Former Key Club chef has weeks of recovery ahead after car-bicycle crash

It will take weeks for Corey Reed to recover from injuries he received when he was hit on his bicycle by an SUV on his way home from work at the Longboat Key Club on Aug. 27.

Still, though, he's grateful. 

“All things considered, I’m glad I’m alive,” Reed said. 

Reed, 35, suffered a shattered shoulder blade, a knee with possible meniscus damage, an ankle with possible torn ligaments and a concussion in the crash in the 1200 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive on his second day of work as a chef at the Longboat Key landmark.

“I don’t actually remember the impact because it came from behind, but I basically woke up a few minutes after that,” Reed said. “I was facedown in the ditch, and I say woke up, but I could have been conscious. I just…the first thing I remember after the fact was basically seeing the ambulance there and the paramedics running towards me.”

 Reed had just started working as a banquet chef, preparing food for weddings, private dinners, lunches and brunches. He had not been on the job long enough to qualify for paid medical leave and Reed figures he won't be able to work for up to three months. 

The driver, a 48-year-old Tampa woman, was arrested shortly after the crash following a traffic stop on Bird Key of her 2016 Hyundai SUV.

The driver was charged with leaving the scene of a crash with serious bodily injuries and driving under the influence with serious bodily injuries, court records show. She was released on $7,500 bond and ordered to appear in court on Oct. 8.

Reed was living just east of downtown Sarasota with his aunt and a cousin. He is hoping to get rehired by the Key Club once he recovers.

“It’s a big if,” Reed said. “It just kind of depends on how my therapy and recovery goes.”

In April, Reed moved to Sarasota from Breckenridge, Colorado. He expressed how much he was looking forward to his banquet chef role with the Key Club.

“This is by far the biggest position I’ve ever gotten before, and I just I can’t even explain to you how excited I was for this,” Reed said.

Reed has gone back and forth to Kansas so his parents can help him with his recovery, but he flew back to Florida on Monday, Sept. 6 to see a neurologist and an extremity specialist. He plans to go back to Kansas for about a week and a half before returning again to Florida.

Reed said he understands if the Key Club isn’t in a position to rehire him.

“If they’d have to come to hiring someone else or whatever, there won’t be any hard feelings there,” Reed said.

Despite the crash and weeks of recovery ahead, Reed says he’s counting his blessings.

“I hope even if one person reads it, and it keeps them from getting super drunk and driving this weekend, maybe get an Uber instead, that’ll be worth it,” Reed said. “Save one life or save one incident like this from happening again.”