Two men with roots in Cedar were seriously injured in separate accidents in a three-week period.
One of the men died and the second is fighting for his life at Munson Medical Center.
John Popa of Bingham Township, a county road commissioner, died Friday, Sept. 6 at Munson. He died about three weeks after the Aug. 13 accident on Co. Rd. 641 in which he was driving a Polaris Ranger UTV. According to Sheriff Mike Borkovich, Popa was southbound on 641 when he stopped the utility vehicle to turn left and was struck by a passing vehicle.
Popa was “at fault” in the accident, Borkovich said.
About 7 p.m. on Labor Day, Rich Zywicki, owner of Cedar Hardware was involved in a golf cart accident.
According to family accounts, they had just finished dinner and Zywicki hopped on an electric golf cart to travel from the home on April Road in Cleveland Township to this home in Solon Township.
“From what we can put together, as he was approaching the last down slope of the gravel road before the stop sign that intersects with Townline Road and from the chatter bumps the golf cart goes sideways, it is maybe traveling 15 mph, then flips over one time, breaking the canopy top off and rests on its side,” Zywicki’s wife, Jennifer said.
Her husband suffered a broken jaw and nose, leaving them with the impression that the steering wheel knocked him unconscious, and that also resulted in frontal (brain) injury. The accident was discovered by “guardian angels,” — motorists who were exploring new roads.
Leslie and Brian Steele who were out for an evening drive.
“Later, they told me that they had never been on April Road,” Jen Zywicki said.
Once at the hospital, Rich Zywicki had surgery to stop and remove a brain bleed.
“Now, we wait and see,” Jen Zywicki said.”I know people want updates; however, with a brain injury I am told that it is all about time.”
She said the first step in recovery is to be off sedation for 24 hours, which was accomplished Monday. The next step is to be off the ventilator.
“The neurosurgeon has told me that this is not minute to minute, not hour by hour, not even a day by day, but is a week by week recovery process,” Zywicki said.
The community of Cedar has turned out to support the family in full force. A GoFundMe account established for the family one week ago that has of mid-day yesterday, resulted in more than $80,000 in donations to the family.
The family, which includes adult daughter, Morgan and son, Jackson, is also being lifted up in prayer in churches countywide.
“I have reflected over these past few days that Rich is not only important to me, his family and friends, but that he s very important to the community that he and I have both grown up in …,” Jennifer Zywicki said. “This is small town living. There may be jokes out there about gossip in small towns, but in this case the more people that know, I believe means the more people praying and having positive thoughts for him. “
