Garton home healing from motorcycle accident

Broken and bruised, Tehama County Undersheriff Dennis Garton, 60, is now home from the hospital recovering from his July 25 motorcycle accident.

"He is in a lot of pain, but doing pretty well," said Garton's wife Jeannie.

Garton's injuries include a broken left leg and hand, two broken vertebras in his neck and two in his back, broken ribs, blunt force trauma to his lungs, and a concussion. It is expected his recovery time will be 12 weeks.

"There isn't a part of me that doesn't hurt, but it's mostly my back," Garton said on Wednesday.

Currently, none of Garton's injuries require surgery, said Jeannie, but his hand may need an operation if the broken bone doesn't heal properly.

Garton's 1999 Honda Goldwing motorcycle is sitting in the undersheriff's barn, almost as broken as Garton. The bike has a cracked head, a broken handlebar, and many scrapes and scratches.

The accident occurred at 12:05 p.m., on Interstate 80, 16 miles west of Winnemucca, Nev., as Garton was traveling westbound. Jeannie said Garton was riding alone when the valve stem on the rear tire of the motorcycle was somehow sheared off resulting in a rapid loss of air.

"Dennis doesn't remember what happened," said Jeannie, "but the Nevada State Troopers said he was traveling at about 70 mph when the stem broke off, but it appears he was able to slow down a little before the bike tilted to the left. At that point the kick-stand peg dug into the blacktop throwing Dennis off the bike."

The motorcycle went off the roadway as Garton skidded into the left lane.

"The motorist behind him saw it happen and was able to stop traffic so Dennis wouldn't get ran over," Jeannie said. "Another motorist who saw the accident was a doctor from Redding, Gregory R. Spears, who stopped to give Dennis assistance until the ambulance arrived."

The Trooper told Jeannie that an angel must have been watching over Garton as he could have died in the type of accident he was in.

"Both Dennis and I believe that to be very true. We think our grandson, Ronnie Lee, who passed away recently, was watching over his grandpa," Jeannie stated. "I had told Dennis to be extra careful, that he had to come home to us, that we just couldn't lose him too, so I think Ronnie Lee made sure he did."

Garton doesn't have any recollection of the crash, nor of the days following until July 29, when he woke up in a Reno, Nev., hospital.

Tehama County Sheriff Clay Parker said the big job now is to keep Garton down until he fully recovers.

"He'll want to come back to the department and start working as soon as he thinks possible," Parker said. "I will be tough to keep him home and quiet."

Garton has been an avid motorcyclist for many years and has been a member of several motorcycle clubs. He has been in law enforcement since March of 1970, and has served in Tehama County since 1978. Garton became undersheriff and second-in-command to the county sheriff in 1996.

As undersheriff his duties include budgeting, and the day-to-day events.

Julie Johnson may be contacted at 824-5474 or jjohnson@tcnpress.com.