Ryan Dutrisac: Paralyzed Victim Of ATV Accident Needs Your Help, $2K Of $10K Goal Reached


Ryan Dutrisac, a 31-year-old father and victim of an ATV accident that has left him a paraplegic from Tilden Lake, Ontario, has asked for help from the public, as reported by the North Bay Nugget.

A GoFundMe campaign has raised close to $2,000 of a $10,000 goal toward making improvements to his parents’ home to accommodate his newly-faced challenges. Mr. Dutrisac is said to be currently in receipt of care at Toronto’s Lyndhurst Centre and to have hopes of returning to northern Ontario in November.

“I am asking for help in funding the renovations that are necessary for me to be able to come home,” Ryan writes on the GoFundMe page.

ATV riders in Morrinsville, New Zealand. [Image by Sandra Mu/Getty Images]

The stated plans for the funds Dutrisac’s campaign is raising include a ramp and a sliding door as well as a renovated bedroom and bathroom to accommodate his condition.

Mr. Dutrisac states that renovations will allow him to raise his 2-year-old son “in the most appropriate way.”

The Canadian man, said to have been home in Ontario after being laid-off from working in the western oil fields, was thrown from his ATV when riding with a neighbor, a popular activity in rural northern Ontario; it subsequently landed on top of him. Reference.com lists typical ATV weights ranging from 350-400 pounds.

The injury resulted in a broken back for Ryan Dutrisac. He describes his condition as a “complete spinal cord injury with paralysis from the waist down” on his GoFundMe page.

Residents navigate the flooded Lumber River in North Carolina following Hurricane Matthew on October 12. [Image by Sean Rayford/Getty Images]

“As a parent, you wish it was you in the wheelchair,” Randy Dutrisac, the man’s mother, was quoted by the Nugget. “It’s not something you ever plan for or think about.”

Ms. Dutrisac described her son as being “so strong” and that his strength has made the entire ordeal more “bearable.” The mother was on the scene right after the unfortunate incident occurred.

“He kept saying his back was really bad.”

The Nugget reports that Ryan was flown to North Bay from Tilden Lake, and then to Sudbury where he was forced to suffer through a five-hour surgery.

Doctors were reported to give the determined man, described as being “extremely active” before the accident, a three percent chance of walking again.

Denham Springs, Louisiana, in August. [Image by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]

According to U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports, in 2011, 81 children under 16 and 545 adults died as a result of ATV accidents. The agency cites challenges accurately tracking the number of ATV accidents, stating that “numbers are expected to increase.”

The CPSC reports that, statistically, July and August are the most likely months for ATV accidents to occur. Those riding on paved surfaces were seen being at a higher risk than those riding in fields or forests.

The agency urges that children under 16 not be permitted to ride machines designed for adults and that helmets always be worn. In the United States, Texas, California, and Pennsylvania are said to have witnessed the highest number of ATV injuries nationally, with 535,547, and 494 deaths in each state over the 27-year period from 1982-2008.

In 2014, 9-year-old Tyler Massey lost his life while riding an ATV designed for an adult in Burnt River, Ontario, as reported by My Kawartha, while traveling away from his family with friends. His mother, Linda Russel, has been quoted that the ATV the youth had been provided by his stepdad, Alister Walker, was checked to make sure that it was “ready for his weekend away” and that it was what the 9-year-old was “supposed to be riding.”

The matter was reported to be the subject of a police investigation. The parents have petitioned the provincial government to make changes to the Off-Road Vehicle Act.

Tilden Lake is located about 35 kilometers north of North Bay on Highway 11. The Nugget reports that if Mr. Dutrisac’s home is not renovated, he will have nowhere else to go.

[Featured Image by Ryan Dutrisac/GoFundMe]

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