A Milbridge man remains in a Bangor hospital after colliding with a deer while riding an electric bike.
Russ Kaufman, an accomplished sculptor, went out for a bike ride on Nov. 12 and was found by the side of the road in what initially was thought to be a hit-and-run incident.
Michael Crabtree, chief deputy for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, said that the report came in late, hours after the collision occurred, and the responding deputy didn’t find any evidence that a vehicle was involved. What the deputy found, he said, was an injured deer, hobbling around in the nearby woods.
Kaufman, Crabtree said, was not wearing a helmet as he was riding the electric bike along the road.
“We hope he makes a full recovery,” Crabtree said.
Meredith Whitney, Kaufman’s sister-in-law, posted online that his family went looking for him after it got dark and he had not returned home. They did not find him but learned that a passerby found him by the side of the road and called for an ambulance.
Kaufman eventually was transported by LifeFlight helicopter to a Bangor hospital, where he has been treated for head injuries, she wrote on a GoFundMe page.
Additional details about where Kaufman was found and where he is now being treated were unavailable Tuesday. Whitney did not respond to a message requesting more information.
“He has several fractures to his skull, front and back, and a torn vein behind his ear,” she posted online the day after the accident.
Kaufman was kept sedated in the days immediately after the collision, she wrote.
On Monday she posted that he is no longer being sedated but that he can’t recall what happened.
“He didn’t remember why he’s there or how long he’s been there,” Whitney wrote. “Long term memories are stronger than his short term ones. He mostly just wants to sleep.”
