110 W. New York Ave., DeLand, FL
386-734-4622
PHOTO COURTESY STILLER FAMILY
Happier times — Kate and Sean Stiller smile for the camera during a recent vacation in Baton Rouge, La. After a motorcycle wreck July 1, Sean is in a coma. His family and friends are hosting a benefit carwash at 10 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 2, at John’s Appliance City, 911 S. Volusia Ave. in Orange City.
Sean Stiller lay near a busy highway for 3 hours before help found him
posted Jul 31, 2009 - 10:31:17am
It was around 2 a.m. Wednesday, July 1. Sean Stiller, 19, his girlfriend and his best friend were at Subway, grabbing a late-night bite to eat. They ordered the sandwiches and drinks to go.
Because Stiller was riding his motorcycle, his buddy and girlfriend took his food. They would follow him home in a car.
Stiller hopped on his bike. He was wearing a helmet, a riding jacket and long pants.
The next time Stiller’s friends saw him, he was in a coma at Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach. He had crashed on the way home.
When Stiller’s friends arrived at his house, and realized he wasn’t there, they went looking. They searched for more than two hours.
Their search included the intersection of Cassadaga Road and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Beltway, where Stiller had crashed, but the friends didn’t see him.
Police later found Stiller and his bike in the grass off the southeast corner of the intersection.
At 5 a.m., a bicyclist called police and reported seeing a motorcycle on the ground as he rode along the beltway.
It was Stiller’s motorcycle.
Stiller’s mom, Kate Stiller, talked about her son’s situation.
He had had the motorcycle, a 2008 Honda, for about a year.
“He fractured almost every bone in his face,” Kate Stiller said. “He landed in an ant pile, and had been lying in it for three hours before they found him, so he was covered with red ants.”
In addition to facial injuries and ant bites, Stiller has trauma to his brain, broken ribs and many other bones, punctured lungs, and a lacerated liver. He’s fighting infection.
“We don’t have health insurance,” Kate Stiller said.
She’s a single mom, who spends every moment she can in the hospital with her son. The manager of the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp Bookstore, she hasn’t been to work since the accident.
The police report said Stiller was traveling south on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Beltway, and slid and hit a concrete curb as he was turning left onto Cassadaga Road.
Nobody really knows why the crash happened.
“He could have swerved to avoid a raccoon,” Kate Stiller said. “Animals don’t leave a mark on the pavement.”
Larry Upson, an avid bicyclist, found Stiller. He made the call to the police at 5 a.m.
He had left his Deltona home for an early ride at 4:30 a.m.
“I bike about 300 miles per week,” he said. “That’s my time to ride.”
As he approached the intersection where Stiller was, he saw something by the curb.
“At first I thought it was a couch,” Upson said. “Then I saw it was a motorcycle.”
He investigated, and when he heard what sounded like a person moaning, he called police. He waited at the scene until help arrived.
Upson said that Stiller was 20-30 feet away from the motorcycle.
While waiting at the corner, Upson saw at least four cars pass by without noticing the crash scene. His vantage point on the bicycle, riding along the shoulder of the road, had made the difference.
Kate Stiller said her son was with friends at Halftime Sports Bar in Downtown DeLand before the crash, but alcohol was not listed as a factor on the police report.
Because of the seriousness of Stiller’s injuries, the case was turned over to the DeLand Police traffic-homicide division, and the investigation is still ongoing.
Stiller is a DeLand High School Class of 2007 graduate. He has worked at Ruby Tuesday in Orange City for more than two years.
His mom said he has a soft heart, and many friends.
“He turned 20 in the hospital,” she said. “On 7-11 [July 11]. On his birthday, all the kids showed up with birthday cards.”
Friends sit by his hospital bed, playing music for Stiller and talking with him.
Still comatose, Stiller is no longer in intensive care.
Kate Stiller now faces new challenges; she must find a nursing home for her 20-year-old son. And, with no health insurance, she must do this all within the parameters of Medicaid — a state-subsidized health-insurance program.
She’s finding few facilities accept both Medicaid and 20-year-olds.
“There is a huge need for a facility for younger people that accepts Medicaid,” Kate Stiller said.
And, she said Medicaid doesn’t pay for rehabilitative exercises in nursing homes, just room and board.
“They just don’t have a facility for young people,” Kate Stiller said.
Friends have rallied around the family, and are beginning the effort to raise funds.
A benefit carwash is planned at 10 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 2, at John’s Appliance City, 911 S. Volusia Ave. in Orange City. The volunteers will keep washing cars as long as the cars keep coming.
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I have been praying for Sean since hearing of his accident. My small faith group all pray for him. Please know how close to my heart you are at this most trying time.
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