Greg Lehr addressing OTA students yesterday at the Biking for Brains Rally.
OTA students will rally on the field Thur, April 12 at 10:30 to help kick off Greg Lehr’s 2904 mile ride across America to raise money for Traumatic Brain Injury research and the Wounded Warrior Project. Greg is already a generous donor to Wounded Warrior Project and OTA students will be working to support his latest fundraiser by matching his miles with their own runs and bike rides– all to raise awareness and resources for these two great causes. Greg’s story is below. Please come out to show your support for Greg and his sponsors.
Support Greg Lehr’s “Biking for Brains” Ride and The Wounded Warrior Project
Mr. Greg Lehr, husband to OTA’s fabulous fifth grade teacher, Jill, would like to invite OTA students and families to join other supporters of his Biking for Brains projects by logging biking and running miles to match his ride across the USA. OTA teacher Mr. Zach Jones will be speaking to OTA students next week about how they can participate. See more details below.
Press Release. Carlsbad, Calif. –March 19, 2012– Oceanside Glasstile and Old Town Academy are pairing up to support one man’s vision to bike across the United States. Greg Lehr, Chief Operations Officer at Oceanside Glasstile, has a strong passion for fitness as well as a strong passion to spread the word about Traumatic Brain Injury. It is because of these two passions that he has created the biggest challenge of his lifetime, to bike 2,904 miles across the United States and raise $30,000 towards the awareness of Traumatic Brain Injury through the Wounded Warrior Project.
Here’s Greg’s story:
On Saturday, July 27th of 2009, I had a fall while wake boarding. The fall was no big deal; in fact, I continued to wakeboard and compete in the Solana Beach Sprint triathlon on Sunday.
Monday was normal until 5:35 PM. My wife asked me a question and when I responded, my speech was slurred. My head immediately started to pound and when I checked my pulse, it was irregular and less than half my normal resting heart rate. I lay down on the kitchen floor and began to sweat profusely. Rapidly, my communication reduced to just hand signals. My wife called 911 and within 3 minutes the Coronado Fire Department paramedics arrived. The paramedics resuscitated me twice while in transit to the UCSD trauma unit. I was taken in for surgery to treat an acute subdural hematoma. Acute subdural hematomas are a specific type of TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) and are the most lethal of all head injuries. With the excellent care by the Coronado Fire Dept., UCSD and support from my family and Oceanside Glasstile, I have returned to excellent health. I continue to have dozens of minor seizures each day, but with medication, I like a relatively normal life.Unfortunately, many of our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are not so fortunate. TBI’s are the signature injury for our soldiers in these wars. The injuries are caused by the pressure wave of blasts from insurgents’ homemade bombs, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and from flying debris or shrapnel. Traumatic brain injuries are complex and have a broad spectrum of symptoms and disabilities. The impact on our soldiers and their families can be devastating.
In an effort to support Greg Lehr, both Oceanside Glasstile and Old Town Academy in Coronado are pledging to match his mileage to help spread the word here in our own back yard. Both groups will be logging on to Greg’s website (www.bikingforbrains.com) daily to record their mileage whether it be running, biking, even paddle boarding. Greg has challenged both groups to tally up 2,904 miles during his 28-day bike ride. On (date), Old Town Academy will be having a “Run for our Soldiers” kick off Assembly to get the kids ready to start their running contributions, and to get them ready to spread the word about TBI and the Wounded Warriors Project.
Greg’s departure date is Sunday April 22nd, and he will be starting his journey at 8 am out of Costa Mesa, Ca. Oceanside Glasstile will be there to see him off, perhaps even start the ride with him for a small leg of the journey. We invite all walks of life to join in either of these incredible events, as we work to support one man’s vision of health and longevity for all of mankind.
Media Contact
Stephanie Duerden
760.603.3955
Sduerden@glasstile.com