On Tuesday, January 12 - just a few short days before he and his new bride, Sara, were scheduled to leave for their honeymoon, our friend Duke Gilman was involved in a head-on collision with a snow plow while steering his truck and trailer around a blind corner in the Montana hills.

The accident left him trapped in his truck, in an unfathomable amount of pain, with a major skull fracture and trauma to many parts of his body, including his hip, pelvis and knee. Emergency responders rushed him to a hospital in nearby Bozeman where they air-lifted him to a Billings ICU for emergency neurosurgical care.

Duke is a wonderful mountain of a man with a bright grin, a generous spirit, and a sparkling, salt-of-the-earth wit. He is a fourth-generation Montanan who grew up on the family ranch, raised to value and respect others, and to help whenever others were in need -- and did so countless times, as his long list of loyal and appreciative friends will attest. Many of us suspected he would be a bachelor for life, but just recently he met and married the love of his life, Sara, and the two of them embarked on a new and hopeful life together.

Duke's prognosis has improved, but he remains in the hospital and has a long battle before him, and mounting medical bills to boot.

Several of Duke's childhood friends from the Ruby Valley have established this fund to help offset his medical and recovery expenses. We all know that if the shoe were on the other foot, Duke would do whatever he could to help us. Please consider joining us in helping our beloved friend begin his difficult road to recovery.