Kate Leckie, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
The Frederick News-Post (Maryland)

May 19--Friends are rallying around a Frederick man who was critically injured while BASE jumping May 10 near Twin Falls, Idaho.

Scott Doyle, 34, a Montgomery County firefighter-paramedic, remains in a coma.

His parachute deployed, but the lines became twisted, according to news reports and the Jerome County, Idaho, sheriff.

The twisted lines caused Doyle to slam into the face of a cliff he had jumped off, then fall to the canyon.

"I understand he has not come out of the coma, but his condition has stabilized," Sheriff Doug McFall said Monday afternoon.

"He's not getting worse," said McFall, who has visited Doyle at the hospital twice since the accident, most recently Friday.

"His family is hoping to get him to the point where they can get him home for treatment."

Doyle was with his wife, Steph Doyle, and two other BASE jumpers when he crash landed in the Snake River canyon after jumping off a cliff. The Doyles are experienced jumpers.

BASE jumping involves parachuting from a fixed object. BASE is an acronym for the four categories of objects from which one can jump: building, antenna, span, and earth, according to basejumper.com.

In a blog she has been updating daily since May 13, Steph Doyle writes that her husband suffered a head injury, known as a diffuse axonal injury, in the 250-foot fall.

A diffuse axonal injury involves the widespread injury to axons, a part of the nerve cells in the brain, according to the Merck Manual Home Edition.

The injury typically causes loss of consciousness and can cause brain cells to die, according to the medical manual.

Scott Doyle's friends and colleagues gathered at 5:30 p.m. Monday at a Rockville restaurant to discuss raising funds to bring Doyle home from Idaho so he can receive medical treatment locally.

Jaymie Birney, fundraising chairman for the Montgomery County Firefighters Pipes and Drums Band, said a benefit will be held on Doyle's behalf at 6 p.m. May 29 in Frederick . A location will be announced within days.

Jason Giza, a close friend of Doyle's and also a Montgomery County firefighter, said money may be donated into a PayPal account on the website of the Montgomery County Firefighters Pipes and Drums Band.

Doyle is a former pipe major in the organization.

Doyle's friends will need to raise as much as $20,000 for a fixed-wing flight to bring Doyle home, possibly next week. The flight is not covered by health insurance.

"Scott is one of our good friends," Giza said. "We are seeking donations as an avenue to support Scott and his family when he returns home."

Related

• "Scott" weblog

Copyright 2009 The Frederick News-Post
May 19, 2009