Last August a motorcycle crash nearly killed Tyler Hedgepeth of Davenport. His road to recovery included a drive-by birthday celebration on Sunday.
His family, friends, and the community of Davenport turned out to wish him well on his special day. "He’s got a lot of friends. He is very cheerful, positive and he just loves people,” Brittney Jones, Hedgepeth's girlfriend, told KWQC-TV 6. “He's so kind and that’s what made me fall in love with him."
In August 2019, Hedgepeth was involved in a motorcycle crash in Davenport. He was airlifted to the University of Iowa Hospital where doctors said his injuries were considered life-threatening.
The initial prognosis was not good, according to Hedgepeth's mother, Donna Sims. "He told me ‘say goodbye to your son because he's not gonna make the flight to Iowa city,’" Sims told KWQC-TV 6. "I walked to Tyler and I said you are going to make it buddy. They don't know you so we're here for you and you just fight and so he did."
Jones says he was in a coma for 18 days. "When he woke up it was like oh my God. Thank God we can finally breathe a little bit, you know? Because yeah, we just didn't know.”
Sims said she wanted to do something special for her son's birthday with social distancing requirements in place. They decided on the drive-by parade and spread the word on social media.
Jones helped spread the word on social media. "We brought a lot of people together. It was amazing. It was so amazing," Jones told KWQC-TV 6.
“Tyler is here and he's fighting and so are we and we're just gonna stick in there with him,” Sims says. “This is just a ray of hope, you know, that life still is happy and it still goes on".
Hedgepeth is thankful for the support and had a message for fellow motorcycle riders. “I just want to let everybody know that I want them to wear helmets since it almost killed me."
Hedgepeth is now starting to move his left arm again. He looks forward to being able to play guitar and hopes to someday get back on the bike again.
(Photo; KWQC-TV 6)