'Pass them like you love them:' Hilton Head widow's message for drivers, bicyclists

Donna Garske was bicycling on U.S. 278 near Jarvis Creek Park — just off of the Cross Island Parkway —Tuesday morning when she was "buzzed."

A car, in an effort to get past her and other cyclists, drove so close that she could have touched it had she stuck her elbow out, she said.

Occurrences like this are always unnerving, she said.

But they are more so for Donna, whose husband, Jeffrey, an orthopedic surgeon, was struck and killed while cycling on the Cross Island Parkway by a drunken driver in August 2016.

"My husband went out that day like any other day, and he never came home," Donna said. "There's not one of us out on the road that doesn't say a little prayer that we'll be recognized as living, breathing people out there."

Jeff Kidd, spokesperson for the 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office, said Tuesday the driver who killed Garske, Richard George Alford, was indicted and is still awaiting trial.

A memorial fund was set up for Donna's husband. With some of that money, the Garske family is commissioning a local artist to create a bike sculpture that will be donated to the Town of Hilton Head.

At Tuesday's Town Council meeting, the donation agreement was approved unanimously.

The "CYCLE" sculpture will be of a person riding a road bike, Donna said. It will be made of aluminum and will be about 25 percent larger than a typical road cycle, according to documents included with the town agreement.

Russ Whiteford, a friend of Donna's who has been involved in conversations with the town about the sculpture, said it will cost about $7,500 and should be completed in three months.

Donna said the sculpture is expected to be placed along Pope Avenue near the Coligny circle.

"Is it a memorial to my husband? Yes," Donna said. "But more so, the purpose is to recognize that Hilton Head Island is a biking destination, but road cyclists are a different story. ... People don't necessarily appreciate us being out there."

Donna hopes the sculpture will make drivers more aware of road cyclists, and remind them to "pass them like you love them," she said, referencing an organization aimed at bringing greater awareness of cyclists on roadways.

In South Carolina, cyclists can legally ride their bikes with the flow of traffic. Motorists must yield to them in crosswalks, and it is against the law for drivers to harass cyclists.

Donna also sees the sculpture as a symbol of her improving life.

Just after her husband died, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. May will mark one year since her last chemotherapy treatment, she said.

"I'm finally at a point where I'm getting my life back on track," she said. "It's a different life now."

That life will still involve cycling.

Since her father's death, their daughter no longer rides her bike on roadways, Donna said.

But the day after her husband was struck and killed, Donna was back on the road.

"He would not want me to quit," she said Tuesday. "He was not a quitter. I'm a whole lot more cautious now, but at the same time, I get more upset with incidents like this morning."

"This is something to give to the community to bring some awareness that road cyclists are out there."

Donna hopes to have the sculpture dedicated by August 2018 — the two year anniversary of her husband's death.

This story was originally published April 3, 2018 at 6:00 PM with the headline "'Pass them like you love them:' Hilton Head widow's message for drivers, bicyclists."