Local experimental musician Wyndel Hunt was hit by a vehicle while riding his bicycle Sat. June 19.

Kitty Ireland, a friend of Hunt, has posted information on what happened that night and about his condition on caringbridge.org. Below is a portion of what she's written.

On Saturday night - June 19 - at around 11pm Wyndel was hit by a car while on his bike. I am in the process of requesting an accident report to find out exactly what happened, since Wyndel has not been in a position to speak since he was hospitalized. What I know is:

* He was wearing a helmet, and it shattered
* He was conscious when the ambulance arrived and was able to give his name
* He was agitated and combative.
* He was sedated and intubated (chest tubes to drain blood from the chest cavity) on the scene

Once they got him stabilized they installed him in ICU, on a respirator and heavy sedation to keep him calm and make sure he's getting enough oxygen.

The good news is:

* He was wearing a helmet. He has no head injuries or neurological damage.
* His spine is fine. He's moving his extremities all over the place whenever he wakes up.
* He has only minor cuts and bruises on the surface.
* He is alive (see below).
* He's at Harborview, which is one of the best places in the world for this kind of injury.

The bad news is

* He has shattered ribs on both sides. This makes recovery (especially the breathing part) excruciatingly painful.
* His right scapula is broken, which means a sling and no use of his right hand for a while.
* He has a fractured cervical vertebra, which will mend without surgery, but with a giant neck brace thing that goes around his torso as well (currently on special order).
* He has multiple internal injuries and has lost quite a bit of blood, but not enough to warrant a transfusion since he's been in ICU. This includes a lacerated liver (a danger for hemmorhaging) and a dinged kidney - both of which are stable.
* He is not yet able to breathe on his own without sending his vitals through the roof (probably pain from the broken ribs and other internal injuries), so it may be a chore to wean him off the respirator.
* He has to lie perfectly flat until they get him in the special-order brace
* He has no health insurance.

The very bad news is

* He has a "pseudo aneurism" in his aorta. If this were to burst he would die almost instantly. In fact, 85% of patients with this injury die at the scene of the accident. This is caused when the heart is jolted from its moorings by a sudden impact. He is very lucky to be alive at all. Because of this they are artificially reducing his heart rate and blood pressure, because until they do surgery high blood pressure could rupture it or make it worse.

Hunt is slated to undergo surgery in Harborview today. We wish him all the best.