Family reaches out to good Samaritans who helped Ann Arbor doctor after fatal bike crash

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – A 68-year-old prominent doctor died while biking on Whitmore Lake Road in Ann Arbor on Saturday.

Family members say no one was there to see what is now being investigated as a freak bike accident on a road Dr. Mark Oberdoerster traveled for more than three decades since he moved to Ann Arbor. However, thanks to the compassion and care of a few other residents, his final moments were not spent alone.

“I wanted him to walk out the door, I wanted him to come back and I wanted to hold him again,” said his wife, Deborah Oberdoerster.

It’s a journey that no one in Mark Oberdoerster’s family could have imagined would be their last.

“He was always a cycling enthusiast. I rode the same route with him. I knew exactly where he was when they told me the location because he and I had cycled in that area,” said Deborah Oberdoerster.

Deborah wasn’t by his side Saturday. Instead, strangers dropped everything to try to save him, including a woman who prayed with the doctor to comfort him.

“He had a deep faith, and I think being able to pray there was good for him to have that company, but that’s the whole context of the whole situation,” Oberdoerster said.

This included another person stopping to call first responders, another stopping to perform CPR, and even a stranger pressing a cold towel to his bloody wounds.

“We’re so grateful for the people who didn’t hesitate, who held his hand, who prayed with him, who performed artificial respiration, who performed CPR,” said Mark’s daughter, Molly Oberdoerster.

Oberdoerster’s other daughter, Carley, was able to contact some of the people who made sure Mark’s final moments were not spent alone.

“My dad is the one who would have made sure everybody was okay. Those people stopped, and it’s nice to know that those people are out there because my dad would have stopped too,” Carley said.

Mark Oberdoerster’s family was the only internist in private practice in Ann Arbor. To honor his legacy, they established an endowment to continue the education of other internists who strive to achieve the same level of personal care for their patients that Mark did.