CEDAR FALLS - Most people would say Dan and Malea Warrior are lucky to be alive.

The impact of a vehicle to the left side of their Harley Davidson cruiser Sept. 21 sent them both flying through the air and caused serious injuries to both of Dan's legs and Malea's left leg. They weren't wearing helmets but had no head injuries.

A third motorcyclist in their group received minor injuries when he ditched his bike to avoid a head-on collision with the vehicle. Another motorcyclist in the accident was not injured.

"I remember Dan said 'I love you,' then we hit the ground and we were rolling," Malea said. "I heard Dan yelling 'I love you' again. I felt he wanted to know if I was still alive or if I wasn't, that those were the last words I heard."

The Warriors know they are lucky; but they agree there was a higher power at play that Sunday at the intersection of Iowa Highway 58 and Viking Road.

"I said to God that I was leaving it up to him to take care of me," Malea said.

Malea and Dan both came to rest about 170 feet from the site of impact; Malea was in the middle of the road. Dan was in a ditch, the weight of the Harley pressing down on him. Within moments the couple was surrounded by about a dozen off-duty medical professionals who happened upon the accident. Malea calls them all "God's angels."

They stayed with the Warriors until emergency responders could get them into the ambulance. Waterloo doctors put a metal plate and 19 pins in Malea's left leg and transferred her to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. There, doctors refused to treat the leg until they could determine if the limb could be saved.

Though there were dead spots on the limb, which was held together with about 90 staples, Malea opted to push forward with the surgery to repair the gaping holes in her lower leg. In a nine-hour procedure doctors removed a strip of muscle in her back from armpit to waistline. The muscle was then attached to her lower leg. Skin, grafted from her upper left thigh, was placed over the muscle.

Her ankle is still "crushed like a cornflake," but Malea hopes doctors will fuse the shattered bones in the coming weeks and she will be able to walk again soon.

For now, she is mostly confined to her "command center," a reclining chair in her Cedar Falls living room. Her lower leg must stay above her heart at all times, unless she is moving from her chair to her bed or using the bathroom.

Dan, whose injuries were not as severe, also is still recovering from the accident. Bolts from the Harley's motor left three scars on his right leg. On his lower left leg, skin and muscle tissue flapped open.

"When I rolled over, I saw a big stream of blood up in the air. That was the first time I realized anything happened," he said. "I just grabbed it and kept yelling for Malea."

Dan now does physical therapy at home and plans to return to work for the city of Cedar Falls in February.

Though the couple is mostly able to get by on their own - their son, Joe, has moved back home to help out - the Warriors say they are forever thankful for family and friends who helped when they were unable to care for themselves. Ray and Della Mosher of Waterloo, the Warriors' friends from the Christian Motorcyclists Association, took the couple in while Malea was in and out of the hospital. Another couple has helped shuttle Malea back and forth between Cedar Falls and her Iowa City appointments.

And then there are the countless people who've helped in other ways.

"I don't know what we would have done without the help we have had from everyone," Malea said.

"We have had people from all over the country praying for us, and until you are in the position to need it, you don't understand just how important that is," Dan added.

Contact Emily Christensen at (319) 291-1570

or emily.christensen@wcfcourier.com.