Community rallies around Surf City business owner in the hospital after e-bike accident

SURF CITY, N.C. (WECT) - There’s a spot on the Carolina Coast known for its New England flair.

The Maine Lobstah Shack opened in 2022, but according to some in Surf City, it’s quickly become a staple in their community.

“The staff is like a family, so whatever you need, however you need it, they’ll do it,” Hunt Reifschneider said.

Its popularity is partially due to the staff, but also due to one of the owners who is there almost every day: Trevor Dostie.

“He’s a ball of sunshine,” Trevonn Caesar said. “Never really seen him on a bad day and if he is having a bad day, you’d be hard-pressed to find out about it. If you meet anyone around here, they’ve got nothing but good stories to tell about him.”

Dostie’s familiar face is missing at the shack, though, after a scary e-bike accident on Wednesday. Since then, he’s been in the hospital. Friends of Dostie’s say they’re still trying to piece together what happened.

“He was headed home, going over the bridge and he had a horrible bike accident,” Reifschneider said. “He was found at 2 in the morning, and they rushed him to the hospital. He just had bruises and bleeding out of the back of his head and not conscious, just in really rough shape.”

For both Reifschneider and Caesar, two good friends of Dostie’s, it was heartbreaking news.

“He was there for a while before somebody ultimately found him,” Caesar said. “It breaks my heart, such an amazing guy that two minutes of being in pain or suffering is too much for him.”

The two of them knew they needed to jump into action and help out. Along with many in the Surf City community, they attended a prayer circle outside of his business on Thursday.

“Whenever any of us is in trouble, we all show out,” Caesar said. “You could definitely feel the love in the air, it was like a collective spirit wrapping a hug around him.”

Reifschneider also visited his friend in the hospital on Friday, saying Dostie is already on the up.

“He actually opened my eyes and said my name,” Reifschneider said. “We had a brief conversation, maybe 60 seconds. He gave me the old smile that you know his heart is still in there and his personality is still in there.”

It was a sign to him that their prayers had been answered. However, they realize there’s still a long journey to full recovery ahead.

They say if anyone can get through it, and get back to the Lobstah Shack in no time, it’s their good friend Trevor Dostie.

“If the world was filled with Trevors we wouldn’t have an issue in the world,” Reifschneider said. “It would be an amazing world to live in.”