Man injured in Hwy. 151 crash leaves hospital

NORTH MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD-TV) - A group of motorcyclists came together in Michigan Wednesday.

They're celebrating the progress of a fellow member injured in a crash here in our area.

Rick Van Dam was one of people hurt in a Fond du Lac County crash in May.

He left the hospital Wednesday and was escorted by friends for what was called a "ride home event."

It's a milestone for Van Dam, but won't likely make him forget what he has been through.

"I lost track of how many surgeries," he said. "You know, you just don't want to think about, 'How long am I going to be in the hospital?' You just got to think about what's the next thing I've got to overcome or the next thing I've got to get through."

Police say Clinton Lovelace crossed the centerline hitting 12 motorcyclists with the Muskegon Motorcycle Gang.

Van Dam spent three weeks in a coma.

When he woke, he didn't know that his friends Dan Winsemius and Doug Yonkers were dead.

And he didn't know that he had lost his left leg in the wreck.

"You just kept trying to explain to him why he was there and what was going on and what was going on around him and telling him you loved him that he was going to be all right," said Rick's wife Sheri Van Dam.

Van Dam spent the last several weeks rebuilding his strength at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids.

He said he'd be lying to say he's not angry at the driver responsible.

But he and Sheri said they're not focused on that and that it's time to move on.

"I'm just trying to do what I got to do get home and get back to normalcy," said Van Dam.

"It's an amazing thing and I just appreciate all the love and support from all the people," said Sheri. "And most of the people were people I'd never met in my life."

Clinton Lovelace faces 12 charges in the crash, including two counts of vehicular homicide with a controlled substance.

He returns to court Thursday.