‘He’s lucky to be alive;’ Mother of motorcyclist injured in crash says helmet saved his life

KETTERING — A man is in intensive care after crashing his motorcycle on Interstate 75 in West Carrollton the day after he bought it.

The first time Shane Orrender’s mom saw him after he brought his motorcycle was at Kettering Medical Center.

“The doctor told me, ‘God was with him. He’s lucky to be alive. The helmet saved his life,’” Jenny Orrender said.

Jenny wanted to tell News Center 7 about her 23-year-old son’s experience.

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Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers told us Wednesday that Shane ran into the back of a Chevrolet Silverado.

Jenny said her son has multiple bone fractures that will require multiple surgeries. He’ll also need skin grafts.

Shane’s phone notified his mother and sent her to the hospital waiting room where she heard nothing other than he was alive.

“It was the longest two hours of my life,” Jenny said.

Doctors told her Shane will need months of recovery.

Shane hadn’t had time to go to a training class in preparation for testing to receive his Ohio motorcycle endorsement, but he did make the decision that Jenny says saved his life. He decided to borrow a helmet.

“It was cracked, it was damaged. It was not usable. It saved his life, so I don’t care what the law says, it saved his life,” Jenny said.

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Ohio law does not require motorcyclists to wear helmets, but Jenny is grateful that her son did. She knows when the weather warms up and summer is on the way, more and more drivers will hit the streets on motorcycles. She wants them all to wear helmets or she fears they’ll hear what her son told her in the hospital.

“He said, ‘I want you to know, there were strangers coming over to pray for me.’ Jenny recounted, ‘There was a nice lady came over and prayed for me while I laid in the road.’”

It’s likely Shane will spend a lot of time at the hospital before all of his injuries are properly dealt with.

The crash remains under investigation, but troopers said they believed speed was a factor.

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