Being a mentor, coach or any leadership opportunity can often mean they are frequently being looked at as a sort of living example.

Mike Hillyard, USI’s men’s and women’s cross-country and track and field coach, participated in the Disaster Relief Triathlon hosted by the Posey Country American Red Cross Aug. 27. when he collided his bicycle with a fellow competitor causing him to take a fall.

The front tire of Hillyard’s bike made contact with the back tire of another racer who was passing him on the left.

“The other athlete managed to stay up but came back to check on me,” Hillyard said. 

Hillyard said it took him about three minutes to get the chain back on his bike and make sure he was not too seriously injured to continue the triathlon.

“When I first went down I thought ‘my day is over,'” Hillyard said. “My second thought was ‘nothing is broken and I am probably going to be out of commission for a while after today, so why not give it a go? I knew it was going to hurt a lot when I stopped and the adrenaline wore off.”

Despite the many injuries Hillyard did not just roll over and quit. Instead, he got back on his bike finishing second place four seconds shy of first place.

“It was just one of those unfortunate situations that can sometimes occur when you are moving at 35 plus miles per hour downhill on a bike,” he said.

Upon finishing the race, Hillyard was sent to the emergency room.

“I had a lot of road rash on my left side, basically from my left ankle all the way to my left shoulder,” Hillyard said. “I lost a pretty good chunk out of my elbow that should take about two months to fully heal. Looking back, I don’t know how I managed to keep my head/face off the pavement. I was lucky.”

“Honestly, I was just happy to be able to finish and walk away.”