Star a Proud Texas Marine Mom and Secretary/Treasurer DFW Region Texas COC has reported that a very popular woman in Wichita Falls has passed away while riding.
According to Star this woman was playing tennis, left the courts and told her friends she wasn't feeling well at all. Onlookers to this accident told police that she was driving very unusually slow and then bounced off of two curbs and then fell off the bike. Newspaper article (posted below) makes it sound like she died from head injuries due to not wearing a helmet - but it's obvious she had a heart attack, stroke etc. No she did not have a helmet on but there is more to the story. She was sick at the tennis courts, left, was going very slow, hit a curb, then hit another curb, 3rd curb stopped the tryke, she slumped over and was out and gone.
Then her body fell off the tryke. It appears there are no head injuries at all,that it was either a stroke or heart attack. She was unresponsive at the scene but breathing, the doctors put her in an induced coma.
1st News Article...
Motorcycle Safety Coalition
Reported by: Katie Lutz
Thursday, Jun 14, 2007 @09:30pm
A Wichita Falls woman remains in critical condition at a Fort Worth Hospital after being in an accident, Tuesday, while riding her motorcycle 63 year old Linda Merrill was not wearing her helmet. To remind cyclists to wear their helmets and be more safe on the road a local man is starting a motorcycle safety coalition.
Steve Holley has seen too many friends get into accidents on their motorcycles and weren't wearing helmets, including Linda Merrill. Before the law changed in 1997 all cyclists were required to wear a helmet. These days, in Texas if you are older than 21 you are not required to wear a helmet if you have completed a motorcycle safety course and you have at least ten thousand dollars of medical insurance.
Next meeting is June 21 at 7 in Luby's Cafeteria. The meetings are open to the public and not just limited to motorcycle riders.
2nd News Article...
Beloved former Old High teacher passes away June 15, 2007
Linda Merrill, called "as famous as you can get in Wichita Falls," died this morning from injuries she suffered in a Harley trike accident Wednesday, according to the Wichita Falls Police Department. She was 63. Merrill and her husband, Gene, shared their retirement years riding the Harleys, telling the newspaper when she left the school district in 2003 that she looked forward to the time she could spend on the three-wheeler motorcycle. She was not wearing a helmet when she started driving the short distance to her home from Weeks Park, where she'd just played tennis.
Friends wondered if she may have suffered a stroke or aneurysm, the Times Record News reported, causing her to drive it unusually slow and strike a curb, the jolt throwing her off the motorcycle. Jan Inman, a friend, told the Times Record News Merrill was "a Coyote through and through." She spent 29 years at the high school, first teaching reading, English, government and history. She later became an assistant principal and the school's magnet coordinator. Funeral arrangements are not known at this time.
Message from Breeze state chair TMRA II
This is a tragedy, we lost a loved rider and one who exercised her freedom of choice to ride without a helmet. It is a very sad day when individuals take advantage of the lost of a loved one to benefit their own cause.
Wichita Falls has not even had time to morn her death. Please remember her and her family and friends in your prayers.
This is a coalition we need to stop. Let’s give support to Star and show up.
TO ALL RIDERS INTERESTED IN ATTENDING THE MEETING...
I will meet all riders at Jolly truck stop at 6:00 PM to leave at 6:15 PM for the cafeteria.
Note: Day changed to Wednesday June 20th instead of Thursday.
Jolly Truck Stop
Exit FM RD 2393
3392 US Hwy 287 N Access
Wichita Falls, TX 76305
Luby’s Cafeteria
1801 9th Street
Wichita Falls, TX 76301
Contact star at:
email: TXSilkStar@aol.com
or cell: 940-631-5330 (leave a msg if no answer)
Dennis Childers, MBA
Breeze
TMRA II State Chair
"SEPIUS EXERTUS, SEMPER FIDELIS, FRATERS INFINITAS"
(Often Tested, Always Faithful, Brothers Forever)
"The more corrupt the State the more numerous the laws." Cornelius Tacitus, Roman historian & politician (55 AD - 117 AD)
