Lees-McRae cyclist in Johnson City ICU after head-on crash in Banner Elk

The head coach of Lees-McRae College’s men’s cycling team says one of his athletes needs a miracle after he was involved in a head-on crash while on a training run near the Banner Elk campus.

Freshman Tokif Beshir has been unconscious since Thursday and remains in an ICU ward at a Johnson City hospital, according to a GoFundMe account created to help him and his family who are originally from Ethiopia and now reside in Virginia.

Beshir, 20, is a premiere cyclist who recently captured the USCX Cyclocross championship at an event earlier this month in Baltimore. The report said Lees-McRae President Herbert King has been with Beshir’s family since the weekend.

(IMAGE: Property of Pexels / Pavel Danilyuk)