A father's pain

Maine man tries to come to grips with death of son in bicycle accident on Cathedral Ledge Road

Two weeks after his 10-year-old son died in a bicycle accident on Cathedral Ledge Road, Richard McDermott, of Westbrook, Maine, took a bicycle ride down the same road at about the same time of day, late afternoon. He wanted to "experience" what his son, Luke McDermott, saw and experienced in his final moments. He also wanted to try to figure out what happened to cause his son to slam on his bicycle brakes and fly over the handle bars and into a tree on June 4."This was just such a freaky thing," McDermott says. "I wish there was a better word for it. It was so shocking and unusual. It just isn't something that happens."He thinks he found some answers. But he didn't find relief from the pain, or escape from the tears. McDermott, who is divorced, and his son spent many weekends and vacations together, doing "a lot of outdoor things." They had been to North Conway in April and had hiked to Diana's Bath."That was one of the most beautiful days we ever shared together," McDermott says. "That's such a lovely trail."On the first weekend in June, McDermott and his son returned to North Conway. They hauled their bicycles on the back of the car."He really wanted to bring our bikes with us that Saturday morning," McDermott says. "But originally the destination was going to be Diana's Bath and riding that trail."McDermott and his son took a ride on Conway Scenic Railroad in the afternoon. Cathedral Ledge was pointed out to the passengers, and it was mentioned that there was a road to the top. The two decided to check it out.Driving up Cathedral Ledge Road, they saw two teenage girls coming down the road on bicycles. At the top, they admired the views of the valley and took some photos. Luke seemed to have his mind set on riding his bicycle back down the hill."He mentioned to me three times that he wanted to do it," McDermott says.What he didn't want to do, however, was walk back up the road to get the car, and McDermott didn't want to leave his son at the bottom while he walked back up alone. So they decided that McDermott would follow in the car while his son rode his bicycle down the road."Together, for years, we had ridden roads like this before in Maine," McDermott says in an e-mail to The Conway Daily Sun. "When I followed him on June 4, with my car lights on, I stayed a safe distance back, but I did observe he was controlling his speed by feathering his brakes. He was staying to the right side of the road, and absolutely in control."McDermott did not see the accident. A bend in the road caused a momentary visual separation. When McDermott rounded the bend, he saw his son lying in front of a tree on the other side of the road. Being just about 75 yards from the entrance gate to the road, McDermott assumed his son had simply finished his ride and was lying down, feigning exhaustion as he sometimes did.But he didn't get up. McDermott got out of his car and walked over to his son."At first I only saw the left side of his face, and there was no blood," he says. "All the blood was on the right side of his face."Time and space suddenly got very distorted for the panicked father. People stopped to help. One received instruction over the phone on giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the boy and trying to get the heart started while emergency personnel raced to the scene. It seemed like 20 minutes, McDermott says, but he was told later that it took only seven minutes for the ambulance to arrive.Luke McDermott was pronounced dead at The Memorial Hospital, but his father says the word from the medical examiner was that he died instantly."My 10-year-old son went straight to heaven, brimming with happiness, and without any pain, far too young," McDermott says in his e-mail.Recalling the decision to let his son ride down the road on the bicycle, McDermott says in a phone interview, "He really, really wanted to do it. He was very excited about it. He's not a risk-taker, and, knowing that, I didn't feel the need to stop him or refuse him."Two weeks later, on June 22, McDermott made the ride himself. He describes the ride as "fun and exhilarating," and says he did not find it to be "any more of a challenge than other roads we had ridden together in the past."So what happened?McDermott believes there's only one explanation. He believes his son was braking to avoid a chipmunk or other animal that was scampering across the road. McDermott himself saw several chipmunks on the road on his ride down, as well as a deer in the woods near the road."I have a strong sense, based on what I observed during my own ride, under the same sunny weather conditions on June 22, along with a very strong spiritual bond with my son, that he was trying to avoid hitting an animal," McDermott says. "He never wanted to harm another living creature, and an animal had probably appeared in front of him all of a sudden."McDermott still hasn't had his son's bicycle returned by Bartlett Police Department, and he doesn't know if there is further investigation being done into the accident. Bartlett Police Chief Tim Connifey had indicated to McDermott that he wanted to have the bicycle checked to see if there had been any mechanical failure.Connifey is on vacation this week and could not be reached.McDermott says some people have suggested that fewer trees and more caution signs would make the road safer. But he doesn't see the need for those sort of measures."I think the more natural it is, the better," he says. "I don't think it's a bad road at all."McDermott says he will continue to visit the North Conway area when he can. "There's so much serenity there," he says.And his son will never be far from his thoughts."He was so intelligent," McDermott says. "He always knew his limits. He had an innate wisdom, and he always smiled. I'm not going to say he was perfect, but he was going to grow up to be an exceptional human being, and he meant more to me than anything in my life."