Jay Abbott, head coach of Bainbridge’s middle school mountain bike team, is in a coma after crashing during a team training ride on Sunday.
The spinal cord injury he suffered during the accident has been termed “complete,” and he is not expected to survive, according to an online statement released by his family late Wednesday.
“In the past 24 hours, with the tireless support of Jay’s medical team, we now know that Jay will not survive his injuries,” it read. “He will not recover to move, swallow or breath on his own again.”
The message went on to say that now Abbott’s family faced “the impossible task of saying farewell.”
Bainbridge Island Assistant Fire Chief Luke Carpenter said the accident occurred Jan. 25 during a bike ride in the Grand Forest.
Abbott fell off his bike and was taken to the fire department’s Station 21 on Madison Avenue and then airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
The details of how the accident happened weren’t immediately clear.
“We’re not 100 percent sure what caused it,” Carpenter said.
Friends close to Abbott said he once worked as an airline pilot and later worked and retired from Boeing.
Stephen Johnson, a longtime friend of Abbott’s, said his friend’s passionate nature contributed to his ability to instruct kids in a variety of outdoor sports.
“The real love of his life is being an instructor and coach for young people in skiing, sailing and mountain biking. He worked to recruit kids who might not normally have been inclined, or had the wherewithal, to engage in these activities,” Johnson said. “He particularly worked to get more girls involved in mountain biking and searched out and fixed up bikes for kids who didn’t have them.”
Gordon Black was approached by Abbott three years ago when he asked if he could volunteer to help with the Gear Grinders team.
The Bainbridge Island Gear Grinders, founded in 2011 by Black, is a youth mountain bike racing club with both high school and middle school-aged teams that compete in race events around the region.
“We were delighted to have him,” Black said. “Initially he was our team mechanic, fixing up kids’ bikes for the races and helping the kids keep their bikes in good running shape.”
In 2013, the group’s youth league expanded and a middle school team was added. Abbott agreed to be the head coach, working regularly with the kids in the group, Black said.
“His affection for the kids, coaching and mountain biking is apparent to anyone who has seen him on the rides — he is a devoted, reliable, a firm and fair coach,” Black said.
Abbott’s “infectious friendliness” is one of the prominent traits some of his friends loved best.
He was known for stopping on trails to chat with others, and he often gave out dog biscuits to pups sharing the trails he frequented so often.
