Former Sault resident severely injured in ATV race

A former Sault Ste. Marie resident is in a West Virginia hospital after he was severely injured during an ATV race there over the weekend. 

Nathan Reid, 26, of Sudbury, Ont. was airlifted to hospital after he crashed his ATV while racing in the Grand National Cross-Country Series at Snowshoe Mountain resort June 25th. 

Sibling Alex Reid says his brother broke his femur in three places, his pelvis in three places and sustained a fracture along his back as a result of the crash. 

“They had done surgery for his femur and put in a few rods — but the pelvis and back, they have to heal naturally. He’s doing well so far,” said Alex. “They’re just waiting to do another X-ray for his pelvis because it may have shifted over the past few days.” 

Nathan’s parents, Scott and Roxanne Reid of Sault Ste. Marie, have been with their son at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va. since he was transported to hospital.  

Alex says that his brother can “take a few steps here and there, and is trying to do physiotherapy as best he can.”  

“There’s no definite time period for recovery, or even when he can be released from hospital in West Virginia and come back home to Canada,” he said. 

Alex recently launched a GoFundMe page in order to help cover some of his brother’s growing medical costs, which he fears could potentially be astronomical.  

“Their healthcare system isn’t as kind as ours is,” he said. 

He usually won’t answer his phone while at work, Alex says, but when it kept ringing repeatedly he knew something was up. 

“He’s been racing 10-plus years, so anytime he goes away for races like this you kind of prepare for the eventuality that this might happen, but you don’t want it to happen,” said Alex. “But my first thought was, get in contact with my parents. They didn’t know where they had taken him at first, they just told them that he had been airlifted off the track from the accident.”

The GoFundMe page has so far brought in more than $11,000 as of Wednesday morning. 

“I’ve honestly been blown away by it,” Alex said.