Local motorcyclists among several injured in Connecticut crash

CHICOPEE, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - What started off as a weekend getaway for a group of local motorcyclists turned into their worst nightmare after a vehicle swerved into their lane and left three riders hospitalized and two of them seriously injured.

At the Chicopee Moose Lodge, motorcyclists come together to ride and give back to various nonprofits and benefits. Now, after a near tragic accident on Sunday night, we spoke with one rider as their focus shifts to helping one of their own.

“It’s a miracle anybody was alive. It was that bad of an accident. It was one of the worst ones I’ve ever seen,” said Ken Fish, a Chicopee Moose rider.

On Sunday, just before 6 p.m., members of the Chicopee Lodge Moose riders joined up with the Thompsonville Moose Riders, based in Connecticut, for a bike ride to Rhode Island.

“I was supposed to go on that ride, but I took the time off to spend with my daughter. It was her birthday. Ken went on that ride and was planning on coming home,” Fish added.

Fish told Western Mass News that he was supposed to be right alongside his close friend and co-worker, Kenny Francis.

“You get together with these guys and you ride with them. You know you always have a friend there and you got someone to talk to and you just ride with them and that’s just the way we are,” Fish explained.

He told us the group of bikers often ride to various nonprofit organizations or just go out and hit the open road, which was the case on Sunday. That’s when on their way back from Cady’s Tavern in Chepachet, RI, two bikers, including Francis, the group’s secretary, were hit by a car on Route 171 in Woodstock, CT, leaving them hospitalized and seriously injured.

“This individual happened to be speeding. We’ve all sped, we’ve all crossed that double yellow line. It only takes a second to ruin everybody’s life,” Fish noted.

An accident report obtained by Western Mass News shows that the motorcycles were nearing a left-hand curve when a car traveling from the other direction crossed the double yellow line and struck the motorcycles. Fish told Western Mass News that Francis is currently at Hartford Hospital and he hopes the friend he describes as willing to give you the shirt off his back will be back soon.

“He’s doing well, he had his surgery. He’s got a long road, he’s got a very long road…but he will be on a bike again. He’s just that kind of guy,” Fish said.

We also spoke to Francis Tuesday morning, who is in stable condition.