Four years, four months and 16 days after being declared dead, eight times, St. Mary’s College of Maryland student and Ironman Triathlete, Brian Boyle returned to Southern Maryland fresh from the lights and dazzle of show business.

As reported on TheBAYNET.com, Boyle spent Nov. 19 seated next to Ellen DeGeneres in awe as the garrulous talk show host shared Boyle’s life with the world on her talk show. “I went there and tried to be cool and collected and to be myself,” said Boyle. “It is amazing. They have people running all over, jumping up in front of me and when I saw the show, I was amazed at how calm it looked.”

The Nov. 19 experience is only the last in an inspiring journey for Boyle.

On July 6, 2004, Boyle was like the rest of us here in Southern Maryland. That is until 1:30 p.m. At that moment, leaving La Plata, Boyle’s 1994 Chevrolet Camaro was literally run over by a dump truck at a four-way stop.

 

Boyle was thrown across the car, his heart shoved  into the other side of his chest. He broke his ribs and crushed his lungs. The force of the impact crumpled his legs beneath the steering column and smashed his torso into the passenger door. He had shattered his pelvis and broken his clavicle. When the smoke and dust settled, Boyle had every organ in his body damaged or ruined and was burned over a good portion of his body.

For the next two months, Boyle remained in intensive care lying in a doctor-induced coma with his chest cracked open because his heart was stopping so frequently, doctors needed the quick access to save his life. None of the blood being massaged through his veins was his, but the product of transfusion after transfusion and plasma treatment after plasma treatment.

After four and a half months and countless life-saving procedures, Boyle was allowed to leave the hospital and enter rehab. A week later, he returned home. Through it all, Boyle never gave up.

“The only thing I can tell people experiencing anything like this,” said Boyle, “is to keep a positive attitude.” The affable young man and athlete stated that he will never fully move beyond the incident. “It is always there in my mind.”

Perhaps, but four years later, Boyle has not only recovered, but has become a world class triathlete. Last year he competed in the Ironman Triathlon held in Kona, Hawaii, finishing in fourteen hours, 42 minutes and 25 seconds.

This year he has already trimmed over two and a half hours from his triathlon time and is working to compete in the Ironman, once again. “I am trying to graduate, but it is tough as a part-time student and with all the training I have to do in order to compete,” said Boyle.

He now admits that his plans to graduate with a degree in Graphic Design have been pushed back from May 2009 to May 2010. “I intend to graduate, and then get a job, perhaps with one of my sponsors in that field.”

Every day brings a new revelation for Boyle. “I