Zack’s Story

Site created on May 31, 2022

On Thursday, May 26th, Zack was involved in crash on his motorcycle. This terrible accident happened while he was entering a parking lot in Park City, UT.  He was just running out to get the mail.  He was only going a few blocks on a quick, routine errand.  He was headed out of town shortly - with one of his buddies, on a camping trip.  That trip would be filled with rafting, trails, bikes, photo shoots and surely - extreme nature filled adventure.

We all know Zack as a man of backcountry and off grid sports - he grew up in Minnesota - spending 7 days a week freestyle skiing from the first snowflake fall until the last melted snow puddle dried. He camped on Lake Superior every weekend with his mom and family unless he was skiing. (Yes, there are places to ski in MN)

He moved to the beautiful mountains of Utah and settled into a warm, loving community in Park City, seven years ago. 

Zack has:
Hiked a thousand miles - even the arctic circle in Alaska. 
Skied 10 million runs - even when there’s no lift or groomed trail
Biked over thousands of jumps, logs, holes, swamps, canyons, rocks, dirt, sand - with and without motors attached
Camped in 3 countries - on beaches, in deserts, in rainforests, on glaciers, in mountains, in the boundary waters, in a canoe, in a hammock, on the ground, in a van, in his truck, and he’s not done.

Zack has lived a life you read about in outdoor magazines - but, without a sponsor, without a book deal … at 25.

… all of that, and countless other nature filled feats … and Zack winds up with a traumatic brain injury, unresponsive for almost a week with broken bones - while just getting the mail. 

So unlikely. So unexpected. So unfair. 

Zack’s Mom Heidi - and his Aunt, Robin, will be updating this Caring Bridge site with his health status.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t give a shout out to his boss and winery owner Jason Morgan of Old Town Cellars. Jason has been a personal champion for Zack and Heidi. He set up a gofundme account for her to use - for medical bills, especially living out of town, will be more than tough and could be insurmountable for them.

And a very humble thank you to Zack’s friends, roomies, past employers, the park city community friends who are cheering on Zack’s recovery. It will be a long haul.

We think Zack is one of the most gentle souls we know, he’s kind, generous, open to everyone and deserves to be able to live his best life again, working - living outdoors with a fierce passion for nature adventure - capturing the beauty of the backcountry and city sights with his photography and artistic arial shots - and loving his best friend, his fur baby - Spoke.

Please visit often. We hope there’s constant progress and improvement to report every day.

We’ve been told that brain trauma is a lot of waiting around, a lot of uncertainty and unknowns.

He’s receiving good care - in a Neurosurgery Critical Care department at the University of Utah.

On behalf of Zack, thank you all for caring so much.
He will be overwhelmed by your love and generosity when he wakes up.




Go fund me:
Cut & paste
https://gofund.me/6c3a7b38

Or click on header for “Ways to help” - select “go fund me”

Caring Bridge has a nice app in the App Store

Newest Update

Journal entry by Heidi Meland

Hey you all, it’s Zack! My mom Heidi and aunt Robin have been operating this page for me and I’ve been so grateful. Grateful for everything they’ve done for me throughout this, from staying with me in Park City and taking full care of me, to driving me to all of my therapies, and giving me places full of love to stay in Minnesota. Its been 10 months now, and I’m ready to pick up where I left off. I moved back to Park City, Utah! This move coming after being reminded how great Minnesota is, I’m not sure if it’s permanent, but it is my next step. This has been a very hard, long journey, but necessary. All of your support has meant the world to me and it couldn’t have helped out more, so thank you!!! 

I’ll be going back to outpatient therapies at the U of U, reintegrating with my friends out here, slowly returning to some of the sports I loved (though way more chill than before), staying in touch with family and visiting them as much as possible, and figuring out my next steps while having fun along the way. I’ve been wiling away the time recently by skiing and biking again, though as I say, being as extreme as possible isn’t important to me anymore. It really is a way of life, skiing and snowmobiling, mountain biking and dirt biking, it’s a way to see beauty, feel excitement, get exercise, work your brain solving problems, be social, and to be happy. Thanks again to every one of you, and I can’t wait to see what this next chapter holds! Thanks a bunch! I will be around so don’t be afraid to reach out if you feel like it, but knowing that you all are here and cared enough to read these is amazing and more than enough!

It’s tough bonkin yer head so hard,

Zack
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