Family members and friends of a motorcyclist severely injured in an accident in McKinney last week gathered Wednesday to pray for his healing.
Rodney Carver, 72, known to friends as “Pops”, suffered multiple fractured bones and brain bleeding, according to his wife Barbara Carver.
He was taken to Baylor Medical Center in McKinney.
“He's doing much better tonight,” she told the crowd Wednesday which gathered around a Christmas tree outside the hospital.
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The group included Christian Riders United, which Rodney Carver co-founded. The organization is made up of faith-based motorcycle clubs.
Carver is a husband, father, grandfather, and friends say he is God-fearing.
“He'll be the first one to tell you about Jesus,” said Mike Blackburn, friend and follow rider who is Trinity chapter president of The Preisthood, a motorcycle ministry.
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Last Monday, McKinney police say Carver collided with a pick-up truck on Highway 380 in McKinney.
The truck driven was being driven by Prosper Mayor Ray Smith who police say slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting a car that pulled in front of him.
Police determined the driver of the car that pulled out in front of Smith to be “at-fault.”
"I've been praying for him ever since that night," Smith said.
Smith insists he didn't know anyone was hurt and left the scene to chase after a car he says he thought hit him.
A grand jury will decide if Smith should face a charge for leaving the scene.
Meantime, Carver remains hospitalized.
At Wednesday’s prayer vigil, Barbara Carver said her husband is making progress.
“He's going to beat this and he's going to come back to us. He does squeeze his hand for the nurse,” she said.
She says her focus, right now, is her husband but questions the mayor's account of what took place.
“I don't believe it,” Barbara Carver said.
Her attorney, Brian Mincher, says he went door-to-door near the accident Wednesday looking for clues, videos and witnesses.
“It's incredibly difficult to believe that his account of what took place could possibly be accurate. It stretches credulity, to say the least,” Mincher said.
Answers, they hope, will come with time.
Right now, they say what's needed most are prayers.
