New grandfather killed in head-on crash
By Rich Harbert
MPG Newspapers
PLYMOUTH (June 27) - Peter Leahy survived two kidney transplants but not the passion for the open road that came with his new lease on life.
The local engineer who pursued a passion for motorcycles after a second kidney transplant two and a half years ago died this week in a head-on crash in Manomet.
Leahy, a 43-year-old father of five who became a grandfather for the first time Sunday, died instantly Monday when his Honda skidded under a car near White Horse Beach.
Leahy was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident on White Horse Road shortly after 1 p.m.
Police said Leahy's Honda was rounding a corner just west of Rocky Hill Road when it drifted into the lane of oncoming traffic and collided with an Audi convertible driven by a 67-year-old Newton woman. The other driver, Shirley Fitzpatrick, was not injured but was treated at Jordan Hospital for shock.
Police said there was no indication that alcohol, drugs or even speed was a factor in the crash but had no explanation for why the motorcycle veered into oncoming traffic. Relatives suggested that Leahy may have been trying to swerve around a patch of sand in the road when he drifted into the convertible's path.
Robin Leahy, the victim's wife, said her husband had only been riding for a few years - since she donated one of her kidneys to him two and a half years ago - but he was an avid motorcyclist who loved riding. Leahy was a member of the Honda Magna Riders Club and was a supporting member of Women on Wheels, a group his wife joined after learning to ride a motorcycle of her own.
Together, the Leahys regularly trekked throughout the region. Last year, they journeyed together to New York and were slated to vacation in Maine this summer. Earlier this year, Peter Leahy rode to a bike rally in Virginia with friends one weekend. "He left on a Friday and was back on Monday, 1,600 miles, and I knew he was coming back," Robin Leahy said. "Now he's not coming back and I don't know what I'm going to do. He was my best friend."
Witnesses said there was nothing that anyone could do for Leahy, whose Honda broke apart in the crash near Vinebook Road. "There were pieces flying everywhere. They were shoveling them up," said Emma Hasham, a White Horse Road resident who heard the crash and went to see if she could help. Hasham said a nurse who was on the scene before paramedics tried to help Leahy but could not find a pulse.
Witnesses said it appeared that Fitzpatrick tried to avoid the collision by steering into the sidewalk of the road, which leads to White Horse Beach.
Witnesses also noted that the stretch of road, the scene of accidents in the past, was not clearly marked with a center line. Remnants of the line were discernable but the distinctive yellow marking normally in the middle of such roads seemed to have been worn away.
"To me that tells you how often people drift over the line. They've worn it right off," said Maureen MacKenzie, who like others complained about high speeds on the road, especially in summer. MacKenzie noted that police had been running a radar trap on the road earlier in the day as part of a regular effort to discourage speeding.
Denise Nilosek, who travels up and down the sidewalk with her children to get to the beach, the post office, the store and church, said her family is concerned that pedestrians might be injured someday as well. Nilosek wheeled her two children down the sidewalk in a stroller less than an hour before the crash and had to make her way through the woods to get home because police closed down the road for more than two hours because of concerns about spilled fuel.
Leahy, who designed synthesizer keyboards for Young Chang Research and Development of Waltham, was an avid music lover who played keyboards for fun but never joined a band. "He used to say he wasn't good enough but I always thought he was," said Robin Leahy.
A Braintree native, Peter Leahy lived in Plymouth for the last 17 years. He fathered two children in a prior marriage before becoming father to Robin's three children from a prior marriage as well.
Tracey Norwood, the victim's sister-in-law, said Leahy had kidney problems since birth and had his first kidney transplant about 10 years ago. The first transplant started to fail after he met Robin and Peter was preparing to begin the complicated process of looking for a matching donor when the couple learned that Robin was the perfect match.
"That was the end of the search right there," said Norwood. "They were married the day they went in for surgery two and half years ago in Brigham and Women's Hospital. He still went back for tests to make sure everything was fine but he took to it and was thriving. There were no complications."
Norwood said Leahy discovered his passion for motorcycles after getting his new lease on life and liked nothing better than being on the open road.
Robin only recently started riding a Honda of her own at her husband's urging. She took classes and got her license and traveled with him to Lake George last year. "He had the love to ride and wanted to ride all the time," said Norwood.
Robin Leahy's motorcycle sat under a black tarp in the driveway of the couple's home this week as family and friends struggled with the loss. "I don't know what I'll do. I don't know if I'll ever get on it again," Robin Leahy said of the bike.