The road to recovery for Mark Ray, a suspected hit-and-run victim last month, has been paved with good intention. Whether he can stand still long enough to appreciate that fully is another matter altogether.

Ray, an attacking midfield player with Wolves when he is not featuring on the cricket field for St. George's and Bermuda, has made tremendous strides since the traffic accident on November 9 that left his future in doubt. And, given the nature of the injuries he suffered, any imminent return to sport has been viewed as highly contentious.

The 32-year-old is not nicknamed “Beaver” because he likes to sit around idly, and as such, it is all that his partner, Tonica Adams, can do to protect Ray from himself.

Unfortunately for Ray, and the course of justice, there were no witnesses when the accident occurred outside Jamaican Grill on Parsons Road. The riders on the motorcycle attempted to flee the scene and a colleague of Ray's stopped them when their bike broke down. But, as Ray has no recollection of the accident, the Police are handcuffed in their attempts to prosecute.

“An officer came to my house and told me that if I remember anything I should call him, but I can't even remember walking across the street,” Ray said from the family home. “All I remember is waking up in Baltimore on the Thursday (six days later).”

The few days spent at King Edward VII Hospital were harrowing for the family, with Ray in constant pain due to “bruising on his brain. Tonica added: “There were contusions on the back and front and there was some blood. They (local doctors) were not sure where it was coming from.”

A snap decision to seek overseas treatment, prompted by the intervention of Danny Fagundo, a past president of National Sports Club where Ray received his formal upbringing in sports, landed him via air ambulance at Johns Hopkins Hospital. A CAT scan revealed significant bruising and swelling in the area around the brain but fears of long-term damage were allayed.

“The CAT scan didn't show anything like fracture,” said Tonica, who handled all medical matters during the interview. “Apparently, the blood was coming from the cut in the back of his head; it must have gone into his brain.

“They said that they didn't need to operate, it was just a matter of time before the swelling went down. They just did numerous CAT scans and each one showed the same thing.”

Ray's parents and sister, Lisa, visited him in Baltimore and even though he appeared to be over the worst of the ordeal, there remained worrying signs. “I used to get dizzy a lot,” he said. “Let's say I was watching TV and someone calls me and I turn, I started to feel dizzy. And I think from laying down all that period of time, my back was killing me.”

Today, Ray appears more concerned about his back after he had suffered an injury that rendered him useless a few years ago. “Coming back, we were on the plane, first class, but I was lying on the floor because I couldn't take sitting there,” he said. “Even in the mornings soon after returning, getting out of bed was hard.”

Tonica added: “The first day that he woke up was kind of scary because I was asking him questions like, ‘Who I am?', ‘Do you have children?', ‘Where do we live?'

“It was touchy when he didn't recognise his sister. He was asking, ‘Where is Lisa?' and she was standing right there. It took a while to get him to come around because he didn't appreciate where he was. A few times he didn't want to sleep on the bed, he was sleeping on the floor. So I had to babysit him because the nurses didn't know how to cope with him.”

When he was close to returning to normal, Tonica knew. “I was scared, petrified,” she said of the uncertainty of his condition, “and then dealing with him was another challenge. I was scared and seeing him try to move when he shouldn't was unnerving. He was up saying he's got to go to work, got to use the bathroom, he wouldn't keep the IV in. So I was just more worried about him doing more damage because it was at a point when we didn't know what was going on.

“At the same time his basic instincts were there, like he was rude . . . you know, closing the door in my face. Here I am petrified that he might fall down and strike his head on the sink or on the toilet and he closed the door in my face and locked the door.”

At which point, Ray paused from his laughter to feign selective memory with “I did that?”

The joking stops at a hint of a possible return to the domestic sporting scene. The authorities at Johns Hopkins have said that he should refrain from activities, even riding a bike, for six or seven weeks, so it was indeed disturbing to learn that Wolves were interested in him playing against Devonshire Colts last Wednesday night.

Given the physical nature of the Friendship Trophy match, in which five players were booked and another sent off, Ray's decision to hold off was a wise one.

“It is supposed to be no sports for at least six to seven weeks,” Tonica reiterated. “No driving a car, no riding a bike. But he won't stay still. We even had to take the bike keys away from him. The second day we were back he wanted to get on the bike. I took the key away from him, and he took the other key.”

What has caused a shift recently in Ray's reckless behaviour is the concern shown by the man in the street after his nine-day stay at Johns Hopkins. “I can't thank enough people,” he said. “That's helped me a lot. I planned to stay away for a couple of weeks until I built myself up. But being there, just me and her (Tonica), unable to move around . . . that hurt me. So I said that I need to get back and just meeting people, and people calling to wish me well has brought me around a lot.

“I have always believed in the Lord. But I find myself these days praying up to six times a day. I would just be sitting here and suddenly praying, I'm so thankful.”

Tonica is determined to keep him to his word, but Ray has resumed training with Wolves and the holiday season begins tomorrow with a Dudley Eve Trophy match against PHC. Big game. And there is a glint in the man's eyes when the subject is broached until . . . “Until we get the OK from Johns Hopkins, he will not be playing any football,” Tonica interjected.

His activities in training have been restricted to fitness work. “When it comes to ball work, I fade out a bit because I'm not going into any tackles,” Ray said. “I'm timid still, but I feel a lot better. Brown (Wolves coach) wanted me to play the other day, but I'm not ready yet.”

The same can be said, to some degree, of his call-up to the national cricket team for the Americas Regional Tournament to be held in Argentina in March. The St. George's all-rounder was named Cup Match MVP in 1998 after scoring an unbeaten century that was central to the east enders saving the game. As a doughty batsman and outstanding fielder, he is an essential ingredient to any local cricket team but time is not on his side.

He said: “This has made really think a lot. I don't want to go out there and rush it, get a knock and that's it. I love sports but this has made me really think of life in general. I really need to take care of myself first and build off that. I've just got to make sure that I make the right decision at the right time.”

Ray concluded that since the accident he had lost his senses of taste and smell. And that is just about fine with Tonica as she heads a host of loved ones and medical experts who insist that he should not be sniffing around playing fields any time too soon.