Doctors riding Harley-Davidson killed in crash on family holiday

[BaZa ®]

I'll get all these wishes sent to their children.

R.I.P. from HDRCGB.




From The Times

April 3, 2008
Doctors riding Harley-Davidsons killed in crash on family holiday







Two highly regarded British doctors have been killed on a family holiday in Florida after a truck hit their Harley-Davidson motorcycle on a popular biker route near Daytona Beach.
Friends and colleagues paid tribute yesterday to the couple, Dr Walter Rhoden, a senior heart specialist at Barnsley General Hospital, and Dr Kathryn Phipps, a GP who helped to train doctors in south Yorkshire.
The couple, who were both motorcycle enthusiasts, were on holiday with their three children, Jamie, Emily and Oliver, when a Nissan Frontier pulled across into their pathway, causing the fatal collision. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
Charges are pending against the Nissan driver, Daniel Couse Jr, according to the Florida Highway Patrol, which is treating the case as a traffic homicide investigation.
It is understood that the children, aged 12 to 17, were staying at the family timeshare in Orange Lake Resort, Orlando, at the time of the crash on Sunday afternoon.
Friends told The Times that Dr Rhoden, 47, had sold his TVR sports car about a year ago to buy himself the Harley-Davidson. Dr Phipps, 45, who was riding as his pillion passenger, had been planning to get her own motorcycle licence on their return.
Yesterday there were tributes from fellow medics and former students praising the well-loved GP “with the wildly-coloured hair, infectious enthusiasm and ability to shop” and the “superb cardiologist” with a dry sense of humour.
Mark Atkin, a senior partner at Valley Medical Centre, Sheffield, where Dr Rhoden ran a cardiology clinic for ten years, said: “Walter was very old-fashioned in that if somebody had a problem, he would pursue it until the very end, and make sure it would get completed. He cared.” Dr Atkin said that the couple would be remembered for their outgoing personalities: “They were larger than life, and the manner in which they died in a way shows how they lived life to the full,” Colleagues at Barnsley General Hospital said Dr Rhoden was “an absolutely fabulous man”.
The children are believed to have flown back to England on Monday, and are being cared for by extended family and their long-term nanny.

[reddwytch]

my blessings to the family

sorry to hear about doctors .they are gonna be truely missed.

again blessings ..

R.I.P

redd

[Andy in Beds]

Very sad indeed and my condolences go to the family.

Andy.

[Veggie]

What an absolute tragedy.

Sincere condolences to all the family and friends of the deceased, and may the little ones be spared any nightmares and remember only good things.

R.I.P., we are all in your mirrors.

[joemcdonaldmotorbi]

Wat a tragic loss and condolences to all the kin. It is terrible that this should happen to a family trying to holiday together. What can one say other than our thoughts are with you and a tragidy like this hurts us all. God bless and help all concerned to come through this.
Thoughtfully
Joe.

[badnamemike]

Very sad story .

[Music]

My sincere condolences to the friends and family for the tragic loss of Dr Walter Rhoden and Dr Kathryn Phipps very sad.

Rob

[Fingers]

Another tragic 'accident' which shouldn't have happened.

My condolences go out to their family and friends.

R.I.P.

[WORMY]

our thoughts are with the children to have lost both their parents is so tragic.

[MacHarry]

What an absolute tragedy.

Sincere condolences to all the family and friends of the deceased, and may the little ones be spared any nightmares and remember only good things.

R.I.P., we are all in your mirrors.

Harry and Diane