Fire official improves, but long road ahead

WASILLA — A Mat-Su Borough emergency services director seriously injured in a motorcycle crash has had his condition upgraded, but remained in the hospital this week.

Mat-Su Borough Emergency Services deputy director for fire Ken Barkley, 51, was discovered on the side of the Wasilla Fishhook Road following a May 26 crash. Barkley was not wearing a helmet at the time of the wreck, according to an Alaska State Trooper account of the crash. Officials at Providence Hospital had upgraded Barkley’s condition from critical to serious Friday.

Barkley is conscious and able to receive some visitors, said fire director Bill Gamble.

“He’s a miracle man,” Gamble said.

Barkley has been unable to recall the accident, but recognizes his surroundings and is able to speak, Gamble said.

“He is hurting really bad right now,” Gamble said. “He has a long healing process in front of him.”

Barkley’s absence was unfortunate, but fortuitously timed, Gamble said. The department had just completed budget planning for the upcoming fiscal year in early May, which is the department’s busiest time. As a result, Gamble and the borough’s deputy director for emergency medical services, Lisa Behrens, will be able to manage the workload without the need to appoint an interim director, Gamble said.

By Friday afternoon, numerous local fire personnel and members of the public had already contributed more than $3,000 to an online fundraising effort on the popular crowd source site GoFundMe for the family. An account on the page described both the scene of the crash and gave a list of Barkley’s injuries.

According to the account by Barkley’s niece, Heather Fitzpatrick, firefighters responding to another call found Barkley lying by the side of the road not breathing and without a heartbeat. Barkley was revived after seven minutes of CPR, according to Fitzpatrick’s account.

“He was in the ICU fighting for his life for five days undergoing monitoring for severe brain swelling, he is now on a orthapaedic physical therapy floor where we will begin the process of rehab, with hopes to make a full recovery,” she wrote.

Barkley suffered broken bones in his ribs, neck, shoulder, leg, and a has a dislocated elbow and pinched shoulder nerve. He also suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) from both the impact and sustained lack of oxygen to his brain from his time without a pulse, according to Fitzpatrick.

“All of those breaks and fractures will heal in time, but with a TBI there is no guarantee he will ever be able to be completely independent again,” she wrote.

Full rehabilitation could take as long as a year or more, Fitzpatrick wrote.

By Saturday morning, the account had raised about $3,875 of a stated $10,000 goal , according to the web site. More information about the fundraising efforts is available at www.gofundme.com/kenbarkleymedical

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.