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IDEXX CEO Suffers Severe Spinal Cord Injury After Bicycle Crash

The CEO of the Westbrook-based company Idexx Laboratories announced Wednesday that he suffered a severe spinal cord injury in a cycling accident last month. Jon Ayers is expected to be in rehab for three to five months.

Ayers made the announcement through a statement posted to the company's website. He says the accident happened during his regular group morning ride June 27th.

Ayers says he has limited arm and wrist movement, and no mobility or sensory in his hands, torso, and legs. He is currently being treated at what he describes as a world-class rehabilitation center, where he hopes to regain some neuromuscular capability.

A spokesperson from Idexx declined to provide comment beyond Ayer's statement. The executive director of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, John Williams, says Ayers is a strong supporter of the cycling community and an enthusiastic rider.

"He's told me stories of getting up in Portland in the morning and riding to Mt Washington and back all in the same day,” says Williams. “It's pretty incredible. He loves riding and I hope that he'll be able to get back to it at some point. But we're very, very sorry to hear the news."

While Ayers undergoes rehabilitation, he says he remains in close contact with senior management, including interim CEO Jay Mazelsky.

Idexx is a veterinary and water quality diagnostics company that employs nearly three-thousand people in Maine and more than eight-thousand worldwide.