Beloved grandfather in Montgomery County dies after riding bike over pothole

A family in Montgomery County is mourning the loss of their loved one, Joseph Kenas, who died after hitting a pothole while riding his bike.

The accident happened on Morris Road in Fort Washington, just down the road from the Germantown Academy on Tuesday, March 10. Kenas died on Friday after spending several days in a Philadelphia hospital.

Kenas’ family told NBC10 that he was compassionate, social and an avid cyclist.

“It was such a beautiful day,” said Stephen Kenas, Joseph’s son. “It was the 80 degree weather we had. He had to get out. He just could resist. So my mom was like, ‘Make it a shorter ride. We have dinner later. We have to get you back and get you ready.'”

But the 69-year-old from Abington Township struck a pothole while riding down his normal route, causing his deadly injury.

“I really wanted to go and see for myself,” said Stephen. “It’s hard for me to believe a pothole took out such a strong man.”

The father of three and grandfather of five died after being declared brain dead, his family said.

“We were there in the hospital. They wanted to do an MRI to check for brain activity, and once we got results, we knew that his life was lifeless and there was no brain activity,” Stephen said. “And that’s when we had to make the call. And that’s really hard.”

Stuart Leon, a Philadelphia-based bicycle crash lawyer who is not connected to the case, said it’s the government’s responsibility to do the upkeep of roadways. He recommends people report any potholes to PennDOT in Pennsylvania.

“We’re lawyers working for only bicycle crash victim,” Leon said. “Every single week somebody calls us up, hey got crashed out by the condition of the road.”

“I’ve seen people talking about getting their car tires blown out,” Leon added. “Think about the harm that’s down when a bicycle rider gets crashed out by a pot hole. We’re talking about head trauma, broken teeth.”

According to PennDOT, they’ve received over 13,000 reports of pothole in southeastern Pennsylvania in the last year.

The agency also said they’ve gotten reports of two potholes on Morris Road in the past year.

Neighbors said the particular patch where Joseph died has been a reoccurring problem. However, the pothole that caused the accident has since been covered.

“It was powerful to see the hole, and that helped me process a little better,” Stephen said. “But when you hear a pothole taking someone’s life, you don’t want to believe it. But when you see what it is, you’re like wow. I can’t believe it got to this point.”

The family said Joseph’s funeral is this Friday.

As for if they will take any legal action, the family said that they’re not sure about that yet.