Benefit Spaghetti Dinner Aims to Help Recovering Dirt Bike Rider

Shortly before 10 p.m. on Nov. 10, there was a knock on Joe Bedell's door. It is the kind of knock that haunts every parent's nightmares. The knock of a police officer telling him that his son, Kyle, had been badly injured in a car accident.

"I remember the nightmare," Joe Bedell said. "People telling us constantly, 'He's not going to make it.' The machines hooked up to him. The constant flow of doctors and nurses and people in and out."

"After that it's a blur."

l, 22, was northbound on Route 9 that Thursday night when, according to the police report, he lost control of his dirt bike and slid roughly 50 feet into the southbound lane near Yesterday's Restaurant about 9:30 p.m. He was then hit by a 2009 Subaru Forester.

He suffered severe head injuries, so severe that a medevac helicopter was requested, according to the scanner reports at the time. First aiders ended up transporting him directly to Jersey Shore University Medical Center's trauma unit, with assistance of the state Department of Transportation, which diverted traffic to make sure the ambulance had a clear path all the way to the hospital.

Once at Jersey Shore, Kyle underwent several surgeries, his father said, but it wasn't until his son underwent facial reconstruction surgery on the eighth day after the accident that Joe felt like his son had turned a corner.

That was just the beginning of a recovery that, so far, has been nothing short of miraculous. In less than a month since the accident, Kyle is up walking around, texting and talking on the cell phone with friends, and eating on his own.

He has challenges -- he is unable to hold a conversation when he's not on the cell phone, his father said, which doctors have explained is a conditioned response: it's an automatic response to pick up the cell phone and talk on it and doesn't require thought -- but considering the dire nature of his injuries, his recovery so far has amazed all around him.

Shortly after Thanksgiving, Kyle was transferred from Jersey Shore to the Brain Trauma Unit at JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison. His father said that within a couple of weeks, he could be transferred to a sub-acute care facility that's also in Edison for more therapy.

From there, his father said, "It's up to him when he will be able to come home. It boils down to when he can take care of himself." Kyle will still face outpatient therapy after that, Joe said.

"He should still be in the ICU (intensive care unit) at Jersey Shore," Joe said, "instead of walking around and eating and all the other stuff he's doing."

That includes texting his friends asking them to help him get out of the hospital, his dad said with a chuckle. 

"Mentally he's there," Joe said. "He can't speak. We sit there amazed at how he's able to have a conversation with on the cell phone but the minute he hangs up, he struggles to communicate.

"But compared to two weeks ago (when Kyle was still in the ICU), it's night and day," Joe said.

He said he and Kyle's mother, Kris, take turns spending time with Kyle, though they and Kyle's younger brother, Josh, stayed by his side constantly in the days immediately following the accident.

"We send out a big thank you to the Berkeley police and the emergency personnel who did so much to help save Kyle's life," he said, "and there were a lot of them."

Kyle's family also has been sustained by the support of friends and family who have all offered help and support, Joe said.

"The support means everything," Joe said. "In a situation like this, there's not a lot that anyone can do, but the offers of help are neverending, and they mean a lot. Thank you to everyone who has called, sent messages and everything."

"We are thankful as well to the Berkeley police and the emergency personnel who did so much to help save Kyle's life," he said, "and there were a lot of them."

For Kyle's closest friends, there was a desire to do something more tangible to help. Less than a week after the accident, they decided to hold a spaghetti dinner to raise money to help with Kyle's medical expenses.

That dinner is set for next Friday, Dec. 16, at Central Regional High School's cafeteria, from 5 to 8 p.m.

"He's like my big brother," said Heather Tice, who set up a Facebook event to promote the dinner. "He and my brother have been best friends for a few years."

The dinner was approved by the Central Regional Board of Education a day later, she said, and with the help of people inside the school district, including former school board member Gail Coleman, they have been getting ready for a dinner that already is expected to draw more than 100 people.

"If people could buy tickets ahead of time it would be a help, so we know how many people are coming," Heather Tice said. The organizers, which include Heather's mother, Lynn, also are looking for more voluteers to help with the dinner.

Tickets, which are $15 apiece, can be purchased at Bayville Auto Care or by contacting the Central Regional School District at 732-269-1100 ext. 341. Checks should be made payable to the Kyle Bedell Benefit Fund. Donations also can be made directly to the account at any TD Bank.

Those with questions can call Lynn Tice, Heather's mother, at 732-269-8038.

"Kyle will be recovering from this for the rest of his life," Joe said. But he'll take that far more positive outcome over the one that looked so certain in the first minutes and hours after the accident.

As would any parent.