Doc Remains in Coma after Dinghy Accident

Posted By: Todd Johnson
Date: 7/16/00 12:35p.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

Doc Remains in Coma after Dinghy Accident Tragedy is usually something far away, that happens to strangers whom we know only from headlines. On Monday, July 10 tragedy struck in a very personal way. At 11:40pm, Trailer Sailor editor Gary "Doc" Hansen was found floating, face down in Avalon Harbor, Catalina Island, CA. His dinghy was found drifting some distance away. He was not breathing, and had no pulse when he was pulled from the water, but was resuscitated at the scene and air-evac'ed to Torrence Memorial Medical Center, where he remains in a coma. There were no witnesses, and no one knows for sure exactly what happened, except Doc himself. We do not know how long Doc was in the water, so we do not know how long his brain was deprived of oxygen. He is on a respirator (on Saturday, July 15th he was taken breafly off the respirator, but is now back on it), however, his vitals are stable. Physically he is doing amazingly well, all things considered. Now we can only wait and hope that he regains consciousness. Since news of the accident reached the Trailer Sailor BBS, the outpouring of support for Doc has been overwhelming. The amount of email that was sent to Torrence Memorial for him set a record at the hospital. The heartfelt sentiments, wishes, hopes and prayers contained in those messages brought tears to the eyes of all who read them, myself included. If you wish to send email to doc, you can do so through Torrence Memorial's website at: http://www.torrancememorial.org/tmmcreg.htm. Gary's family has asked that no flowers or gifts be sent, as he is in the ICU and there is simply no room to put them all. I have the privilege of calling Gary one of my closest friends. Doc was one of the major contributors to the Trailer Sailor BBS long before I was even a participant. Doc's unique style and humor, combined with his seemingly infinite knowledge of sailing had already made him an icon on the forum. I met him in person shortly after I took over The Trailer Sailor BBS and we hit it off immediately. In February of '99 we sailed from Mazatlan to La Paz together aboard Stella Mari, and we had an absolute blast. That trip really solidified our friendship. At the beginning of this year I asked Doc to came aboard The Trailer Sailor full time, and help turn it into a full fledged, online magazine. The enthusiasm he brought to the project was amazing, and it has been Doc's flare for telling a story that has defined the tone of the new e-zine. I miss Doc more than I can say, and hope with all my heart that he returns to us soon. I will continue to post news of Gary's condition as often as possible. Todd Johnson - todd@trailersailor.com