By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

 Twenty-five years after Rick Bineau’s life changed in an instant, he will accomplish a goal that refused to die: graduating from high school.

Bineau, a Biddeford native who now lives at Exeter Healthcare in New Hampshire, will be awarded an honorary diploma June 12 at the Biddeford High School graduation ceremony. The diploma, said his family, is a long time coming.

Bineau was an 18-year-old Biddeford High School student when he hopped onto a three-wheel ATV on June 21, 1985. Within minutes, faulty steering and brakes led to a crash that left Bineau clinging to life and paralyzed from the neck down.

Lucille Bineau, his mother, said the day of the accident is forever etched in her mind. She thought her oldest son was at the beach when a police cruiser pulled up to notify her of the accident. The police officer rushed her to the emergency room.

“I just about freaked,” she said. “I looked in and (machines) were breathing for him. It’s a sight I’ll never forget.”

Rick Bineau was transferred from Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford to Maine Medical Center in Portland for treatment of his broken first and second vertebrae. Doctors told Lucille Bineau her son might not survive the night.

“His eyes were just rolling. It was an awful sight,” she said. “I sometimes still see it.”

Rick Bineau spent the next five months in a coma in the intensive care unit. During that time, friends sent cards while others requested songs dedicated to him on local radio stations. A radio played in the hospital room and family was encouraged to keep talking to Rick Bineau.

Eventually, doctors suggested Lucille Bineau and Rick Bineau’s father, Richard Bineau, consider removing their son from the ventilator.

“I said I couldn’t make that decision. I prayed, ‘please help him do whatever he wants.’ We just kept talking to him and finally he came out of it,” Lucille Bineau said. “When he came out of his coma the first thing he said was ‘you know Dee Snider’s hair is short.’”

Lucille Bineau said her son, a fan of singer Dee Snider and the band Twisted Sister, heard about Snider’s hair on the radio while he was in a coma.

Rick Bineau spent more than 16 months in the hospital and rehabilitation center before moving home with his family. A settlement with Honda allowed Lucille Bineau to care for her son at home for 10 years. He requires around-the-clock care, she said.

By the time the settlement money ran out, Rick Bineau had far exceeded doctors’ expectations. The life expectancy for a patient on a ventilator is 10 years, Lucille Bineau said. No longer able to afford at-home care, the family made the difficult decision to move Rick Bineau to a residential care facility in New Hampshire, she said.

There, he receives constant care from a dedicated staff and frequent visits from family, Lucille Bineau said. Though her son is unable to walk or use his arms,  he continues to enjoy music, car races and connecting with old friends on Facebook, she said. The family hopes to buy him a new computer so he can have a consistent connection to the world outside his room.

When Joe Valenza, activities coordinator at Exeter Healthcare, found out Rick Bineau wanted to receive his diploma, he called the high school to find out how that could be achieved. Valenza said he was told Rick Bineau qualified for an honorary diploma and plans to bring him to the graduation ceremony were quickly under way.

“Getting his diploma has been what he’s wanted for so long now,” Valenza said. “He wished he could have finished high school. He can’t wait to go up on June 12.”

Lucille Bineau said she, too, is looking forward to finally seeing her oldest son accept his diploma.

“To the family it’s a big thing because he has waited so long,” she said. “His face just lit right up and he said ‘I can’t wait to graduate.’”

Lucille Bineau and her daughter, Michelle, have spent hours making decorations for a graduation party planned for after the ceremony at Saco Pathfinders. They hope Rick Bineau’s former classmates and friends will stop by the party to visit. Lucille Bineau said her son would especially love to see Keith Fossler, who owned King’s Gym in Biddeford where Rick Bineau frequently lifted weights.

“This kid can’t use a diploma, but it’s like a Make-A-Wish. That’s what it is to him,” Lucille Bineau said. “He wants to be like all the other kids.”

Valenza said Rick Bineau was “excited beyond belief” when they received an e-mail that confirmed he could receive his diploma. 

“This will give Rick such peace of mind,” Valenza said. “This will be the shining star in his life.”

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.