Man recalls fatal wreck

Wife died in collision on Hwy. 72

April 1, 2007

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal staff writer

A Greenwood man has spoken publicly for the first time since a motorcycle wreck left him with a broken neck and claimed his wife’s life less than two weeks ago.
John Bryan, 24, and his wife, April, were riding their motorcycle March 21 on Highway 72 in front of Greenwood Mall, when a woman driving a maroon sedan pulled out from the stop sign at Crosscreek Connector and struck the couple’s bike.
The crash resulted in April’s death, and John was airlifted to Greenville Memorial Hospital, where he underwent multiple surgeries over the next week.
April Bryan’s funeral is at 2 p.m. today at Harley Funeral Home in Greenwood. She will be laid to rest at Greenwood Memorial Gardens.
Meanwhile, the driver of the sedan, whose name has not been released by Greenwood Police Department, has been charged with failure to yield right of way.
The initial police and coroner reports indicated April was not wearing her helmet when the crash occurred. However, friends at the scene said the 21-year-old was wearing it.
On Friday, John Bryan was adamant in his account.
“April was wearing her helmet, there is no doubt,” John said. “She never, never got on that bike without wearing her helmet. That was what she stood for, and it hurts to know that it failed her.”
John said police officers told him Wednesday they would be changing their report to indicate April was wearing her helmet during the wreck. He said officers at first thought April’s helmet, which was found at the scene, was actually John’s.
“They told me they found my helmet at the scene,” John said. “When they pulled it out of the box, I said, ‘That’s April’s helmet.’ The chin strap was still buckled. When they learned that that was April’s helmet, they said the scene made so much more sense to them.”
John said he and the officers concluded April’s helmet must have flown off during the impact of the crash, though John is not sure how.
John was not wearing his helmet during the crash. He said it was strapped to the side of the motorcycle and was later run over by a car shortly after the crash.
John said the wreck happened in an instant.
“I remember seeing something in the corner of my eye to the right, then I looked quickly this way,” John said, motioning to his left. “Then I locked my brakes. And that car was there. It was just there.”
John said he remembers much of what happened shortly after the wreck. He said he was fully conscious after he flipped over the hood of the sedan and landed on the ground. He said he made a move toward April, but then collapsed back to the ground.
He said he remembers his friend, Zack Grindell, leaning over him and fervently trying to get John to respond.
“He kept asking me if I knew his name,” John said. “I told him if he told me, I would remember. He said his name was Zack, and from then on my memory started coming back sharper.”
John said he wasn’t sure if anyone else with him had been involved in the wreck. He said there were two other motorcycles in his party besides the one he and April were riding.
As he was being airlifted, John said he told emergency workers he did not want to die because he has a son — he and April’s only child, 2-year-old “Little” John.
“(An emergency worker) told me I was in good hands,” John said. “They sedated me, but I could hear everything that was going on. I heard them say that a passenger had died, but I didn’t know who they were talking about, because I didn’t know who all had been involved.”
He said that when the helicopter landed at the hospital, he opened his eyes wide. He said EMS workers asked him if he was conscious. John said he asked them for a pen and paper, and he wrote a note to the EMS personnel saying he had been awake and listening to their conversations the entire flight.
John underwent surgery for a broken neck and internal bleeding. He also had to have his left ear reattached. He was in intensive care for two days.
It was only after his surgeries that he was informed that April had died.
“They had to put me back under,” John said. “My heart rate shot up and my blood pressure went sky high.”
The 24-year-old’s emotions were raw when discussing his deceased wife.
“None of these injuries are anything compared to losing April,” John said, tears flowing down his cheeks. “I’d give anything to have her back. I’d live in a cardboard box and eat noodles the rest of my life if I could have her. She was my world.”
John described April as a dedicated full-time mother and as simply having been “the best.”
His mother, Kathy Bryan, said the couple were inseparable.
“They were just always together,” she said, smiling. “They were just a perfect pair.”
John said he will never again ride a motorcycle.
“I have a son that needs me,” John said. “I’ll never get back on again. You think that nothing will ever happen to you, and you are really aware of everything when you are on that bike. But you can’t control when someone plows into you.
“I just wish I had never had that bike.”

Greenwood tops in track

Eagles win first Lakelands Invitational Cup

April 1, 2007

By RENALDO STOVER
Index-Journal sports writer

Greenwood High School came away victorious Saturday in the inaugural Lakelands Invitational Cup Track and Field Meet at Emerald High School.
Greenwood (278) finished ahead of second-place Emerald (263) by a slim margin, while Saluda (154) rounded out the top 3.
“Our team did real well,” Eagles coach Doug Blosser said. “We had a lot of PRs (personal records) today and we came together well. A few of our kids were banged up, but we had some kids who stepped it up and did a super job today. I’m really proud of all of them.”
Blosser added that with all the area teams participating, the Eagles knew they would have to be at their best if they expected to come out on top.
“I think it was great to have this competition with the local teams around here,” Blosser said. “Coach (Zeke) Goode and Emerald did a super job of running this event. We were just pleased with the overall performance, and it’s just fun to have a nice, big meet close by.”
The meet, which featured teams from seven of the eight area schools, along with Batesburg-Leesville, provided competitors with an atmosphere similar to what they could possibly face at the state finals.
The Eagles were led by Chad Phillips and Asia Delaney.
Phillips took home three first-place finishes in field events (triple jump, long jump and high jump), while Delaney dominated on the track with first-place finishes in the 100 and 200-meters (She was also a member of the 4X100 and 4X400 first-place relay teams).
Delaney said that the meet’s outcome came down to the Eagles’ hard work.
“I think it’s cool because we all worked together,” Delaney said. “We’ve been working hard all season with weightlifting and stuff. We practiced really hard on Friday, so today was like a breeze.”
Although their teams might not have won the event, there were quite a few competitors who turned in solid performances throughout the day.
Emerald almost swept the boys and girls shot and discus, thanks to first-place finishes by Brittany Connor and Louis Jackson (discus), and Taylor Johnson (shot).
However, Saluda’s Allison Lake (36-9) finished ahead of Emerald’s D’Atra Williams (36 1/2), ending any thoughts of a thrower’s sweep.
Lake’s teammate, Markel Mobley, won the 100 and 200.
The Ninety Six boys showed that when it comes to distance, they’re the team to beat.
Michael Rounds finished ahead of the pack in the 1,600 and 3,200, while also helping Ninety Six win the 4X800 relay.
Calhoun Fall’s Cherrelle Bridges wasn’t able to match her personal record (5-0) in the girls high jump, but her 4-10 was enough for a first-place finish.
With the amount of talent shown throughout the event, the Lakelands Invitational Cup Track and Field Meet was an overall success, according to Goode.
“It’s real good competition and I think it creates excitement with all the surrounding teams,” Goode said. “We had some disappointments on our side with some people who I don’t think were focused, and they didn’t perform at their best, but that’s what a competition is all about. It’s supposed to bring out the best in the competitors. We’re looking forward to this event in the coming years, and, hopefully, now that it’s started, it won’t stop.”

Obituaries

Pete Bouknight Sr.

SALUDA — Leon Francis “Pete” Bouknight Sr., 78, of 116 Lowery Branch Road, died Friday, March 30, 2007, at Providence Hospital.
Born in Saluda County, a son of the late Pinckney Schumpert and Lula Lott Bouknight, he was the husband of Annette Sample Bouknight. Mr. Bouknight served in the 122nd Engineer Battalion of the S.C. National Guard and retired from Park-Davis Co. in Greenwood. He was a member of Shiloh United Methodist Church and the John Griffith Sunday School Class.
Surviving is his wife, Annette Sample Bouknight; a son and daughter-in-law, Leon F. Bouknight Jr and Susan Bouknight of Columbia; a daughter, Debra Lou Perry of Williamston; three sisters, Ann Rauch of Saluda, Mary Skenes of Columbia and Betty Benson of Barnwell; three grandchildren, Jamie Bouknight, Joshua Bouknight and Jonathan Bouknight; three great-grandchildren.
A brother, Bill Bouknight, preceded Mr. Bouknight in death.
Funeral services will be 3 p.m. Monday, April 2, 2007, at Shiloh United Methodist Church with Rev. Lee Cothran, Rev. John Griffith and Rev. Dennis Campbell officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends from 6-8 p.m. Sunday evening at Ramey Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to Shiloh United Methodist Church, c/o Kent Rushton, 118 John Rushton Road, Saluda, S.C. 29138.

CORRECTION

Information in Saturday’s obituary of Albert Smith has been changed and corrected by the family.
The family will receive friends 2:30-3:30 this afternoon at First Baptist Church.

Opinion

‘Silent majority’ backlash over ‘radicalism’ likely

April 1, 2007

Protests are nothing new in the history of this country. They have been part of what we are since before we gained independence from Great Britain. The right to protest is guaranteed, of course, by the Constitution. Nevertheless, while we as individuals have a right to protest, others have the same right. They can protest our protests.
Today there are some who obviously are on the fringe. They advocate acts and things that are just as obviously outside of mainstream America. In fact, some are so outrageous and mean-spirited they say and do some things that are contrary to the majority of Americans.
These protesters are neither liberal nor conservative. They are radicals with an agenda that is patently anti-American and anti-freedom.

WHILE NO ONE DISPUTES their right to protest, all Americans can dispute their methods and their messages. South Carolinians recognize the breed. Their rhetoric is often so extreme it is inflammatory. It agitates emotions and stirs deep feelings of God, country and family.
Very often, it seems, these radicals get away with their hatred and harsh criticism of our way of life without anyone challenging them. Maybe it’s because the great majority of Americans view them as being so radical they don’t deserve a response. Whatever, the provocative and irresponsible rhetoric and loose use of the truth - the radicalism - eventually is likely to create a backlash ..... and be challenged and rejected by responsible Americans, liberal and conservative alike.

DOES ANYONE BELIEVE THAT most Americans actually condone the burning of images of American soldiers as some have recently done? Does anyone believe Americans condone protesters spitting on the American flag? Not likely.
Some protesters are legitimate. After all, Americans cherish their right to be heard ..... even if they have to be provoked at times.
You have to wonder, though, how long it will be or how much more trashing of America it will take for the American people to say enough is enough.
There’s no doubt there is indeed a “silent majority” that remains silent ..... until it gets its collective dander up. It has before, it will again. The people who are the heart and soul of this nation will put up with only so much.
Americans are like that. At some point they aren’t inclined to take it any more. When they react nobody will miss it. Their response is sure to be loud and clear.