On May 5, 2025, Brad Fleming lay on the ground for two hours, paralyzed from a broken neck, less than a half mile from the region’s largest hospital.
Today, Fleming continues to recover from the freak bicycle accident that could have been even worse if not for the help of countless people in and around the Petoskey area, and from family members downstate.
“I couldn’t have done any of this without a lot of help,” said Fleming, 72, who has been walking for several months and continues to gain strength and conditioning through therapy and other activities.
Fleming, a Petoskey resident, lives near downtown. On that evening last year, he decided to take a 10-12 mile bike ride from downtown to Bay Harbor. Early in his journey, Fleming hit a culvert, landed on his forehead and when he regained consciousness, realized he couldn’t move any parts of his body. His bicycle helmet was severely cracked.
“Every horrible thought goes through your mind at that point,” Fleming said. “I didn’t have any strength to yell. I just laid there.”
Eventually, local resident Tony Presley discovered Fleming while he was waiting for his wife to get out of work from nearby McLaren Northern Michigan hospital. Presley was with his young child, but called 911 and “got everything rolling,” according to Fleming, who had surgery the following day.
Presley was later given the Citizen Award by the Petoskey Department of Public Safety as part of the 2025 Honors Board of Review awards.
Fleming ended up spending eight weeks at the Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids, where he ran into other guardian angels among the many doctors, therapists and nurses who treated him. Fleming’s brother, Greg, also became a daily help and spent months helping him handle small tasks and eventually re-learn how to walk.
“He was a tough coach on me, but he helped me with about 50 exercises. He just retired and so I like to think (my injury) gave him something to do,” Fleming said with a laugh. “Greg was absolutely instrumental.”
Over time, Fleming went from being able to barely wiggle his feet and hands to walking out of the Grand Rapids hospital. That has allowed him to do just about anything he wants with his three children and three, soon to be four, grandchildren living nearby.
Fleming may not bike and walk as much as he used to, but he maintains as much exercise as he can, occasionally with a cane. Fleming continues to attend physical therapy sessions and sees little improvements every week.
“I’m about 70% (physically) of where I want to be,” he said.
Fleming is more than willing to share his story and encourages others to consider reducing some of the security settings on their smartphones or watches for easy access in case of an emergency. He also encourages people of all ages to tell someone — anyone — where they may be going if they plan to be alone for a period of time.
“If you know (that person) hasn’t checked in then you want someone to come look for you,” he said.
Fleming hopes to participate in the Mackinac Bridge Walk this Labor Day with his son. He knows that he may not make it the full five miles, but he often takes 40,000 steps in a day, even if some of the steps are small.
“Recovery comes in spurts,” Fleming said. “I was lucky. And I’m going to keep pushing myself to get better every day.”
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: One year after life-changing bike accident, Petoskey man celebrates recovery
Reporting by M. Alan Scott, The Petoskey News-Review / The Petoskey News-Review
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
