Northwestern teacher awarded fellowship to bike across country

May 12—Even after being hit by a motorist in 2016, Donita Walters wanted to bike across the country.

Not even 48 hours before leaving for California to begin her cross-country trek, Walters was taking her last bike ride in Indiana. She was being followed by a "bike angel," a driver following behind her in a pace vehicle on a rural road in Kokomo. Around 7 p.m. on May 24, 2016, a car passed the bike angel going nearly 60 mph, and didn't see Walters until it was too late. It was around 7 p.m. May 24, 2016.

The accident left her seriously injured. The Kokomo Tribune reported that she was flown to St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis, where she spent 23 days recovering from her injuries, including a broken neck and a pelvis broken in two places. She also suffered internal bleeding, blood clots and a hemorrhage behind one of her eyes.

Walters, Northwestern High School's varsity swim coach and aquatics director and lifeguard/CPR instructor, still feels the echoes of that accident today. She suffers from chronic pain in her hip, back and neck, and memory loss from a traumatic brain injury.

Rather than keeping Walters off the bike, she was more determined than ever to take her bicycle across the country. And now, she will make the 4,217 mile trip on her favorite bike, "Black Beauty."

She was one of approximately 100 teachers to be awarded the Lilly Endowment Inc. Teacher Creativity Fellowship Program of 2021. The grant will allow Walters to make that trek she's been dreaming of for years.

Walters said the fellowship allows teachers to do things they wouldn't be able to do without funding. She said the "phenomenal program" refreshes teachers and encourages them to keep teaching.

"I'll be honest, the trip wouldn't have happened," she said. "It wouldn't be even close to happening without this funding this time ... and I still have a ton of support from the community."

Walters will be leaving school a week early to embark on the journey. She teaches swim lessons until 6 p.m. May 21, and will head out around 5 a.m. May 22 and travel to Yorktown, Va.

The plan is to complete the ride with her close friend, Kristy Massey, and Jocelyn Samuel, is following as SAG (support and gear), in a camper. Additionally, Walters is using the trip to raise money for the Fuller Center, an organization that builds homes for those in need.

The trip begins with "Day 0," May 23, just to get Walters off the coast and out of the city. Day 1, May 24, is the fifth anniversary of the trip.

"That's significant," she said. "When I realized how the trip was unfolding, I went to Northwestern (School Corp.) and said what are the chances of this happening? ... Northwestern has been incredibly supportive of helping me work that out, I'm so grateful."

The trip has 74 scheduled ride days, of which Walters plans to bike 65-100 miles each day. She said she plans to be home no later than Aug. 4 because school starts Aug. 8.

In preparation for the trip, Walters bikes to and from school — eight miles each way — plus an additional 20-30 miles on weeknights, and up to 100 mile rides on the weekends. She also decided to take a trip out west to prepare for the mountainous and hilly terrain not found in Indiana.

"I'm not going to lie, there isn't a day that I don't hurt," she said. "Not a day that I don't know that I was hit. It's kind of a mindset."

Safety is high priority for Walters, especially after the accident. Samuel's SAG vehicle will have plenty of spare bike parts and tubes and tires, just in case.

She has a solar-powered panel that can charge her phone and power a radar, called Garmin Varia, that alerts her when there's up to three cars behind her, and if the vehicle is traveling above the posted speed limit. She has a helmet that is lighted and includes turn signals, plus lights on the front of her bike. She also wears a blinking safety vest.

Just a year ago, the longest trip she'd made was 75 miles. Walters is never almost never biking alone, though.

Above all, she credits her faith in God as her foundation and strength. She has a very long list of family, friends, co-workers and cheerleaders who ride with her. One such friend is Justine Christensen, Northwestern High School's athletic trainer.

"She helped me realized how much I can push myself," she said. "She's such a great motivator and you can see that in her (students). She sees what they can do, and she pushes for the best out of them."

Beth Harrison, a friend of Walters' and a swim team parent, said she loved Walters from when they met about ten years ago. She said Walters' no-nonsense approach to coaching has shaped her childrens' lives.

"This trip she is taking could be thought of as crazy, but she knows it's a goal she needs and wants to complete," Harrison said in an email. "It's what she tells her swimmers all the time. She is a person of integrity, fight, and faith!"

Helen Fivecoate is a swimmer and cyclist. She said that the swim team would be unable to accomplish much of what it has in the past few years without Walters' determination, something that Fivecoate has seen firsthand.

"She is one of the most caring and resilient people I know," Fivecoate said. "I have seen her fall in the middle of a bike ride, break her wrist, and make it back to the car very little complaint."

Gratitude toward community support doesn't stop at those in the schools and at church. Walters also mentioned medical staff who she said saved her life, Dr. Renn Critchlow, Dr. Bradley Jelen and Dr. Greg Merrell.

"Without them this would not be possible," she said. "I am thankful God crossed our paths. When you get (air lifted) to a hospital you don't get to pick your medical team, but God certainly had a hand in this."

Laura Arwood can be reached at 765-454-8580, laura.arwood@kokomotribune or on Twitter @LauraArwood.