After life-altering motorcycle accident, couple faces future with courage and humor, and a lot of support from friends and family
The story of how Tyler Stone and Jessica Abbott met is the stuff of a sweet romance movie.
Abbott had accompanied her uncle, Tim Quigley, and his son, Derek, to a motorcycle ride hosted by the Roscoe American Legion Post 801.
“She was riding on the back of her cousin’s bike, and at one of the stops, she cracked a funny joke at me. At the next stop, I asked her if she’d help me with the 50/50 and we started talking,” recalled Stone. “Later, I asked her cousin if he’d be OK with me asking her to ride back with me, and she did and we’ve been together since then.”
Their love story started on the back of the Harley-Davidson and it grew, with regular motorcycle rides with American Legion Post 801, where both are members, and frequent outings “on every nice day we could get.”
On a warm, sunny day in September 2023, the couple rode to the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia, where Stone surprised Abbott by kneeling on one knee and proposing on the observation deck, with the magnificent Seneca Rocks towering in the background.
Two days before Christmas, Stone and Abbott purchased a house in Monongahela, and celebrated the holiday there amid packed boxes.
But on April 15, while returning home from lunch at a Connellsville restaurant, the couple were involved in an accident that would alter their lives.
They were riding northbound on state Route 201 in Rostraver Township when a southbound driver crossed the yellow line, bounced off a guard rail and side-swiped Stone’s motorcycle.
“As soon as my fiance saw him coming, he swerved, so the driver side-swiped us instead of hitting us head-on, which we probably wouldn’t have survived. He hit us from the right side. I believe the motorcycle was connected to the car until it came to a stop, so we were dragged along on the bike until then, and then it tipped over,” said Abbott.
When emergency responders arrived, they found the couple in bad shape, with life-threatening injuries.
Abbott suffered a gruesome compound fracture to her right leg, and she lost nearly half the blood in her body. Before paramedics arrived, a stranger who happened upon the scene stopped to help. He applied a tourniquet to her leg, which likely saved her life.
Meanwhile, Stone suffered two skull fractures and a brain bleed, a broken right right femur, a shin injury, and had three toes nearly ripped off.
Paramedics amputated Abbott’s badly damaged leg below the knee at the crash scene.
Stone and Abbott were rushed to the emergency department of UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh, where doctors grimly assessed their injuries.
There was so much muscle and tissue damage to Abbott’s remaining leg that doctors ended up amputating it above the knee.
Three of Stone’s toes on his right foot were amputated and a rod was inserted in his leg.
After lengthy hospital stays, Stone and Abbott, both requiring wheelchairs to ambulate, are recuperating at the home of Abbott’s father and stepmother while their house is being renovated to accommodate their needs.
Abbott is a veterinarian assistant and Stone is a heavy equipment operator, and they will be unable to return to work anytime soon.
Despite the couple’s long recovery and uncertain future ahead, their optimism is remarkable, said Abbott’s uncle.
“I’m very proud of both of them for how they’ve handled what they’re going through. They’re totally amazing, and they’re well-loved around here.”
“I believe a positive mindset is important. I believe in mind over matter, and a positive attitude will give you a positive outcome. I have sad days, but never negative ones,” she said.
Stone said he marvels at Abbott’s optimism.
“She has such a great attitude, it’s fantastic. It’s fascinating to me to see how high-spirited and fun you can be in such a bad situation,” he said.
For Abbott’s part, she admits the couple has good days and bad days, “but the good days far outweigh the bad.”
Also helping through the ups and downs of their recovery are the family members, friends and strangers who have provided constant help and support – making meals, helping them get to doctor appointments, and constantly checking in for updates.
The Roscoe American Legion Post 801 has hosted two fundraisers, Jessica and Tyler’s ’80s vs. ’90s Throwback Night and a spaghetti dinner, to help offset medical costs.
“The outpouring of love from family and friends has meant a lot to us. The American Legion has pulled together so much for us, and people are helping us so much so that we can focus on getting better,” said Abbott.
“The weekend before the spaghetti dinner was the ’80s vs. ’90s night, and it was so much fun. We were sweating to the ’80s, people were wearing tutus and spandex outfits with (slouch) socks, little girls were dressed up so cute. There has been a lot of love all the way around, a lot of love. The other day, people were taking ramps to our house so we can get back in it. People I went to high school with are helping, and I’m getting cards and letters from people I’ve never met.”
Seven-year-old Seraphina Andrews of Vestaburg is hosting a lemonade stand fundraiser on June 29 at Hoods Up Quick Lube in Monongahela because she “wanted them to have money so that the doctors can make them better.”
Together, the couple is preparing for a life much different from the one they had planned.
Abbott will soon be fitted for a prosthetic leg, and Stone is scheduled to have a fourth toe amputated and continues to recover from his leg injury.
“Workwise, I was a vet assistant, and I’ve never seen a vet assistant with a prosthetic leg, so that has changed a lot for me what my life is going to be like now. I just want to get on the road of getting my prosthetic and learn to drive again, how to get up and down the stairs. I don’t know what my future holds, but I know it will be something great,” said Abbott. “I’ve had dreams that I’ve always wanted to do, like own a sandwich shop and other things. I have a new outlook on life. I have learned through this to do what you’re passionate about, do what you want because you don’t know what’s going to happen. You don’t know when, in an instant, you might not be here.”
Both have started physical and occupational therapy, and Stone, who has started to use a walker, is hoping to start bearing weight on his leg soon.
“I thought I was making good progress until I found out I have to have the other toe amputated, so that kinda was rough, but hopefully the rest is healing and I will be walking in the next couple of weeks,” he said. “It’s been rough and life-changing, but I’m hoping we can get back to some normalcy sooner rather than later.”
Abbott is finding silver linings following the accident. She has struck up a friendship with the man who helped her at the accident scene, and has celebrated the recent birth of his and his girlfriend’s baby. The couple are working on renovating their house, installing a large bathroom and bedroom downstairs “so we can be independent and on our own and turn the house into what we want it to be.”
Stone is scheduled to be installed as the Legion’s ride director.
The couple has not set a wedding date.
“That’s something to look forward to down the road. We’re busy focusing on recovery,” said Abbott. “It’s scary to a point, but I’m glad I’ve gone through this with someone I love. We can heal together.”
Stone agrees.
“I couldn’t see myself doing this with anybody else,” he said. “It doesn’t matter to me when we get married, as long as I get to spend the rest of my life with her.”