Family of J1 student hit by van calls for new investigation

The parents of an Irish student who was seriously injured after he was hit by a van while cycling on a J1 visa in the US have called on the governor and attorney general of Massachusetts to launch an independent investigation into the incident.

Pádraig Schaler (25) was hit by a van while cycling to work on June 27th, 2013 in the small town of Brewster in Cape Cod in the US. He was thrown off his bike and hit his head off the pavement suffering a severe brain injury.

Mr Schaler had just completed his undergraduate studies at Trinity College Dublin and was spending a summer in the United States on a J1 visa. He was treated in intensive care at Cape Cod hospital and later transferred back to Ireland where he spent three and a half months in a high dependency ward in Beaumont Hospital.

Mr Schaler's parents decided to transfer their son to a specialised neuro-rehab facility in Hamburg, Germany where, as a German citizen through his father, he could avail of healthcare.

The road incident had left Mr Schaler in a coma, but in recent months he has begun to gain consciousness. He is now in a minimally conscious state which means he can understand when people talk to him, squeeze his hand and move his tongue.

However, as his father Reinhard Schaler said he still cannot move. “He has no control over his body and cannot talk. He needs 24 hour care and gets most of his food straight into his stomach.”

According to the Brewster Police Department report, Pádraig “darted out in front of the vehicle” which knocked him off his bike. Reinhard Schaler says the evidence he has read indicates the driver of the van clipped his son’s bicycle while trying to overtake him, knocking him onto the pavement.

Fair and balanced investigation

Two years on, Reinhard Schaler and his wife, Patricia O’Byrne, are calling for a “fair and balanced investigation” into the road incident and the decision by the chief of the Brewster Police Department not to cite the driver.

In an open letter to the governor and attorney general, Reinhard Schaler wrote that the investigation into his son’s injury, which he says was “one-sided, biased, and unprofessional”, contradicted assurances made by the police chief that external investigators would be called in.

Reinhard Schaler argues that his son’s case was disregarded because he was cycling without a helmet, adding that the incident occurred at a well-known black spot.

“Pádraig wasn’t just blamed for the accident, he was also blamed for his injuries because he didn’t wear a helmet. Helmets are designed to protect your head if you fall off a bike but not if you’re hit by a truck.”

An article in the Cape Cod Times published last August said the state department of transportation was planning to widen and repair the eight-mile stretch of Route 6A through Brewster which it said had “long been dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians”.

Reinhard Schaler says life has been “horrific” since his son’s accident.

“Everything you have planned, everything you thought you were going to do, all of that has gone. His sisters have not just lost their brother, they also have to deal with their parents not being there for them.

“We now know what to expect in the future and must adjust to a whole new different life and try to make the best of it.”

When contacted, the Brewster Police Department said officers who are “trained in accident reconstruction did a thorough and objective job in this instance”.

The department said it will co-operate with any inquiries by the State’s Attorney General.