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Despite a local physician’s attempt to save an injured bicyclist, a prominent physician at Johns Hopkins Fibroid Center in Greenspring Station, Lutherville, Md., died after a sleepy driver lost control of his vehicle on Route 1 in Dewey Beach.
Cpl. Josh Bushweller, state police spokesman, said Dr. John G. Griffith, 44, of Timonium, Md., was riding his bicycle on the southbound shoulder of Route 1, about a mile north of the Indian River Inlet bridge, shortly before 8 a.m., Saturday, July 28. When the chain on his bicycle broke, he stopped along the west side of the southbound shoulder to repair it.
Bushweller said Barry Boulden, 18, of Millsboro, was driving a 2002 Pontiac Grand Am in the southbound lane of Route 1, when he apparently fell asleep at the wheel. The car drifted onto the shoulder and struck Griffith.
Dr. John Spieker of Orthopaedics Associates of Southern Delaware is an avid bicyclist who was riding with a friend down Route 1 at the time of the crash. He was only minutes behind the crash. “I looked up and saw the sudden change in traffic,” said Spieker. “I saw one car pull over, and an occupant got out. I thought, ‘this doesn’t look good’.”
Spieker approached Griffith’s body, which was on the shoulder. “It was obvious he had massive internal injuries,” said Spieker. “I straightened out his extremities, stabilized the neck and checked the pupils, which were already fixed and dilated.” He said a nurse then stopped, and the two of them continued to try lifesaving techniques until paramedics arrived. “It was just terrible,” said Spieker. Griffith was pronounced dead at the scene.
After impact, said Bushweller, the car swerved to the left and crossed the southbound lanes, the center grass median and the northbound lanes, stopping when it reached a grassy area on the side of the road.
Spieker said he had come upon a hit-and-run crash years ago in New York City, and he was concerned that was the case when Griffith was struck, because at first he could not see the vehicle. When he finally had a chance to look around, he realized he had not noticed the car because it was so far away from the crash site. “The driver was walking around the area talking on his cell phone, so I knew he wasn’t going anywhere,” said Spieker.
According to the Johns Hopkins website, the center Griffith directed was a new clinical and research center that uses a multidisciplinary approach to treating women with uterine fibroids. The clinic offers the latest treatment modalities for minimally invasive gynecological procedures.
“The department faculty, postgraduate physicians, nurses and staff are deeply shocked and saddened at John’s sudden and tragic death,” said Dr. Harold Fox, director of gynecology and obstetrics at Johns Hopkins. “John was a rising star who has fallen from the sky. Our thoughts today are with his loving family.”
Griffith earned his medical degree from Case Western University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, and his bachelor of arts degree from Haverford College in Pennsylvania. He also held a master’s degree in public health, which he earned at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Public Health. He completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University Hospitals of Cleveland. Prior to joining the staff at Johns Hopkins, Griffith was in private practice.
“John will be greatly missed,” said Dr. Edward D. Miller, dean and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and children and the rest of his family, whose ties to Hopkins are deep and longstanding.” His father, Dr. Lawrence S.C. Griffith, is a cardiologist and professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins.
According to Johns Hopkins Media Relations & Public Affairs, Griffith, who was vacationing in Rehoboth Beach at the time of the crash, is survived by his wife, Liz, and children Henry, Isabel and Anna. A funeral service will be at 11 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 4, at Grace United Methodist Church, 5407 North Charles St., Baltimore.
Boulden is a Cape High graduate. Bushweller said charges against Boulden are pending the outcome of the Collision Reconstruction Unit’s investigation. At press time, police did not know whether alcohol or substances were a factor in the crash. Boulden was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash and was not seriously injured.
Griffith was the first pedestrian fatality in Sussex County in 2007. There have been eight pedestrian-related fatalities statewide to date this year, said Andrea Summers, Office of Highway Safety community relations officer. By this same time last year there were nearly double as many at 15.
Summers said total fatalities statewide are down in 2007, with 71 reported since Jan. 1, compared to 89 last year at this time. “The good news is the alcohol-related fatal crashes are down,” said Summers, “but motorcycle-related crashes are up – two over this same time last year. We’re also seeing an increase in aggressive-driving-related crashes this year.”
Contact Kerry Kester at kester@capegazette.com
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