Charlotte Observer.com: Cyclist lived as example and teacher - Woman who had suffered brain injuries as child killed on ride

Lee Anne Barry wanted to teach others about brain injuries. She stressed the importance of wearing helmets. Before audiences of school children, she would show the battered headgear of people who had been involved in accidents. She also wanted to show those who have suffered injuries, like herself, that their lives still had meaning.

That’s what inspired Barry and her husband, Ben, to ride bicycles across the country, stopping at cities and towns along the way, to raise money for brain injury programs. The couple was near the end of their fourth trip Sunday when Lee Anne Barry and another cyclist, Tom Hoskins of Columbia, were hit by a Chrysler SUV as they headed northbound on U.S. 521 in Lancaster County. Both cyclists died from their injuries.

The driver of the SUV, a woman from Greensboro who has not been charged, was not injured, the S.C. Highway Patrol said Monday. The wreck remains under investigation.

Ben Barry said his wife and Hoskins were on their way to Waxhaw, where they planned to meet other cyclists and police escorts to ride the final miles to Charlotte.

Ben Barry had gone ahead of the pair in a van, but was riding his bike to meet them when the incident occurred.

The issue of brain injuries was a deeply personal cause for Lee Anne Barry. When she was 5 1/2, she was hit by a car, leaving her in a coma and partially paralyzed with tremors.

For years, she was teased by schoolmates and felt their was no place to go for support, according to her Web site — www.thebigride.org.

Lee Anne Barry underwent brain surgery as a teen, which helped her lose some of the tremors, she wrote in an online testimonial.

“I was finally able to do the things I remember doing as a young child … My faith grew stronger, and I knew in my heart that anything was possible,” she wrote.

Lee Anne Barry developed an interest in bicycling as she grew older, and in 1996, was a participant in World T.E.A.M. Sports.

She moved to Charlotte in 1998 where she met her husband. The couple later adopted a son, Christian.

The Barrys are active in their churches. Lee Anne Barry still volunteered at Forest Hill Church even after the family joined another congregation, said Joyce Wilson, a child care team leader at the church.

Across the country

Several years ago, Lee Anne Barry had a “crazy idea,” she wrote online: She wanted to cycle across the country to raise awareness of brain injuries.

She and her husband made their first trip in 2001. The trek was named The B.I.G. (Brain Injury’s Greatest) Ride, and took them more than 3,000 miles from one coast to the other.

They’d set out on the trips every other year, altering their routes to stop in more places. Along the way, other riders would join them.

The trips didn’t always go as planned. In 2003, Lee Anne Barry fell after her tire got stuck in the pavement. On each ride, there also were national disasters: the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, massive wildfires, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

This year’s trip also hit road blocks. First, they lost sponsor BellSouth after its merger with AT&T. Then the Barrys were robbed of their computer and cell phone while in St. Louis last month, said Marty Foil, executive director of Hinds Feet Farm, a local nonprofit that helps those with brain injuries.

Despite the setbacks, they kept on their journey.

Through the races, “she wanted to convey to others that someone with a brain injury is quite capable and deserves another look by those around her,” said Larry Hook, a sponsor of this year’s event who was with riders in Waxhaw as they learned of Sunday’s incident.

Tom Hoskins had joined the Barrys in Columbia on Sunday. He had been an avid cyclist for 20 years, serving as captain of the South Carolina AT&T Cycling Team in recent years in the Tour de Cure for Diabetes and the Multiple Sclerosis Ride.

Hoskins is survived by his wife, Sherry, and children Rob, Ryan and Becca.

A memorial service for Lee Anne Barry is set for 1 p.m. Wednesday at Church of Charlotte. An e-mail sent Monday invited cyclists to ride from the Barrys’ home on Lester Davis Road in Waxhaw starting at 11 a.m. to the church.

She will be buried in her hometown of Jackson, Mich.

Memorials can be made to The B.I.G. Ride in care of Karen McNally of First Charter Bank; 6310 Fairview Road, Charlotte, NC 28210. — Staff writer Taylor Bright and the Columbia state contributed. –