Malibu planning commissioner Mikke Pierson suffered a punctured lung, several broken bones and a concussion in a mountain biking accident in the Santa Monica Mountains on the Fourth of July, his wife Maggie Pierson confirmed. He is expected to make a slow but full recovery.
Pierson was mountain biking with a group that normally meets up once a week when he landed hard on his head after picking up too much speed on a steep portion of Malibu’s Backbone trail and flying about 35 feet in the air, his wife said.Â
“He said he was going probably 30 miles an hour,” Maggie Pierson said.
Fortunately, he was wearing a helmet which likely saved his life, according to his doctor.
The accident left him with a concussion and major injuries to his left side, including a dislocated elbow, punctured lung, broken rib, broken hand and fractured hip. Recovery has been estimated at about six weeks, his wife said.Â
The doctor was concerned with the punctured lung but the planning commissioner seemed to make progress overnight Thursday. There was also concern that the hip fracture would require surgery.
“I think we’re out of the woods with those things now,” Maggie Pierson said.
Her husband is recovering at Los Robles Hospital in Thousand Oaks and could be released as soon as Monday, after which he will meet with a hand specialist to schedule surgery on his elbow and hand.
“I’m really optimistic because he really got his positive spirit back today,” his wife said Friday evening.
Pierson, who lives in Paradise Cove and owns a surf shop in Santa Monica, was appointed to the Malibu Planning Commission last May by Councilwoman Laura Rosenthal. His wife said he will likely be able to attend the next commission’s next meeting on July 29.
“Getting out to visit the properties might be more of a challenge,” Maggie Pierson said. “But reviewing the documents and that sort of thing should be fine.”