospital in late June, he was surrounded by hundreds of health care staff who cared for him and his family.
"It was so overwhelming," he said. "I think in the time of COVID and all the things that go wrong in hospitals, everybody was just thrilled to have an unbelievable success story, because I should not have made it."
Now back home, Steven said he has a long road ahead of him. He wants to return to his pre-accident condition.
“I spent 10 months trying not to die, and now I’ve got to turn around and learn how to live again,” he said.
The Ismails said they're grateful for the overwhelming support they've received from friends, family, and even strangers.
"I can not express how overwhelmed we were," Brooke said. "Just the cards, the calls, it was just amazing. We can never repay people for what they have done for us and still are doing."
Despite the mental and physical toll this experience has had and continues to have on the Ismails, they said they have no animosity toward the driver who hit them.
To access a GoFundME for the Ismails, click here.
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