Tyler was in a dirt bike accident Saturday morning, July 4th. His cousin races motor cross and has a track on their property. Tyler is normally very cautious, but decided to take a jump with a little more speed than he usually would. The track was rough as it had been raining quite a bit. He landed a bit further on the first jump (it's a double) and hit a rut and lost control a bit. In the process he grabbed the throttle instead of the brake. This sent him over the second jump with too much speed and flipped three times down the jump with the bike. He didn't move after he hit the ground and felt a tremendous pain in his back. He suffered an incomplete spinal cord injury with several dislocated/fractured vertebrae along with torn tendons and muscles. After a five and half hour surgery the doctors were able to straighten his spinal column and put the spinal cord back into its normal postiton. They placed 2 rods and 10 screws in his back. He is still in pain, but seems to be getting better. He doesn't have much movement in his legs or feet and so he will need to continue to work at regaining his motor functions and improving his strength.