I do not know who all got this email but pray guys pray....I am mad, sad and really peeved off as I write this God have his hand on you Peter my friend...

Friends,

Just a quick update on my dad.

For those of you that didn't know Pete and James Hicks Sr. were both struck by a drunk driver while walking across the street last evening to our home from the nearby 7-11. Pete was knocked into the center grass divider and suffered a broken pelvis, two broken vertebra's and broken ribs, which has resulted in a collapsed lung. He is currently in a drug induced coma to combat severe pain. He is set for surgery tomorrow morning to place Harris rods in his back and repair the broken rib.

James Hicks Sr, one of dad's friends for the last 25 years, died at the scene after begin drug more than 200 feet. Sheriff Deputies seem to think that James died on impact as the car struck them at better than 35 miles per hour, more than 10 miles per hour over the posted speed limit. Bystanders subdued the woman driver when she got out to see why her car was "acting funny", she had no idea that she had just hit two people and that one was lodged under her car. She was arrested and booked on felony vehicular manslaughter and felony vehicle mayheim. Other charges may be added as this is her third DUI arrest, she is a well known local drunk and drug abuser.

I don't have the passwords to many of his email accounts other than this one, so if you could please spread the word to any of his mutual friends you may know. Right now your prayers for the Hicks Family as well as our own are needed to get through this ordeal.

Sarah-Anne McKay-Ellis

Oh my God -- Hope Pete pulls thru OK :eek:

Condolences to the Hicks family - what a tragedy. :cry:

I hope they get a rope for that drunk driver. :mad:

I lost my brother this way.
The man who killed him had SEVEN prior DUI convictions and was driving a stolen truck.
lawyers made a deal for "vehicular man-slaughter" He got 7 years. Iowa state law.
He was in a booze induced black-out and has no idea of what he has done.
He is out of prison now and my brother is still lost to us.

I have shared this because I know the pain and outrage caused by such selfish and unthinking behavior.

Bless these men and their families. They will need all of the prayers that they can get.

Coach... If you are able, please pass along our messages okay?... nd

Sarah-Anne I'm so sorry to hear this. Be strong for your Dad and hang in there. He needs you and would tell you this very same thing if he could. Please be assured that his Hobby Talk friends are all pulling for him. My sincerest condolences to the Hicks Family for their loss as well.

Dave Martin

Both families are in our prayers. God bless.
--fordcowboy / Lendell

Hey , we'll keep them in our prayers here too. I hope that Drunk gets everything she deserves and more

So sorry to hear the terrible news Coach. It's so sad to hear about incedents like this, especially when they concern ones you know and love. My prayers be with you, your loved ones, and friends...RM

Coach,,
Got the email.. sent one back to Sarah.. hope she gets it..
Wish there was something we could do for this situation,, guess prayers are the best for now..
Chris..

May God give strength to the living , peace to the departed, and justice to the guilty. I do hope worldly justice makes the driver a pitiless, miserable example for her remaining time on earth.

Unfricken real!

I'm outraged and speechless! Thankfully Pete, as we know, is one tough sumgun.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<SHOCKED and confused. I can't believe it. So sorry for the Hicks Family, and for Pete. Ours prayers are with the familes.

Rich

My sympathies go out to the Hicks family. To coach and family, you all are in our prayers!! God bless you and yours and hope for a speedy recovery for Pete. Joe

....... Pete, you are one of the good guys man, Gods speed and I will pray for a quick recovery. My condolences to the Hicks family, I am so sorry for your loss.

Pete,

This just sucks that this happened. They should put stuff like this on TV instead of the Presidential Election so, people can see Real Life Lessons that may help Real People instead of B.S. . :drunk:DON'T DRINK & DRIVE EVER!!!!!!:drunk:

I am praying right now and will continue to pray for you Pete. God bless you and keep the faith. Loss of a good friend like this unexpectedly is tough let alone you getting torn up physically at the same time.

Bob

My sincerest sympathies to the Hicks family.

Sarah-Anne, your father is in our thoughts and prayers.

update from Sarah.
Dad is in the ICU at Community, after his surgery tomorrow and he is stable they will airlift him to the VA hospital in Stanford near Sacramento, probably sometime Tuesday evening. You can send whatever you want here to the house and I'll take it in to him, I don't really want my former step mother getting ahold of anything before he sees it. My fiance is Yoshi Nagura and he will be flying in on Saturday our time and will stay a week, I'm not sure but I may be taking AmTrack back and forth to Stanford during the week as necessary until he arrives and can drive me.

Dad is 6' 5" tall and about 330. James was 6' 2" and 300. How this woman could not feel the impact that pretty much demolished the front of her car is beyond me. The deputy said that the radiator was pushed back into the fan, and this wasn't a new car. When you think of 35 miles per hour you think how slow that really is in the scheme of things, until you match a 3500 lb car against human flesh. My ex-husband is dad's personal attorney, I'm sure that when he's finished with her she won't ever own a thing again. She did have car insurance, surprisingly.

My prayrs go out to Pete and his and the Hicks family.

I got the e-mail late last night. Reading it was a surreal experience, to say the least.

My heart goes out to both families. Pete get well soon. You're going to be missed in your absense.

Pete,
Prayers for a full & quick recovery!!! Condolences to the Hicks Family.

Dominick

I had to re read this about 10 times before I could actually comprehend it.

I am at a loss for words.Pete is a guy that is constantly coming up with ways to do things for people,ways to maybe put a smile on a kids face or get them involved in something.And he is passionate about it as well.

This is all just so wrong on so many levels.

Pete,you will be in my thoughts.

Any of you guys that are in contact with the family,by all means please keep us up dated on our friend Pete.

Mike

. . . I am at a loss for words.Pete is a guy that is constantly coming up with ways to do things for people,ways to maybe put a smile on a kids face or get them involved in something.And he is passionate about it as well.

This is all just so wrong on so many levels. . . .

Mike

My thoughts exactly.

My thoughts exactly.

ditto... we're praying for them over here too!

Still prayin Pete. Still can't believe it.

Tragic news is never good news.:cry:
The families are in our thoughts and prayers here.

Drinking and driving is never a good combination:mad:
I hate it when they think they can take other peoples lives in their hands when drunk.
They should throw away the key on them.

Very sad to read such terrible news. It is infuriating that there are such jerks in the world but sadly these things happen too often. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families. Dave.

My prayers go out to you and your family.

Pete McKay
555 South Argyle #219
Fresno, CA 93727

thats Petes home adress if ya want to send cards his Ex can't filter out. Sarah will bring them too him at the Hospital.. have not heard how it went yet today but will post as soon as I do ...

Dave

Oh man.. i am trying to catch up on this hobbytalk.. i am just shocked and saddened by this news!! get well soon and will pray for you guys!! oh man.. i am having hard time believing it.. why it must happened to good people!?

Wes

This is a tragedy on so many levels. My thoughts and heartfelt concern go out to everyone who will forever be affected by the senseless and selfish act of someone unwilling and unable to control their personal demons and addictions. Sincere condolences to the Hicks family for their tragic and senseless loss.

Pete, you are such an inspiration to all of us. We are all pulling for you and for a full recovery. There are many more races to be run, so stay strong, fight the good fight and rest assured that there will be better days ahead and the darkness will pass even if it can never be forgotten.

OMG! I have been out on vacation for the last week and just getting back to find out my friend and one of the most big-hearted guys I know had this happen to him. My heart just sank as I read this! And James Hicks Sr. - oh man, that guy was Pete's "push" to get the promotional racing that he was doing for the kids going. Thins were just starting up again and seemed to be going good. I just cannot believe this happened to them - this is horrible news and not what they deserve at all!

My prayers are with the Hicks family - that they find peace and comfort during this time and that the grace and mercy of God flood their homes and lives. May God's peace and comfort give them what they need most right now.

Pete, my friend, I just pray that you not give up on your will to live and pull through this time in your life. I pray that your heart not be full of contempt, anger or revenge and that you focus first and foremost on your recovery and coming out of this time physically strong and as healthy as you can be. I also pray for the peace and comfort over you during this time - that James, though not here physically, continues to live in and through you with the hope and knowledge that maybe one day you will see him again. May you find the comfort you need in knowing that the One who has always loved you is shedding His love abroad for this time and will be the One that carries you through it. In Jesus name, amen.

I may send him a card too, but I'm just trying to get myself together now.....they did not deserve this and it is weighing really heavy on my heart. :(

PD2

OK, this is the latest as it is 30 minutes past visiting hours and I just got home. It took me a while to get the information today because the ASL translator for the hospital was off early today because of the holiday.

Dad is not being transferred to Stanford, his Hemothorax was resolved with a 6mm chest tube and really a minimal loss of about 400 cc's of blood. That's about a pint. He is on a ventilator to help him breath only because the diaphragm was damaged when the lung collapsed. The doctors also decided against placing rods in his lower back until the contusion to the spinal cord resolves so they can judge any impact on the cord during the surgery. They want to be able to tell they're not affecting any feelings to his legs. They did attach an external fixture from Iliac crest to iliac crest across the front of his pelvis to hold the 4 fractures in place. They also repaired a torn glute muscle. He is still in a drug induced unconsciousness but is no longer in a life threatening state.

I don't have passwords to the places dad haunts other than the Ruger 10-22 forum and the local Masons Lodge. There are sixteen of you on this mailing list, if any of you need to be removed then by all means let me know and I'll take you off immediately. I'm not going to discuss legal actions to be taken or considered, my focus is on getting my dad awake and into recovery. Also, I would greatly appreciate any of you on this mailing NOT sharing this information with my former step mother, she has no rights in my fathers treatments, my sister and I will handle it as legal next-of-kin. Information exchange is best left out of the public eye if possible.

I'll have more information on Wednesday, I have to return to school tomorrow, unfortunately I cannot take time off because of BEST testing and getting my teaching certification. I will report what I can, when I can.

Sarah

DAMN. I hope evrything turns out ok. Sounds like its going to be a long road to recovery.

Thanks for the update Coach. I appreciate you keeping us in the loop on what is going on. Pete definitely has some time before he is fully healed - good to know he is out of a life threatening state now too. Sounds like the doctors are taking things slowly and not just throwing him into unecessary surgery after surgery. Slow progress is still progress.

Thanks again Coach!
PD2

Oh my god, I just noticed this thread and was really shocked!!!

Although I don´t know any of the guys in person, I really appreciate Pete´s postings here - he´s one of the real good guys who not only share their great knowledge but who really care for their fellow men!

My thoughts and prayers are with Pete and his family and of course with the Hicks family as well!

I wish Pete a speedy and full recovery!!!!

Sad greetings from Germany

Claus

You and your family are in thoughts. I hope they hang the drunk.

As a Christian I'll pray for all that was involved. May God bless each and everyone. Raunchy

Information exchange is best left out of the public eye if possible.


Perhaps it would be best if this string was deleted or moved to a less visible area.

Sorry to hear this about Pete and James.
Get well soon Pete, we miss you already. And the Keck family sends out it's condolences to the Hicks family.
Scott

Perhaps it would be best if this string was deleted or moved to a less visible area.

Hey Yoshi,

I hope you did not have to find out about all of this via the forums. I know this must be hard for you being in Japan and hearing about what is going on with your friend.

As for this being less visible....if its to keep the former step mother out of the loop, then I'd agree. But I, for one, definitely would like to know what is going on with Pete.

Hope all is going well with your training in Japan!
PD2:thumbsup:

PD, no, I spoke with Sarah just hours after it happened, worldwide texting is indeed a wonderful thing. I'm stateside at the moment, I've been given a 3 week leave to help handle this since I'm engaged to his daughter. Needless to say I haven't gotten much sleep between jet lag and hospital visits.

The ex is out of the loop at least for the moment. She is aware of the incident but a prevailing restraining order prevents her from involving herself. My concern is that any information from any source needs to be monitored. I can appreciate everyones concern, my personal concern is that it not get to those whom should not be concerned. This place is one big family, worldwide, but there are locals that need to know less of what is going on.

Pete's lodge collected $5500 Wednesday night to help pay for James' funeral expenses, even though he was not a member James did do all of the a/c ductwork last year for materials costs only. That's the kind of guy HE was. Air Fresno, a company that both James and Pete (and myself for that matter) are investors also wrote a $1000 check for James' family. Insurance covered the rest, James is taken care of and will be laid to rest Saturday in a very private ceremony.

But let's let reflecting take the lead, concentrate less on what has happened and more on what needs to be done, such as recovery.

Well Said Yoshi, Tell Peete we are all thinking of him and miss him and to get better real fast... Prayers for you and Sarah also to help you keep your strength up while you help Pete get back up and running..I hope to get some time to reflect and pray for the Hicks Family on Saturday as he sounds like someone I am sorry I never got to meet....


Dave

This is truely sad and senseless. Our hearts go out to the family. I hope that justice will at least prevent this woman from harming anyone else.

OK, here is the latest and last update that will be published. If you want on the email list contact Sarah at airfresno@gmail.com. She or I will be updating things weekly after today via email only. We ask nothing further update wise be published publicly.

Peter is awake and responsive but still on a ventilator that will probably be removed by this writing. He has a total of 13 fractures including his pelvis, Lumbar #5, Lumbar #4, Lumbar #2, right femur, right knee cap, right big toe, right humerus, right ribs #3, #4. He has a punctured lung, a contused spinal column and several bruised internal organs. He also has a 14" horizontal laceration to his right gluteus muscle that was severed almost to the pelvis. He lost about a quart and a half of blood and is still bleeding some internally, but that is slowing and should resolve by the weekend. He also has a concussion but no real head injuries other than some road rash to the right side of his face.

The car that hit him was a 1969 Ford Galaxie, and he has the permanent imprints of the letters X, I, E on his butt as a laceration. Unfortunately it's reversed so it looks like some college hazing ritual that went bad. To my knowledge the woman driver has been released on bail but has a hearing scheduled for early next week that we will be attending, demand she be held without bail. Sarah's ex-husband is a well known local lawyer and family friend that will be handling the legal end pro bono.

The last thing I have to say is that this was a hard hit for this family. Peter has been suffering a myriad of medical problems since his car accident a year and a half ago. He has mild Parkinson's, which as he describes as a much easier way to shake paint cans "among other things". He is still suffering from the effects of his stroke after his ankle surgery in February, and he is depressed since his divorce. He has been only able to work part time and consequently with his divorce had much of his finances frozen. Even with getting his bank accounts back it's been a tough go, but with Sarah and his other daughter Maya helping they've managed to work it all out.

Most of you know Pete is a likeable guy, those of us in his family know he is an irreplaceable treasure. If you have ever seen the movie The Big Lebowski, Walter's character is Peter. Language, mannerisms, even the vague references to Shabba, even calling me Dude sometimes. He looks like John Goodman, even his voice has that big sound to it. He once yelled "MARK IT ZERO" at me, pointing his finger like a gun, when I failed to complete a single lap of qualifying, I had no idea where all that came from until months later when I saw the movie, then I was rolling. If there is a Just God, be He Hebrew, Christian or Taoist, He will watch over this family. My family.

Don't be afriad to ask for donations if needed.

We ask nothing further update wise be published publicly.



Good lord,was Pete married to Satan or something????One of the strangest requests I have ever seen after a tragedy of this magnitude.

I only know Pete by way of this board and some back and forth discussions that he and I have had in various threads.My life sucks pretty bad,but Pete definetly has me beat.

That being said,for a guy I have never had the pleasure of meeting,I certainly find myself thinking about him more then a few times during the day.Being a musician/artist I suppose I sometimes view the world differently then others,trying to find meaning in things that cross my path or pop in my life.

I guess all I can really kind of come up with out if this is that life is not like the movies,where the good guys always win at the end of the last reel.The great myth of all man kind that in the end good triumphs over evil.

The universe is hostile,it goes about its business without a care as to what is good or what is bad.
Treasure every day that you wake up and can lift yourself out of your own bed.Life is a gift and should be treated as such.

Best wishes to Pete and his family.Somebody get him a laptop so maybe he can communicate with us when he is up to it.

Ok.Sorry to get all corny on you guys.

Mike

Mike, she wasn't, her attorney was. In the end she didn't get even close to what they were wanting but in the process they nearly drove him into bankruptcy.

Also I was corrected by Pete, it was a '67 not a '69 Galaxie. Leave it to a Ford guy to know. I got some explanation about how there was a trim badge that was optional on some certain model. His head is just fine.

We had a good evening, we were allowed a few more family members. We were joined by James' 16 year old daughter Christa, who Pete is godfather of. We also had Pete's younger daughter Maya who is on leave from the Marines. I felt a bit awkward when Sarah's ex "the lawyer" arrived, it was the first time we've met. I was a bit more relieved when I was told that he was now gay. The joke is Sarah ruined him for other women. There's a bit more to it than that but I'm afraid Hank would probably ban me if it got out.

Donations aren't necessary, we're all good. It's weird how from all this everything just fell into place. All the needs were met without the usual teeth gnashing and drama. So many people took care of the necessary arrangements and allowed James' daughter and two sons to deal with their feelings. Even James' brother David was able to close the business for a bit to take care of things there.

But it's time to get some sleep, tomorrow is another day and we're going to try and spend time over at James', helping that family with what they need to prepare for the services on Saturday. Everyone have a good evening.

Yoshi, thank you very much for the update. I appreciate it and will be e-mailing Sarah to be kept in the loop on the developments. I've never met Pete in person but have seen pics and have talked about his life and time while he lived here in Texas. I'd have to agree with your description of him as that is exactly how I pictured him! As for James and the Hick's family, I only knew of what Pete told us and from what he was saying regarding James Sr. and Jr. stepping in to back him and help him with the racing series for the kids and what they put into it, I could definitely see how the three of them become such great, close, family and friends.

I'm glad you are back stateside and able to help Sarah and the family out - that probably means a ton to Pete personally. You are a good man Yoshi. Let us know if there is anything we can do during this time - Pete's extended family here at HT are available.

PD2

Still praying here...Pete we all love yah man...get better soon!

Hows Pete?

Rich

I am blown away to just now be reading this. I read through this page by page and prayed there wouldn't be a bad ending at page 4. My God, I can't believe what I just read. I only frequent this board once in a while but have grown to enjoy Pete's postings and peeks into his private life from time-to-time.

So this was his father that was also hit and has passed away? OMG. My heartfelt sorrow goes out to Pete and his family and I wish him the best in his recovery. Keep us posted and if he needs anything let us know- I'd like to contribute something- anything to make his recovery less painful. :cry:

Scott Vargo