Mike Keiser’s clear blue eyes blink tears when he talks about the accident, which he doesn’t remember, and when he thinks about the outpouring of kindness and support, which he’ll never forget. It has been an emotional journey for the 62-year-old Cincinnati triathlete and businessman.

But Mike is once again a champion in the eyes of his family, his friends, his Ironman contemporaries, and his doctors at the Mayfield Clinic and The Neuroscience Institute.

Mike, who won the national Ironman title in the 55-59 age group in 2003, continues to make strides in the wake of a traumatic brain injury suffered during a cycling accident in July 2005. Mike was training for his 10th Ironman World Championship when he collided with a car on a busy street. Although he was wearing a helmet, he suffered shearing to the right side of his brain and was unconscious for six weeks.

Although still unable to work or drive, Mike works with weights regularly at a Cincinnati sports club and is riding his recumbent bike at home. He can leg press 200 pounds – far less than his Ironman standard of 800 pounds, but a significant amount for a neurotrauma patient who still walks with a cane.

Mike, who swam freestyle at Cincinnati’s St. Xavier High School and later excelled in mountain climbing, became interested in triathlons in the early 1990s after seeing one on television. “That is so cool,” said his wife, Rosemary, pointing out the event to him. The next day Mike purchased a bike.

Strong, lean, and disciplined – he never ate junk food and had only 6 percent body fat -- he found himself well suited to triathlons. “I made it a part of my life,” Mike said.

“Whatever he did he did all the way,” Rosemary said. “He gave everything his all. He wouldn’t have done any other way. That’s how you become an Ironman. You have to do it all the way.”

The 2005 Ironman in Hawaii would have been Mike’s 10th. “That was going to be his year,” Rosemary said.

Mike was enjoying a normal training ride, zipping down a busy street during rush hour, when a car, whose driver did not see him, pulled out in front of him. Mike was riding too fast to avoid striking the car. “From the description of the accident, we assume he was trying to stop,” Rosemary said. Mike apparently “T-boned,” turning the bike sharply to the right, breaking his right hip on impact and hitting the right side of his head on top of the car. He also suffered brachial plexus nerve damage in his right shoulder and a punctured right lung.

Mike was taken to Cincinnati’s University Hospital, a Level 1 trauma center, and for five hours doctors worked to stabilize him without knowing who he was. The doctors estimated that “the unknown cyclist” was in his 40s, a testimonial to Mike’s incredible fitness. Identification inside his jersey was lost when the jersey was torn off in preparation for CPR, and his wallet, tucked inside his helmet, went unnoticed. Eventually, the wallet was discovered, and Rosemary, who had come home from work exhausted and had fallen asleep, learned the devastating news.

Mike became a patient in University Hospital’s Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit (NSICU), a component of The Neuroscience Institute, which maintains state-of-the-art monitoring equipment and aggressive patient management. His doctors were Philip Theodosopoulos, MD, Lori Shutter, MD, and a longtime friend and fellow cyclist, John M. Tew, MD. Drs. Theodosopoulos and Tew are neurosurgeons with the Mayfield Clinic. Dr. Shutter, who oversaw Mike’s critical care medical management, is a neurointensivist. Dr. Shutter was able to manage Mike’s brain swelling with medications, enabling Mike to avoid having surgery.

Offers to help flooded in. “Mike’s boss called and said, what do you need?” Rosemary recalled. “He said we’ll bring in the private jet and take you wherever you want to go. Tell me which hospital you want, and we’ll take him there. I told him we don’t want to go anywhere. We’re in the best possible hands.”

Two weeks after the accident, stable but still unconscious, Mike was transferred to Cincinnati’s Drake Center, a rehabilitation center, where he remained unconscious for another four weeks. He stayed at Drake for three months before going home.

With help from physical therapists, friends, his church, and his family, Mike is steadily recovering. He is able to go out to dinner and sit through a service at his church. He spends his days working on his computer and watching movies. (“Cinderella Man” is his current favorite.) Because his short-term memory is still impaired, Rosemary posts daily reminders on a bulletin board in the kitchen. Mike’s ultimate goal is to be employed again, not in medical sales as before, but as a triathlon coach.

Both Rosemary and Mike consider themselves fortunate. “People say how do you get through this?” Rosemary said. “We get through it because of the strength and kindness of so many people around us. When something like this happens, you learn how much people really care about other people. At Good Samaritan Hospital, where I work, there were so many diverse people who came up to me and said I’m praying for you, my church is praying for you. It didn’t matter whether it was a church or a temple, or whether they were Baptist or Catholic or Muslim. Everyone came together and prayed that Mike would get better. And he did get better. Mike is the Man. He’ll be back.

Mike’s Cycling Safety Tips
• Ride with a friend
• Avoid rush hour traffic
• wear helmet and gloves that fit well
• obey all traffic laws
• be predictable
• be a courteous cyclist
• wear an ID bracelet and carry a cell phone
• ride with awareness of the traffic around you

>> more hope stories