News

Community rallies around New Hampshire man paralyzed in mountain bike accident

WINDHAM, N.H. — The community is rallying around a Windham, N.H., man who was paralyzed in a mountain bike accident last month.

Jim Harvey, 39, suffered a spinal cord injury to his C6 and C7 cervical vertebrae, rendering him paralyzed from the upper chest down, with some use of one wrist and with limited ability to move his arms up and down, his wife, Alicia Harvey, told Boston 25 News Monday.

Jim, who was wearing his helmet, was on his bike on a wooded trail on July 27, when, according to Windham Fire Dept., his front tire hit tough terrain. The force threw him from the bike, over his handlebars, Harvey striking his head on the ground, officials said in a news release.

A friend, who is also an avid cyclist, found Jim injured in the woods and dialed his wife.

“He called me, and it was Jim. And he was like, ‘It’s OK, it’s OK. I’m OK.’ He’s like, ‘I can’t feel my body,’” Alicia recalled. “He was just doing the ride he always does, and it was just a freak thing.”

Jim was rushed by medical helicopter to a Boston-area hospital, where he is currently receiving support breathing and is hoping to be transferred to a rehab to begin his recovery.

“He’s alive which is everything, but it’s tough,” Alicia said. “Our whole life that we were planning -- 39 years old, we have young kids -- this wasn’t the path. It’s no one’s path.”

But Jim is optimistic about his recovery, and his wife is confident the engineer who finds new ways to do things, a man of intense physical and mental strength, will exceed even his doctors’ expectations.

“I know he’s going to put his all into it, and he’s going to work so hard for our family to make our life even better than it was before,” Alicia said.

Jim, father of two young kids and a beloved coach, has hope.

“He’s told me more than once that we’re going to be happier now than we ever were before,” Alicia said. “And you got to believe it, because, before [a tragedy] you go through life with really -- when you think about it now -- what was everything. But we know how important we are to each other, we know how everything just seems much more worthwhile. We’re just so happy that we can still be a family.”

Meanwhile, friends, family and complete strangers have donated more than $250,000 to a GoFundMe account for Jim, to help cover his medical bills, future treatments and modifications to the Harveys’ home.

“There’s no words for how grateful we are,” Alicia said. “I don’t even know what to say, because it’s just amazing. What our friends and family have done for us, it’s truly unbelievable.”

To donate to the Harveys’ fund, click here.