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BREAKING MY NECK AND BREAKING THE BANK
I was only a few months into building the bike when I was struck by a near fatal accident, though I didn't know
it at the time. If that sounds confusing, imagine how I felt. I'd gone on as usual, working about 16 hour days,
mostly 7 days a week, living my life as I always had. Sometimes I was super busy, sometimes I didn't work for
weeks. Such is the life of a self-employed artist. My family was being taken care of, and I was working
most every day, my wife working part time, and the boys were all doing well in school. One day while hanging a
sign on the side of a building, I'd just put the last few bolts in, and started down the ladder. When I got to
the bottom, I started to step back to admire my work. What I didn't realize, is that I had my foot on the inside
of the rung. When I started to step back to look at the sign, the rung was behind my leg, and I fell backwards,
hitting my neck and shoulders on a steel tool box, snapping my neck back and hitting my head on the cement sidewalk.
OUCH!!!!!! It hurt like hell, and I felt a large bump growing on the back of my head. I got up, shook
it off, swore a few times (that always makes me feel better) and collected myself and my tools off of the ground. I'd
banged myself up hundreds of times over the years, and felt this was just another bruise and/or sore muscle injury that'd
last for a few days, then go away. Well.....a few days went by, and I was still aching. A week went by,
and the pain was pinpointing itself more in my neck. I was having terrible headaches, and thought when I'd banged my
head, I'd probably given myself a slight concussion. Now, I've had concussions before as well, and I knew that
they'd go away in a week or so. When it became 2 weeks after the fall, and the pain was becoming more intense,
I started to think something was seriously wrong. I'd never had an injury last this long before, and I was
starting to get worried. The morning almost 3 weeks after I'd fallen, that I couldn't lift my head to get out
of bed, I was pretty sure something more than a muscle strain and a concussion had occured. I made a Doctor's
appointment, and went in to see him a couple of days later. After his examination, he sent me to the hospital
to have some X-rays and neurological tests done. They took pics of the inside of my head (they found nothing!
LOL) and xrays of my neck and shoulders. They poked me with pins and hooked electrodes to my fingers and
toes, running electricity thru my body. They poked and prodded, took blood tests, and asked me all kinds of questions.
The Doctor gave me a prescription for Tylenol 3, and sent me home, telling me to rest. A couple of days later,
I was called back into the hospital. Apparently, I'd suffered a broken neck, and crushed two discs in my neck.
The C7 and C8 vertabrae were chipped and severely damaged, and were causing the nerves to be irritated, causing
all the pain. Imagine.....hurting myself, then going right back to work for 3 weeks all the time with a broken
neck! I was going to have at least one operation scheduled, and the doctors told me I'd be off work for a long time.
NOT the news I wanted to hear. It's sort of tough to feed a family of 5 with no money. The thought of being
off work for an extended period of time, with no "sick benefits" because of being self-employed, was not one I
wanted to dwell on. My wife picked up the slack, by getting some extra shifts, and eventually getting 3 part-time jobs
to support us. I only saw gloom and doom ahead, and the doctor's weren't expecting any changes soon.
Anyway....back to the bike. I was soon without a paycheck, and the thing I needed most, both for the family and
the bike, was money. The bike sat idle for a few months while I took care of myself. I'd been going to therapy
and pretty much sitting around the house doing nothing, and that doesn't pay much these days. The doctor's had
pretty much told me that I wouldn't be working any time soon, so I figured I had to do something to keep me busy. I
wanted to work on the bike, but I had no money to do so. Finally, I decided I'd try to put some of my natural
artistic talent to good use. I could still draw without much pain, as long as I didn't sit in one spot for
any length of time. The problem with my neck was I couldn't move it very much, and it was uncomfortable to sit,
stand, or lie down for more than 20 minutes or so. I figured I could still draw pictures if I took my time and limited
myself to a few short periods, instead of one long session. All this time, I'd been keeping in touch with some
guys on-line at a few cool websites that had message boards dealing with motorcycles, and choppers in particular. Over
the previous months, I'd bought alot of needed parts for the project both thru these message boards, and e-bay. I also
had bought many parts from an old friend who'd recently opened an aftermarket parts store dealing strictly with Harleys and
choppers. The money had stopped coming in, so had the bike parts. We were getting poorer by the day,
and I'd actually thought of selling the bike or at least some of the collected parts, just to live on. One day
while perusing my favourite motorcycle boards on line, I sent a message out asking the guys there if they had any new
or used parts that I could use at discount prices. I explained my situation, and that I was at the point where I may
have to sell the bike as it sat. The webmaster of TERRY'S SWAP MEET AND TECH BOARD, the one and only
Ripper, suggested to me that I should ask the guys if they had any "extra" or unused parts that they may want to donate,
or trade to this poor, old scooter tramp who was down on his luck. I put out the word, telling the guys about my situation,
what exactly I was looking for, and that I'd trade hand-drawn pictures of their bikes, family, anything that they'd
like really, for some of the much needed pieces I needed to complete my bike. Other message boards I read and
contribute to are THE MILK BARN and REV TRAMP'S PLACE, as well as THE HORSE. Ya
know....alot of people like to put down bikers, and make them seem like the scum of the earth, but man.....no sooner
had I put my plea out there, than the emails started to come in. I received scores of emails from people I'd never
met, never seen, never talked to before. All they knew of me, was that I was some injured biker in need of some
parts cheaply, to finish his project. They had no idea if I were a scammer, or thief, my race, creed or colour.
And ya know what?......neither did they care! They took my word for it, mostly depending on what they thought
of me from previous posts on the board. Within a month, I'd received close to a THOUSAND DOLLARS WORTH of parts
of all kinds. Some I could use directly on my bike, some were donated for me to sell or trade for parts that I could
use. These guys were flooding my mailbox with motorcycle parts for no other reason than I needed them. One guy
sent me handlebars, one guy sent me brake lines, one guy sent me a coil with a chrome cover. Another guy sent me
brand new struts. Someone else sent switches for the handlebars. One guy even sent an entire primary drive! It
turned out that I couldn't use it for my bike, but I soon sold it and put the money towards the one I needed! CJ
JONES IS THE MAN!!! I am forever in your debt! That primary went a long way to putting much needed parts
on my bike. I sold that primary to the ex-National President of The Satan's Choice, Bernie. In fact, Bernie grabbed
alot of the extra parts I had hanging in the shed once he got to lookin' around. LOL... He was like a kid in a candy
shop...."Whattaya want for this? you using this? oh...this would go nice with ....." and I thank my old pal Bernie for
helping out that way. I was overcome at times, actually breaking down, thinking about these guys and the sacrifice
they'd made. I knew a few of the guys were in the same boat as I was, but they still sent what they had, and asked nothing
in return. Their sole purpose was to get me in the wind, back on two wheels and riding again. I will never forget
what it meant to me to have complete strangers send me hundreds of dollars worth of motorcycle parts for absolutely no return
other than to see me back with my knees in the breeze. These bikers who are called scum, criminals, gangsters, dirty,
filty, degenerates and a plague on society, are some of the nicest people I've never met. They have proved the true
meaning of brotherhood and giving, by donating to someone they do not know, asking nothing in return. THAT is
what bikers are all about. THAT is what the law makers of this country and theirs are trying to disassemble. THAT
is the epitome of what everyday people should be every day of our lives, yet the bureaucrats seek to keep them down,
making the general public believe they are nothing more than thieves and murderers. On these message boards, through
the world wide web, I have found the true spirit of humanity. Now, I don't want to get too mushy here, but
I will never forget the people on those boards who have done their part to help me. I don't remember all their names,
and I don't remember everything that each person sent. I did come away with more than motorcycle parts though....I gained
much more than material goods. I garnered a much deserved respect for these people, and hope for people on the whole.
If I haven't said it to you personally enough times, I'd like to say once again....THANK YOU, to all who contributed.
You've given me more than motorcycle parts, you've given me hope in humanity again, just when I thought such a thing
had ceased to exist. THANK YOU ALL.
LINKS TO MY FAVOURITE MOTORCYCLE BOARDS WILL APPEAR ON THE "LINKAGE" PAGE.
One of the many donated parts I received. A hand made brass points cover by "Muddy"
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