After near-fatal crash, cyclist rides across America for homeless

Tom Schwein was mere feet from the finish line of Ride the Rockies in 2015 when everything changed for him.

Earlier that day, he was told that Samaritan Cycling USA , a ministry he helped start in 2011 to support Catholic Charities’ Samaritan House , had raised a cumulative $250,000 in just over four years. He was rightfully excited. He couldn’t wait to high-five an injured teammate at the finish line.

Then came a dip in the pavement.

“The wheel went 90 degrees, and I went face-first into the pavement,” he recalled. “I was out cold. I don’t know for how long.”

When he woke up, saved, he believes, by his helmet and divine providence, he remembers, clear as day, hearing the Holy Spirit tell him, “Peace be with you. You will recover.”

He was rushed to the hospital. Two days later, after specialists reviewed the tests, he was told he was a walking miracle.

“You’re a very lucky man,” Schwein remembers one specialist telling him, shaking his head, incredulous. “You missed a brain bleed by a quarter of a millimeter.”

That’s roughly the size of a fine grain of table salt. To say it was a close call might be underselling things.

“I was never going to ride a bike again. I…