Gym owner bounces back from injury to carry torch

Denton resident and business owner Kevin Bryant had the honor of carrying the torch in Monterrey, Mexico for the 16th Pan American Games on September 24th.

Bryant was awarded a fraction of the 12-mile torch run by Technogym, his employer and exclusive equipment supplier for the Pan Am Games. “It is one of the most stimulating things I’ve done,” Bryant said.

A Denton resident since 1989, Bryant opened the fitness center Benessere Active, located on Teasley and I-35E near Brookshire’s, in March 2010. Named after the Italian word for well-being, the center offers an upscale professional, pressure-free exercise environment for adult patrons, featuring personal service and contemporary exercise equipment. “It’s not about living longer,” Bryant says, “It’s about living better.”

Bryant renewed his bid to live better after suffering a near fatal head injury in June 2007. While acting as a Good Samaritan by helping to pull a stranger’s vehicle out of the mud, Bryant’s skull was severely fractured when the stranger inadvertently got out of her vehicle with it still in drive while Kevin was under it removing the chain used to pull her free. 

Bryant and his doctors credited his miraculous survival and complete recovery to his active lifestyle both before the accident and after.   Bryant still carries a large C-shaped scar along the left side of his scalp from the freed vehicle’s license plate and another on the right side from the surgery to repair his skull where it was struck by the truck’s ball hitch.

His injury, recovery process, and desire to live an able bodied life, motivated him to keep going and share his experience, exercise knowledge, pursuit for an active lifestyle with others. “It’s our personal and social responsibility to take care of our body,” Bryant says.

The Pan Am Games will begin in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico on Oct. 14 and end Oct 30. With 6000 athletes and 42 countries participating, the Pan Am Games are the second largest multi-sport event after the Summer Olympic Games.

Kevin manages sales development and equipment distribution for Technogym in Mexico. Kevin and his staff will be servicing the fitness venues and athletes, as well as attending some events throughout the Games. In addition, his son, Riley who usually works as a fitness specialist at their local health club, will be working as a volunteer trainer throughout the month in the athletic village as soon as the athletes begin arriving October 4.