Steve Motichka, owner of Rent-E-Equip in Honesdale, was injured Friday morning during a snowmobiling accident in Rileyville.
Motichka, 51, underwent six-hour surgery at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center to repair vertebrae/ disc damage in his neck. “He’s doing remarkably well,” said his daughter, Joelee Motichka, who said her dad had been released from the hospital Tuesday.
Motichka had been enjoying a last ride of the season with a friend Friday morning around 11:30 a.m. when his one-ski’d Snow Hawk started to tip over. When he hit the throttle to pull the machine back up, the handlebar flew up, catching him between the chin and the inside of his helmet.
The injury caused him to temporarily black out, his daughter said. Though in excruciating pain, Motichka was able to ride the Snow Hawk back to the truck and return to his Honesdale business. It wasn’t long after his return that it was determined he needed to go the hospital.
“I’m so glad he wasn’t macho about it ...Thank God he took it seriously” and went to the hospital, Joelee said.
Joelee had driven her dad to Mercy, where he was later transported to Geisinger to undergo emergency surgery for two collapsed discs in his neck that were crushing his spinal chord.
“Everybody was so great,” at the hospital, Joelee said. She also thanked all of their employees for helping at the shop while they took care of her dad.
Now home, Motichka is expected to make a full recovery. Joelee said, “We’d like to thank all of our neighbors and customers who have stopped in or called to wish him well.”
