Cautiously Back in the Saddle

story by CATE HOTCHKISS | photos by GREG GALLIANO and PALOMA AYALA

On the morning of January 2, 2022, Melanie Strong and her husband Greg Galliano of Hood River headed out for a bike ride in Huntington Beach, Calif., where they were visiting friends during a three-week, sun-seeking road trip. e plan: a casual cruise along a paved oceanside path, a change of pace from the technical terrain they typically traversed in the Gorge. For this one leisurely ride, they decided to leave their helmets behind.

At around the six-mile mark, the trail, slightly wider than a sidewalk, grew more crowded. As oncoming cyclists and pedestrians approached, Strong and Galliano, riding side by side, squeezed together. Within seconds, their pedals interlocked, and Strong slammed head- rst onto the asphalt.

“She let out a piercing scream, and I was terri ed,” says Galliano, recounting how he jumped o his bike and cradled his wife’s head. He noticed a super cial abrasion, but minimal blood. Minutes later, another cyclist, an EMT, stopped and checked Strong’s vision, neck, and asked her a series of questions.

Strong recalls, “He said, ‘You know, you look good, and don’t show any signs of concussion,’ and because I felt relatively okay, we chose to forego a trip to the hospital to get a scan, which would turn out to be bad decision number two. e rst, of course, not wearing a helmet.”

Strong rested for 24 hours at their friends’ house before she and Galliano ventured up the coast in their camper van, riding a succession of strenuous trails along the way. Overall, Strong still felt healthy. “No headaches or memory issues, no confusion, symptoms you’d normally connect to a brain injury,” she explains. She did, however, notice that during descents, she needed extra time to process the landscape racing by, so she slowed down a little. As for Galliano, he observed that his wife, almost always even keeled, did seem a bit more emotional, maybe, but nothing really to raise any red ags.

A couple of weeks later, Strong resumed her busy role as managing partner at Next Ventures, an early stage investing rm she co-founded in 2019 following a 17-year career leading top brands at Nike, including Nike Women and Nike Skateboarding. Galliano also worked at Nike as an art director for seven years until, in 2014, he and Strong launched Hood River Mountain Bike Adventures, which o ers bike tours, lessons, and rentals. In 2018, the couple moved to the Gorge full-time, the corporate world disappearing in the rearview.

On Saturday, January 22, they joined friends on a routine gravel ride, hosted by Dirty Fingers Bikes. “I felt really o that day and thought maybe I’d contracted Covid,” says Strong, though later tested negative. “From there, things started to deteriorate quickly.” Twice she closed the car door on her left leg, not realizing it was still outside the vehicle. In addition, she began to lose strength in her left foot and toes.

Her primary chiropractor referred her to Alex Roddvik, DC, owner of Hood River Chiropractic and Wellness, and who is certi ed in functional neurology. “Melanie’s case was atypical because the symptoms manifested so much later,” Dr. Roddvik explains. “But the rapid onset of sensory loss and weakness in her left foot, especially after a head trauma, was alarming.” He scheduled an MRI appointment for the next morning, January 26, at Siker Medical Imaging in Portland. e brain scan revealed a large subdural hematoma, or brain bleed, in her parietal lobe, located in the upper back area of the skull, and which plays a role in spatial awareness, or knowing where the body is positioned relative to its surroundings, as well as coordination of

• Average 7-Minute Wait �me

• Led by Emergency Medicine Board-Cer�fied Physicians

• Life Flight Helipad on Campus movements. She would need to go directly to the hospital, the technician explained. “I started panicking and crying as I processed the severity of it all,” Strong says.

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Her husband rushed her to the emergency department at Legacy Emanuel. When they arrived, the medical team had already reviewed the scans. “Based on the size of the hematoma, they were dumbfounded as to why Melanie wasn’t experiencing massive headaches, and tripping over her words and feet,” Galliano says. Hours later, Strong was wheeled into the operating room where the neurosurgeon performed “burr hole” surgery, drilling several small holes into her skull to drain the build-up of blood and other uids.

Following surgery, Strong was transferred to the neurotrauma intensive care unit with a temporary drain tube extending from her head to the front pocket of her hospital gown. “It needed to drain clear before they would release me,” she says. “ e tube was a tangible reminder of what had happened and was still ongoing. But I felt really lucky not to have su ered more permanent damage, to know who I was, and have the same personality.”

Due to yet another wave of Covid-19, visitors were not allowed inside the ICU, so Galliano waited and worried alone in the hospital parking lot. Once the surgeon called to report all had gone well, Galliano drove back to Hood River to gather some essentials and stopped by Dirty Fingers to update his friends, whom he knew would be there for happy hour beers. But when he tried to speak, he choked up. “I was a real mess,” he says.

Chris Johnsen was sitting at the counter when Galliano walked in. “It looked as if he’d seen a ghost,” says Johnsen, a contractor who owns Gorge Structures. “I gave him a hug, and so did everyone else.” Galliano then shared the unraveling of events, which shocked them all, as many had, just a few days prior, ridden with Strong. From there, the news spread like wild re throughout the cycling community. Everyone wanted to help, explains Heather Pola, a member of Team Finger. “Melanie is a great friend and mentor to me and many people,” she says. “She’s a passionate powerhouse. We all adore her.” Pola and others decided to organize a meal train, dropping o hot healthy dinners on the couple’s back porch for as long as necessary.

On January 28, just two days after the procedure, a hospital attendant wheeled Strong directly from the ICU to the parking lot, where Galliano had been camping in his van, and handed him a xeroxed list of post-op instructions. His wife’s follow-up appointment would be in ten days. “I was trying to make sense of what I was supposed to do,” Galliano says. “And as if I’d asked, our nurse friends came to the house and showed me how to properly take care of Melanie, including how to clean around the seven staples in her skull.”

Although the surgery resolved her one-sided muscle weakness, other issues lingered, such as insomnia and di culty with moving scenery. Once Strong emerged from those critical rst few weeks, she focused on a path forward. “I was alive, but now what?” she says. “How could I optimize my recovery?”

Meet Dr. Renelle Conner

Dr. Renelle Conner is enthusiastic about providing excellent orthodontic care for children, teens, and adults. “I love working with people and changing smiles. Changing a smile, builds confidence. Building confidence for a person, changes their life! My career as an Orthodontist allows for a beautiful melding of biology, chemistry, psychology and art, which I utilize to feed my passionfor creating beautiful smiles in confident faces.”

Dr. Conner grew up in a small town in Washington. She earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Eastern Washington University. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree she went on to excel in dental school, earning a Doctor of Dental Surgery Degree, from the University of Washington. Following dental school, Dr. Conner received a Master’s in Orthodontics from A.T. Still University-Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health.

Dr. Conner’s hobbies include decorating cakes, making espresso, and reading. She also enjoys traveling, meeting new people, and trying new things.

To that end, she sought advice from health care providers and friends who had also experienced traumatic brain injuries. She put together a plan, which included eating plenty of healthy fats like avocados and nuts; taking high-dose turmeric and sh oil supplements; receiving regular acupuncture; walking daily; soaking up sunshine; and improving sleep habits.

She also signed up for weekly sessions of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) at Cell Regen, founded by Bryan Call, DC, in Hood River. “Breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber increases the amount of oxygen your blood can carry,” explains Dr. Call. is helps to oxygenate tissues, lower in ammation, and increase cellular energy, all of which promote healing, he adds. While reclining in the tube-like chamber, Strong would practice meditation or even take a nap, allowing her brain to chill out, she says.

By late spring, she had returned to full-time work, driving, and eventually, the saddle of her mountain bike, despite a neurologist’s suggestion to avoid it. “I think he was dead wrong,” she says. “Biking brings me joy and is perhaps one of the reasons I’m still alive and as high functioning as I am. Our active lifestyle protects us from more serious outcomes related to a brain injury or other type of illness.” Or, as Dr. Roddvik put it, “She had a pristine brain to begin with.”

People often ask her, Are you back to normal? “ e answer is no, of course not, but that’s okay,” she says. “ e sobering reality is that I have to be more careful, but in many ways, I feel like a much better, smarter person, and I’m hoping others can learn from my mistakes and story.” One of the couple’s new mottos: ere’s no such thing as a no helmet ride

In early 2023, one year after the accident, Strong and Galliano returned to sunny So-Cal, although, this time, skipped the seaside path. ey did, however, tackle a half-dozen dirt trails. Strong says, “I ride slower, which can be frustrating, but mostly I’m just so happy to be doing the things I love with the partner I’m meant to be with.”

And, better yet, in a place, a community, that feels now, more than ever, like family, like home. Cate Hotchkiss is a freelance writer and photographer who lives in Hood River with her husband, two children, and their labradoodle.