Accident claims short-term memory of local bicyclist

July 6, 2007

By Hannah Guillaume

Frontiersman

WASILLA - A Wasilla woman who lost her memory after a colliding with a car on her bicycle says all she can remember about the accident is the doctor who held her hand on the pavement.

&#8220You should see my helmet. It's smashed,” said Amy McCorkell, 44. &#8220I don't remember anything, but isn't it strange that I remember that doctor and I have never talked to him before?”

Dr. Daniel Larson of the family practice Larson Chiropractic was driving down Knik Goose Bay Road Sunday with his wife when he saw McCorkell laying on the ground beside her purple and white mountain bike with two people hovering over her near a silver Chrysler.

Wasilla Police Department reports say McCorkell was southbound on the bike path along Knik Goose Bay Road when she struck the rear end of a car driven by Linda Spencer, 53, of Maine. Spencer was driving east and exiting the driveway of the Iditarod Trail Headquarters. McCorkell was treated overnight at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center for a concussion, bumps and bruises.

After he assessed the scene, Larson said he stabilized McCorkell's neck, screened her for a concussion, checked for bleeding and held her hand until the ambulance arrived.

&#8220I'm trained for emergency procedures, and I stop when I see an injury,” he said. &#8220I was put on this earth to help people, and if somebody's in need for help, I can't go by them and watch them suffer.”

McCorkell's helmet was split &#8220from one end to the other,” Larson said, adding that short-term memory loss is a common symptom of concussion.

McCorkell, who has retained most of her memory since the accident, said Larson was wonderful.

&#8220He is a community hero,” she said, adding that her husband took maple syrup and pickled fish to thank Larson for his help.

McCorkell has biked in the Wasilla area for 25 years and said Sunday's incident this wasn't her first collision with a motor vehicle on a bike. About 16 years ago she was bicycling with her then 2-year-old daughter Emily on the back when they were struck by a moving car.

&#8220We were both wearing helmets,” she said. &#8220You gotta watch out. I thought I did watch out. Where I was I wouldn't think I'd get hit by a car, but they're saying I hit a car.”

McCorkell is an advocate for wearing a helmet and following bike safety rules, so much so that when her children were teenagers they stopped riding bikes because she wouldn't let them leave the driveway without helmets on. She believes she wouldn't be alive if she hadn't been wearing her helmet on Sunday.

Officer Alexander Wysocki of the Wasilla police responded to the accident. Fortunately, motor vehicle and bike collisions are few and far between in Wasilla, he said.

&#8220We like to encourage the drivers and bicyclists to be more careful and pay more attention. The bike paths are probably the best to ride,” Wysocki said. &#8220Wear your helmets, check both ways before crossing intersections and if there are any signs on the paths, obey those.”

No one was cited due to the accident, according to reports. Spencer, the car driver from Maine, could not be reached for comment.

Contact Hannah Guillaume at 352-2284 or hannahguillaume@yahoo.com.