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LONDON, ONT. -- On the road to recovery, but how long that road will be is still uncertain. Pete Mogan was able to return home on Wednesday after suffering significant injuries tobogganing last Saturday.

His wife, Jessica Bickell, is happy to have him home, but describes her current state of mind as overwhelmed, “You know, we have some good moments…and some not-so-good moments.”

Mogan was injured on a toboggan run in Byron’s Whisperwood Park. He was taken to the Trauma Unit at London Health Sciences Centre with a fractured skull, brain bleed and five fractured ribs.

Speaking around 10:30 Friday morning, Bickell highlighted the impacts on both of them saying, “I’ve been up since 2 a.m. just because he’s in so, so much pain.”

Then there are the effects of brain trauma; a lack of focus at times and short-term memory loss.

“We’ll be having conversations about things and he won’t remember, the next day, that we had a conversation about that already. It’s just adapting to that.”

The couple own The Rep Room, a fitness studio in Hyde Park. The pandemic already had them facing economic challenges, and Pete’s injuries will only add to  those challenges, but a GoFundMe page has raised over $44,000 since it was launched on Sunday.

“We enjoy helping others, so it feels very strange accepting it. At the same time, I know that I need the help and I know that I need to accept it. We feel so loved.”

Bickell says, as someone committed to fitness, Mogan has relied on discipline and determination all his life. While she thinks about what they could have done differenly on that sunny Saturday afternoon, including using protective equipment, she says the key now is to focus on recovery.

“You start to have all these regrets. But the one thing I have learned from my husband is just always put one step in front of the other and just keep moving forward.”