Thursday, October 1, 2026
An unlikely friendship began in the winter of 2025, in the pool at an LA Fitness gym in Queens.
Jay Greenbaum, 68, of Hewlett, is a cycle spin instructor for LA Fitness gyms in Garden City, Howard Beach, Lawrence and New Hyde Park. At the time, he was training for an endurance swim last July in Fire Island, as well as the Half Ironman triathlon at Jones Beach last Sept. 20.
Michael Everett, 38, who lives in Brooklyn, was training for another Ironman in Puerto Rico as well as the Jones Beach competition.
As the two men talked, they discovered that they had both sustained serious injuries — Everett in a motorcycle accident in 2018, and Greenbaum on his triathlon bike in 2023. Greenbaum had “mostly recovered,” he said, from a punctured lung, eight broken ribs and a separated shoulder. Everett’s injury was even more serious: He had lost half of his left leg, and now uses a prosthetic.
The two became friends and met up the day before the Jones Beach Half Ironman. Before the three-event contest got under way, Greenbaum made a promise to Everett that, after the first two legs, a 1.2-mile swim and a 56-mile cycling segment, the pair would stay together during the 13.1-mile run to the finish — a total of just over 70 miles.
On race day, Everett struggled during the swim with what he described as excruciating pain in his left knee but made it out of the water and onto his bike, and completed the ride as well. Although Greenbaum finished the swim and rode an hour and 15 minutes ahead of Everett, he waited in the bike-to-run transition area until Everett pedaled in.
Their run became a walk, because Everett, suffering debilitating pain, was forced to use crutches. Despite the pain, with Greenbaum at his side, “encouraging him and talking him through the roughest patches,” Greenbaum recounted. The pair finished the run and completed the triathlon, raising their arms — and crutches — triumphantly at the finish line.
“Getting to the finish line is always a huge challenge in these events,” Greenbaum said. “Getting there in the condition Mike was in was courageous, to say the least. He inspired so many that day, not letting the pain stop him from the goal.”
Their friendship continued, but Everett’s nerve pain worsened. Through a longtime friend, Greenbaum introduced him to a surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery, in Manhattan, who specializes in treating painful nerve growth conditions affecting amputees. Everett had surgery in May and has been recovering.
If he recovers fully, the surgery will give Everett — who has struggled with pain, weight gain and depression since last summer — his life back.
For Greenbaum, helping his friend extended far beyond race day. After learning that Everett’s insurance would not fully cover the surgery, Greenbaum encouraged him not to give up. While the procedure was initially expected to cost tens of thousands of dollars, Everett worked with the hospital, which reduced it to $5,000. Then Greenbaum encouraged him to create a GoFundMe campaign, made a contribution himself, and shared it with friends and fellow athletes, who helped the pair meet the fundraising goal.
“I just wanted to help him get his life back,” Greenbaum said. “Nobody should have to live with that kind of pain when there’s a chance to fix it.”
Although he is still recovering, the healing is progressing, he said, and he is eager to return to work as a truck driver once he is fitted properly for a new prosthetic.
“I’ve been eating better, staying active and just looking forward to getting back to my life,” Everett said.
He credits Greenbaum with restoring more than his physical health. “I kind of gave up on myself,” Everett said. “The pain was so bad that I stopped doing everything I loved. Jay gave me hope. He made phone calls, found doctors, and kept checking on me. Mentally, he pulled me out of a really dark place.”
Their friendship continues, by way of regular phone calls and text messages, with Greenbaum often checking on Everett’s recovery. Both men hope to return to endurance racing together once Everett is fully healed.
“I love that guy,” Everett said. “He’s an amazing human being. What meant the most wasn’t just that he waited for me during the race. It’s that he never stopped waiting for me afterward, either.”
For Greenbaum, the experience reinforced a lesson he has followed throughout his life.
“Talk to everyone. Be kind to everyone,” he said. “You never know when one conversation is going to change someone else’s life — or your own.”
