West Deer man known for his generosity recovering in North Carolina after motorcycle collision

Rob Keller of West Deer was riding his motorcycle down a hillside in Cullowhee, N.C., to raise money for homeless veterans in Pittsburgh last month when he was struck by an out-of-control pickup.

Keller, 56, had been participating in the Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge when the pickup rammed into him.

“I have no idea what happened,” Keller said Thursday from CarePartners Rehabilitation Hospital in Asheville, N.C., where he is recovering.

Keller’s wife, Karen, said her husband flew over a guardrail and landed about 25 feet from where he had been hit.

He broke bones and suffered other internal injuries, including a punctured lung.

The truck ended up on top of his bike, a red 2017 Harley-Davidson Road Glide. The bike was destroyed.

Keller was on the last leg of the ride. He remembers nothing about the collision.

“It was really weird. There was so much strange stuff going on in my mind. I don’t know,” Keller said. “My memory just started clearing up about six days ago.”

Karen Keller said her husband had been riding behind a husband and wife who were on separate bikes.

The woman told Karen the truck almost hit her, too, but when she saw it coming, she sped up to avoid it.

It had been raining, and they had been going around a bend, Karen said.

“She witnessed the truck going across the road. She didn’t see Rob. She waited and waited, and he didn’t come around. She just felt in her gut he didn’t miss Rob,” Karen said.

She said the woman pulled over at a little market and ran in to call 911. As that was happening, a group of men on a hunting trip drove by. They happened to be paramedics and an off-duty police officer. They already were helping her husband by the time other Hoka Hey riders and an ambulance arrived.

“We feel that was just a miracle,” Karen said.

Rob Keller owns a construction company and is a songwriter-singer-musician for the band “The Shiners.”

He’s going though rehabilitation and physical therapy. Because of his injuries, he likely won’t be able to work for a long time.

GoFundMe account set up

Shannon Wockley is a friend of the Kellers. She started a GoFundMe account to help them because Keller has done so much for others.

“He was always doing things for the Indian reservations and the troops,” Wockley said. “Veterans, retired veterans, homeless vets. People that he’s known and people he didn’t know, he’s always contributed, somehow, some way.”

The Kellers are grateful for the support. Karen said the GoFundMe campaign has made it possible for her to be with her husband as he recovers. It’s been especially helpful with all the coronavirus-related restrictions surrounding hospitals.

The account had raised more than $25,000 of its $50,000 goal as of mid-Wednesday afternoon.

“It’s definitely a huge relief,” Keller said. “Our community is incredible. We help each other when things go bad. And things sure went bad this time.”

He declined to discuss any potential lawsuits that might come as a result of the collision.

“I just want to get better,” Keller said. “(I’m) hoping to get home within the next couple weeks.”

A public Facebook group, “Rob Keller’s road to recovery,” has been providing updates on his progress. It has about 1,200 members who have been offering words of support and prayers.

“There’s stories on there of how — people that we never even knew, or even his wife — how Rob touched their lives. I can’t even explain it,” Wockley said. “He’s incredible, that’s all I can say, and it shows just from his recovery page and his GoFundMe.”

Karen doesn’t know when her husband will be able to come home but said he’s progressing at a good pace. He’s been doing assisted walking and was recently cleared to walk on his own.

“They’re very impressed with his willpower, and he’s determined,” she said.

Rob Keller has been involved with charities his whole life. He said it’s humbling people are giving back to him. In addition to the GoFundMe account, people are selling wristbands and T-shirts and having concert events. Keller said his family will be there for those people, too, whenever they need it.

“This has just been overwhelming to see everybody giving back to me after what happened,” Keller said. “It’s just a continuation of what we do.”

Keller said if he’s able, he’ll get back on a bike.

“Riding motorcycles is an inherently dangerous sport, and you have to love it to do it,” Keller said. “And if you do it, you love it.”