Funds are pouring in to assist beloved Valparaiso High School English teacher Matt Thomas. The 2024 Indiana Teacher of the Year runner-up was struck by a pickup truck while he was out cycling on Sunday.

A fundraising goal of $75,000 has already been surpassed according to a GoFundMe page set up in his honor. Thomas is awaiting surgery after sustaining multiple fractures to his pelvis and femur.

“The hard part is the surgery keeps getting postponed,” said Thomas’ brother, Pat Thomas. “There’s only so many surgeons that do it.”

Thomas is resting at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois, as he awaits surgery. Extensive physical therapy will be needed but Pat Thomas said nurses are telling him they’re optimistic his brother will be able to walk again within six to eight weeks.

“He’s in good spirits. He’s really, really busy most of the time, so he’s probably going a little stir crazy,” said Pat Thomas, who spent time with his brother most days this week.

Tributes are pouring in along with the donations. “The best teacher ever!!! Praying for your recovery,” one recent post reads. Thomas graduated from Valparaiso High School in 1992 before attending Indiana University to study teaching.

According to the Porter County Sheriff’s Department, deputies responded around 2 p.m. Sunday to County Road 600 North and County Road 450 East for a vehicle/bicycle injury crash.

An initial investigation showed the pickup truck and Thomas were westbound on CR 600 N approaching CR 450 E along the Washington Township/Jackson Township line.

The pickup truck driver went into the left lane to pass the bicyclist at the intersection as the bicyclist turned left onto CR 450 E to travel south. The driver attempted to swerve and avoid the collision but was unable to.

The pickup truck went into the ditch on the south side of CR 600 N, and the driver tried to get out of the ditch by backing up, not knowing the bicyclist was lying in the grass behind his vehicle.

Thomas was struck a second time, police said. The male driver of the pickup truck was 81 years old.

The Post-Tribune reported in September 2023 in articles about Thomas’s finalist status for Teacher of the Year that he had developed a peppy style designed to keep students engaged. He said he tries to do something different every 10 minutes. Understanding other teachers motivates him, but money never has.

“He has a routine where he tries to run six dad jokes in a row without smiling,” Pat Thomas, also a teacher, said.

Matt Thomas coached cross country at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, as well as varsity boys’ basketball at Valparaiso High School. “Despite being the scrawniest little blonde girl in the grade, your support for my athletic ability was unwavering,” wrote another former student. “I remember you even called my dad to encourage me to stick with it.”

Pat Thomas said people have referenced the character of George Bailey from “It’s a Wonderful Life” when leaving tributes to his brother. “My brother and all of us family and friends have been so touched,” he said.

The brothers are both former Little 500 cyclists from their days at Indiana University. Matt Thomas was also a good runner, but switched back to cycling after one too many calf injuries.

“He had a renaissance of riding,” Pat Thomas said of his brother’s road cycling and gravel challenges.

Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.