VICKSBURG, Mich. — Scott Plankenhorn has been friends with Joel and Brenda Nelson for years. He’s known Joel Nelson since high school and said he’s caring person.
Brenda Nelson currently works at his bar the Village Hide-A-Way and treats every customer like they’re family, giving them hugs when they walk through the door.
“We use to ride together you know on bikes,” he said. “They’re really outdoors people. They like to canoe. They like to snowmobile. They spend a lot of time outdoors.”
Sunday at 3:30 a.m., Plankenhorn got a phone call that kept him and his wife up for the rest of the night. His friends had been involved in and survived a motorcycle accident on Silver Street in Mendon near Kline Resort.
“They’re in stable condition,” Plankenhorn said about their status in the hospital. “My wife and I went up and she checked on them yesterday. But they’re heavily sedated. It’s going to take some time for healing.”
As soon as word spread about the accident, loved ones created a GoFundMe to help them with medical costs. Within the first 22 hours, over $4,000 had been raised.
“This a close community,” he said. “There’s a few people in this community that we pulled together and we help them in any way we can.”
The Nelsons are two of those people, he said. He hopes this incident serves as a reminder for all drivers to have their eyes on the road at all times.
“People need to be aware of their surroundings and pay attention because in a split second everything can change,” he said. “These people’s lives have changed because of a split second.”
