Remember Ironman Tony Pedeferri today

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This is what I sent to three major Triathlon news groups today please get the word out.



I am writing this letter hoping you will follow a wonderful man who has earned the title Ironman on more than one occasion. Now Tony Pedeferri’s title of Ironman is being tested as he holds onto a rare chance of ever walking again and possibly worse. Please read below;



I have been involved in Triathlon for 2 years competing in my first Ironman last year. I have grown to an appreciation of the men and women covered in all your publications.



While attending Ironman Coeur D’Alene 07 I found out a fellow firefighter that I work with had a cousin who was competing. Knowing the future endeavor I had chosen was just 2 months away I could not help but watch Tony Pedeferri gaining incredible time with each event.



I found out Tony was happily married and had 2 daughters also a California Highway Patrol Motorcycle Officer and by the way qualified and finished well in Kona once before. I watched as Tony crossed the finish line with a time of 9:53:44 and went on to compete in the World Championships, overcoming a cracked frame (from a week prior) and stomach problems on the run, finishing in 10:14:43.



This week I heard of a traumatic accident Tony had been involved in. I have been getting daily updates through my fellow co-worker. I have found the following article to let all of you have some insight to just how horrific an accident Tony has been in.



Please give this man the credit due and most of all encourage him and his family, as all of us fellow competitors are the extended family of our champions.







Ventura County Star
P.O. Box 6006
Camarillo, CA 93011



CHP officer remains in critical condition

Struck by a suspected drunken driver, survivor of deadly crash is on a ventilator

By Scott Hadly (Contact)
Friday, December 21, 2007

For years California Highway Patrol officer and triathlete Anthony Pedeferri has endured the most physically grueling tests of strength and come out on top, but a day after being slammed by a suspected DUI driver during a routine traffic stop on Highway 101 the veteran motorcycle officer was in the fight of his life.

The fiery crash late Wednesday afternoon critically injured the 36-year-old officer and killed 20-year-old Andreas Parra of Phoenix.

Pedeferri, an 11-year veteran of the CHP, was still in critical condition and on a ventilator Thursday after undergoing surgery at Ventura County Medical Center.

The father of two young girls, and a competitor this year in eight triathlons, including the grueling Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Hawaii, isn't able to move his feet.

"I was told he has no feeling in his legs, which for a guy like Tony is very tough," said Dave Gonzales, a Santa Barbara police sergeant and fellow triathlete. "If anybody can overcome this, it's Tony. He has an amazing positive attitude, and he's in stellar condition."

The man believed responsible for the accident, Jeremy White, a 20-year-old from Paso Robles, is scheduled to be in court today facing charges of vehicular manslaughter, felony driving under the influence, possession of marijuana with intent to sell and transportation of marijuana. As of late Thursday, he was still being held at the Ventura County Jail. His bail is set at $500,000.

According to court records in San Luis Obispo County, White last year pleaded no contest to harassment by phone and in February also pleaded no contest to assault with a deadly weapon. Both convictions were misdemeanors.

The accident occurred about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday after Pedeferri pulled Parra's small sport utility vehicle over onto the right shoulder of northbound Highway 101 near Faria Beach.

Pedeferri had gotten off his motorcycle and was talking to Parra through the passenger window when, for unexplained reasons, the large pickup truck driven by White careened from the center lane onto the shoulder and into the back of the SUV.

Bystanders tried to revive Parra

The impact knocked Pedeferri out of his boots and launched him 20 yards into the brush on the side of the highway. It also sent the two vehicles spinning into the center lanes. The crash knocked off the SUV's back tires and triggered a fire.

"It immediately caught fire," said Stephanie Zeravica, who was driving southbound when she saw the impact. "It was like in slow motion, absolutely horrific."

Almost 20 years ago, Zeravica, who works the desk at the Cliff House Inn in Mussel Shoals, had worked at Ontario Police Department as a dispatcher, and the training helped her in the moments that followed. Zeravica pulled over onto the center divider along with others, including a pair of Vandenberg Air Force Base military police officers.

"We saw someone was still in the vehicle," Zeravica said, referring to Parra. "A woman was screaming hysterically to pull him out of the car, and three men pulled the victim out."

One man started chest compressions for CPR and Zeravica started to give mouth to mouth.

"He looked very pasty. I gave him two breaths, and then the Air Force guys tapped me and said, ma'am we have a mask,' and they started," she said.

Their work was eventually taken over by paramedics, but they never got a pulse.

Pedeferri's motorcycle, boots found

Zeravica turned and noticed Pedeferri's motorcycle. Nearby, Robert Woodson, a medical researcher, had pulled over and was on his cell phone after calling 911.

"I was on the phone and then saw the motorcycle," Woodson said. For a moment he thought the CHP was already on the scene and then realized differently.

"Someone was looking in the bushes, and then I saw his (Pedeferri's) boot," he said.

Another bystander was trying to use the radio on the motorcycle to call for help when Zeravica came over.

"I pushed her away and grabbed the radio and just said Code 999,'" she said. "I knew if you did that everybody comes."

The CHP uses the code 1199 for "officer down," but Zeravica's call triggered a massive response, said CHP Officer Shawna Davison.

On Thursday, Zeravica visited the still-reeling CHP headquarters in Ventura, where she met one of the dispatchers who had taken her call. The woman embraced Zeravica and said that her pinpoint directions and calm helped save Pedeferri's life.

As Zeravica was on the radio, one of the Air Force police officers found Pedeferri in the ditch. At first he didn't detect a pulse, but then hollered:

"He's breathing, and he's got a pulse, but we need medevac now."

Zeravica conveyed the message over the radio.

"It seemed like within three minutes I heard the helicopters," she said.

Pedeferri was still wearing his helmet when he was hit, which probably helped save him. Officer Davison was among the first CHP officers on the scene and said that by that time another bystander, David Monahan, had helped stabilize the injured officer's neck.

In the chaotic scene, White, a student at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, got out of his pickup truck. Woodson said White, who was slightly injured in the accident, was crying and saying that it was his fault and that he didn't know what had happened to make the pickup suddenly swerve. White speculated that his tire had blown, Woodson said.

'Oh my God. Oh my God.'

But so far at least, there does not appear to be evidence of any mechanical problems with the pickup, Davison said.

This isn't a particularly dangerous section of the highway, she said. The road is fairly straight. There are three lanes, and the traffic was relatively light.

At one point after the accident, White was on his cell phone talking to his godmother and was too distraught to talk. Zeravica took the phone from him.

"He just kept saying, Oh my God. Oh my God. They locked up on me.' I guess he was referring to the brakes."

White had two dirt bikes tied down in the back of the truck. One of them came loose and was lying on the side of the road at the accident scene.

News of the accident and Pedeferri's serious injuries spread fast among local endurance athletes and his teammates at Rincon Racing, a triathlete club in Ventura.

Bill Escobar, president of the club, said Pedeferri is in top shape, not only competing three times over the years in Hawaii, but most recently finishing 34th overall in a triathlon in Idaho, beating many professionals in the process.

To compete at this level, Escobar said, Pedeferri has had to train daily for years. Sometimes, on his days off work, he trained for as long as eight hours. He was one of only three members of the club to qualify for the prestigious Hawaiian competition.

Unsure exactly how to help, members of the group decided Thursday to donate blood, figuring that even if he didn't need it, someone does, Escobar said.

The type of accident is all too familiar to members of the California Highway Patrol, said Tom Marshall, a spokesman for the CHP in Sacramento.

"This is a dangerous job, and everybody knows that going in," he said. "I know the squad down there in Ventura is a close-knit family. They're pretty shaken up."

But the group has also rallied to help the officer's family and his wife, Carrie, a scientist at Amgen, friends said.

Officers picked up Pedeferri's extended family at the airport, took them to the hospital and made sure meals will be provided for them over the next several days, friends said.

According to Marshall, getting hit while helping a motorist or doing a traffic stop are the most common causes of officer injuries or fatalities.

"That's why we train them to approach on the passenger side; it provides an extra cushion," he said.

— The Tribune in San Luis Obispo contributed to this report.