The mountain biking community, and all park users, were saddened to hear of the untimely passing of Matt Chaplin, who died suddenly on Thursday April 24 while riding the trails.  Neil Silverman and others on the ride attempted to assist him, but the apparent heart attack that took his life did so immediately.  Matt is survived by his wife and three young children, and PMBA offers its deepest sympathies to them.  PMBA is collecting donations to the Chaplin Childrens' Scholarship Fund - see the box at the top of this page. This special fundraiser will end MAY 10 and we will send all money collected on that date.

This incident has underscored the need for preparedness on bike rides, and PMBA will be addressing these issues in the coming weeks.  Knowledge of first aid, awareness of your location in the park and the nearest emergency access, and having a plan for dealing with accidents and injuries will be important topics of discussion.  Similarly,  the event underscores some of the inadequacies in the ability of emergency responders to enter and navigate through the park, which FOW has addressed in its Sustainable Trails Initiative.  Although this tragedy was apparently not preventable, these initiatives should improve the quality and speed of both public and private responses to similar incidents in the park.

"Denise, the widow of Matt Chaplin, wants to thank everyone in the park that night, especially the mountain bikers, who cared for her husband during such a tragic time. She could not express in words how much it meant to her that total strangers made sure everything possible was done, and we took care of him like family. Denise said Matt was the type of person who would have done the same for any stranger that needed help" said Neil Silverman who was the man with Matt.

"Having us there at the time of his death, and the time-line I told her at the hospital, comforted her that he did not suffer and passed away enjoying what he was doing. I also let her know Saturday that his death was a wake up call for a lot of us: getting medical check-ups, pushing for EMS awareness of park locations, and learning more advanced first aid. She was touched, because Matt would have wanted it that way."

"He was a fitness fanatic, eating healthy and working out constantly, and said she found his FOW hat recently from when he lived in Chestnut Hill some years back. He was trying to get re-plugged into the area that he missed so much, and he was very excited he found a late afternoon Thursday ride that fit into his schedule. She has asked me to show her where he passed away, so she can spread some of his ashes in the park that he knew and loved so much."