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Bicyclist in critical condition after accident

Prominent businessman George Spaulding is hospitalized with a brain injury. A dog may be the best clue to what happened.

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published September 3, 2005

SAFETY HARBOR - George Spaulding strapped on his helmet on Aug. 26 and went out for an evening bicycle ride.

He never came back.

For the past week, the prominent businessman has been in critical condition with a brain injury in the neuro-intensive care unit at Tampa General Hospital after apparently falling to the pavement in an accident.

Spaulding, 50, president of Spaulding Craft, which manufactures columns for a family-owned division of Florida Columns, was found by passers-by a few hundred yards from his company's facility on Harbor Lake Drive in an industrial area of the city.

Spaulding's wife, Diane Spaulding, said she got a call from paramedics at about 9 p.m. that Friday.

"They said, "Do you have a husband named George?' I said, "Yes,' " she said.

"They said, "Did he go for a bike ride tonight?' I said, "Yes.'

"They said, "Do you have a Rottweiler?' I said, "No.' "

Paramedics told her that her husband "took a little spill," and they said a Rottweiler was standing over him. Then they told her to meet them at Mease Countryside Hospital.

She said she had no idea of the severity of the injury.

"He always wears a helmet and wears biking clothes," Diane Spaulding said. "He takes biking seriously."

But she said, "His helmet didn't come down far enough."

After doctors discovered that Spaulding had a serious brain injury, he was taken by ambulance to Tampa General Hospital. Neurosurgeons there performed a procedure to drain cerebrospinal fluid from the brain to lower the intracranial pressure, said Diane Spaulding, a former registered nurse who worked in Morton Plant Hospital's intensive care unit.

When the pressure was not sufficiently relieved, they performed a decompression craniotomy two days later, a procedure during which a piece of the skull is removed to relieve pressure on the brain.

Diane Spaulding said that piece of bone is being stored and will be replaced when her husband's condition improves.

He is "on all kinds of machines," including one called CoolGuard that lowers his blood temperature to 96 degrees, which helps the brain heal, she said.

On Friday, doctors started to wean him off medications that were keeping him in a drug-induced coma.

He is still in critical condition.

Diane Spaulding still can't believe what has happened. She said her husband is so safety-conscious that he has never even been involved in a car accident.

It is unknown what role, if any, the dog that was found near him might have played in the accident.

When Safety Harbor firefighter/paramedic Joe Brown arrived on the scene on Aug. 26, he said Spaulding's helmet was lying on the ground near his feet.

He said a couple of people were helping Spaulding, who was conscious. They told Brown that a Rottweiler had been standing over Spaulding.

"When we got to the patient, the dog was a good 50 yards away," said Brown. "He kept creeping up and barking at the firetruck."

Pinellas County sheriff's Deputy Laura Sullivan, who is familiar with the dog, responded.

"The animal was very nervous with emergency vehicles and personnel in his territory," she wrote in her report. "He was pacing, and would occasionally approach emergency personnel in a menacing manner."

She used a handful of dog treats to lure the dog to an enclosure across the street. Pinellas County Animal Services picked up the dog and took it to its facility.

Because the dog was nearby, some people have speculated about whether it was somehow involved in the accident. But officials don't know of any witnesses to the accident and said Spaulding had no bite marks.

Deputy Sullivan knew the dog, whose name is the Polish word for a derogatory term, according to its owner, John Woodhull. She usually stops to visit the dog during her rounds.

The dog lives in a weedy construction company storage yard and serves as its guard dog.

"He's got his own little fiefdom over there," said Woodhull, who is one of the owners of the Nice Services storage yard.

He described the 70-pound, 10-month-old dog as "a softie."

"This dog's a sweetheart," he said. "When he's out of the yard, he's just like a puppy."

Woodhull's cousin gave him the animal as a watchdog after someone broke into the yard and stole thousands of dollars' worth of tools.

Woodhull believes someone pulled up the chain-link fence and let the dog out on Friday so that he could go in and steal more items.

It is unknown when or how the dog first approached Spaulding, but it has been known to chase cars, Woodhull said.

"Dogs chase bikes and vehicles," Woodhull said. "It doesn't mean it's aggressive."

If the dog did give chase, George Spaulding appears to be the kind of guy who would be the first to forgive it.

"He's a really good, good man," said Diane Spaulding. "He never says a bad word about anybody."

He lives with Diane, his wife of 15 years, and their 6-year-old daughter Emily, in an exclusive gated community near the bay in Clearwater.

Emily is not aware that her father's condition is "touch and go," her mother said.

"She knows Daddy got hurt on a bike," Diane Spaulding said.

George Spaulding's father and mother, Bob and Joan Spaulding, visit their son often in the hospital. George Spaulding also has two brothers, Bob Spaulding Jr. and Wayne Spaulding.

The family is originally from Sheffield Lake, Ohio. Family members founded Spaulding Craft Inc. in Safety Harbor nearly 30 years ago.

George Spaulding served in the Air Force from 1973 to 1976. He is a member of radio control plane clubs and enjoys training people new to the hobby.

He also enjoys classical music and supports Ruth Eckerd Hall and the Florida Orchestra.

"They are extremely generous, very giving people," said Safety Harbor City Commissioner Kara Bauer, who attends Espiritu Santo Catholic Church with the Spauldings. "I'm absolutely heartbroken this happened to them."

Eileen Schulte can be reached at 727 445-4153 or schulte@sptimes.com

[Last modified September 3, 2005, 01:20:24]