starting over

AmSnow.com is now SnoWest.com

I felt a morose surge work its way through me as I read the news. A mixture of sorrow, guilt and feeling lucky to be able to get up and walk away from the very computer that delivered the report that Blair Morgan was involved in a motocross accident and was unable to use his legs. For the next few days I did a news search on Morgan's name hoping for the best, that the paralysis was temporary. Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed.

For anyone who lived through the golden age of snocross racing in North America, Blair Morgan is a household name. In the early 1990s, fans were treated to epic track battles between the likes of Kirk Hibbert and Toni Haikonen, but no snocross melee compared in size or magnitude to those waged by another Hibbert, this time Tucker, and his perceived arch rival 7c Blair Morgan. Finesse vs. sheer abandon. The U.S. vs. Canada. Call it what you want, it was the spectacle that helped put snocross on the map.

The eerie part was that I had started this story about the roller coaster ride of spinal cord injuries months ago. Now, the timing seemed too real. Trying to imagine what Morgan was going through, how his life was going to change could only be done, for now, by looking at others who already have lived through serious setbacks.

The reality of all motorsports, is that the unthinkable lies around every corner, every rise in the trail, every road crossing. Life is chocked full of unimaginable consequences, which inevitably end up being the No. 1 criticism of those of us who ride, or race, snowmobiles, ATVs and motorcycles and in some ways is part of the attraction for those of us who do. Dwelling on the positive aspects keeps us on the trail, but how do you move on from 1 second of bad luck? While there are many out there who have, the two people profiled here have done an unbelievable job of making reality work for them. Here are their perspectives.

Doug Henry
Doug Henry chuckles when I tell him I almost lost my job over him. I taught high school for a year and in an attempt to spruce up my classroom I hung a FOX Racing poster depicting Henry, removing his motocross jersey, revealing a gnarly looking back surgery scar and tagged with the caption "What's stopping you?"

An overzealous, short-sighted school social worker took offense at Henry's bare torso and demanded I remove the poster. I vigorously refused. Thankfully, the principal sided with me.

Henry's scar was the result of surgery after he overshot a downhill jump at the 1995 Budd's Creek National Motocross race. The well known footage of the accident shows Henry's body buckling in rag doll fashion as the bike touches down. It took surgery and months of rehab before Henry could even approach a bike again.

In 1996 Henry signed a deal with Team Yamaha, an agreement which led to him winning the 1998 National Championship on a 4-stroke bike, a first for the sport.

After Henry's motocross days were over he tried his hand for 1 year racing snowmobiles for Team Yamaha. Then he was part of the rise of a two-wheeled sport called Supermoto, a mix of pavement and dirt racing that brought a lot of retired motocrossers out to compete again.

In March 2007, during a practice session at a Florida Supermoto race, Doug Henry's life changed forever.

"I was coming into a corner at 80 mph and I guess my tires just lost their grip," Henry explains. "As the bike went down, I saw the hay bales and thought 'oh' this shouldn't be too bad.'" Henry's lower back and butt struck the bales and he immediately knew something was wrong. "A wave of sadness just sweeps over you when you realize you can't feel your legs and you just know, at that very moment, your whole life has changed," Henry says. "It's sort of like your life flashing before your eyes, only it's all the things you know you won't be able to do anymore."

Listening to Henry talk about his injury and recovery, one would never sense that there is a good chance he will never fully regain the use of his legs. His voice is strong and upbeat, punctuated by a slight East Coast edge. Yamaha built a special Nytro sled for him that he spent time riding last winter and his ultimate goal is to resume riding a motorcycle. His recovery includes painful rehab and even imaginary walking, where he tries to mentally envision the mechanics of walking in an effort to stimulate the nerve endings in his legs.

How does he survive financially with his wife of 15 years, Stacey, and two children Brianna and Ian? "People have been so generous," Henry says, "you just have no idea how great human beings are until something like this happens." Henry says other injured racers like David Bailey and Wayne Rainey have been very supportive as well. Henry also has construction equipment, like dozers and diggers that he has rigged-up for his own special circumstances that he intends to make a living with.

"I live, man. I live, period," Henry proudly proclaims. "There's no way that this thing is going to hold me down!"

Henry being held down doesn't appear to be in the cards, as he has recently been able to stand on his own for short periods with the aid of leg braces and railings to hang onto. While it appears unlikely that his legs will ever return to 100% use, his original prognosis makes his progress nothing short of a miracle.

Jesse Strege
"Early in the morning, snocross tracks can be really icy and hard," Jesse Strege explains. "I guess I should have waited until it was groomed." It was March 15, 2006, one week before veteran snocrosser Jesse Strege, hired to help build a Yamaha 4-stroke snowmobile race program, was to debut a hand-fabricated, tricked-out Yamaha 4-stroke sled at Lake Geneva, Wis., an event planned to kick-off Yamaha's reemergence in snocross.

Yamaha brass had converged on Eagle River, Wis., to watch Strege put the 4-stroke through its paces in an early morning test session. "I was just making laps and everything was going fine," Strege says, "the last thing I remember was catching a rut hard going over a triple jump." Then it was lights out. One minute the unmistakable cadence of 4-stroke exhaust rippled off the snow banks, the next minute, nothing.

"Where the Yamaha guys were standing, they couldn't see over the jump," Strege explains, "I guess when they came running over the top, the sled was lying on top of me and I was out." Strege was airlifted to a hospital in Marshfield, Wis. The diagnosis was serious: five broken vertebrae. Initially, doctors were not sure if Strege would walk again and the first few days were sketchy. "The doctors were actually excited that I had bone fragments floating in my neck from a previous accident," Strege says with a laugh. Doctors used the fragments to patch together the shattered vertebrae.

Strege was unconscious for several days and hospitalized for 12. His recovery included learning to walk again. "I wondered why the doctors were making such a big deal out of me walking across my hospital room and then I tried it, I ended up in tears," admits Strege.

That summer, Strege was back aboard a tractor on his farm near Lancaster, Minn., and within less than a year he was competing on cycles and sleds. When I tell him some people think he's crazy and selfish, he just smiles. "I guess there's a thrill factor with getting back on, there's also some selfishness too."

Jesse's wife Denise quickly adds "he could have just as easily fallen off a tractor or had an accident around the farm and people wouldn't have had a problem with him going back to work, in fact some would have considered him a hero. Bikes and sleds are a part of his living too."

Strege relies on Denise to remember dates and events surrounding the accident, not only because he was in and out of consciousness, but also because he chooses not to dwell on it. "It's not like I've blocked it out of my mind, I've used it as a positive path to better things," Strege says. His positive attitude seems to have rubbed off on a lot of people. I discovered Strege's Caring Bridge Web site related to the 2006 accident and was blown away at the sheer number of well wishers and the comments they made. Virtually everyone Strege has ever encountered considers him a friend.

Strege, who admits he didn't grow up surrounded by religion, is now deeply rooted in faith. "I guess that accident was the final step in my life turning around," Strege proclaims. "Now I'm living my life for someone else, someone higher than me."

Conclusion
I cannot claim to know Blair Morgan. I have had chance encounters with him at a variety of events, but he wouldn't know me from any other stranger. His life and his work is powersports and he, unfortunately, has experienced first hand the risks that we all face walking out the door everyday. Anyone with a measure of common sense could not blame him for putting himself in that position. It's what he does for a living, no different than a pilot, someone constructing a skyscraper or a firefighter saving lives.

Despite no personal relationship with Morgan, I have a hard time believing that he will not get on with living his life to the fullest. Being with his race team and keeping his finger on the pulse of the business that has brought so much accomplishment and apparent happiness to his life. When I hear of another of these tragedies, I will try my best to not dwell on all that is lost, but rather to imagine the possibilities.

Epilogue
Blair Morgan is now in a hospital closer to his home in Saskatoon, Sask., where he will begin rehabilitation. His wife Terri reports that Morgan is looking forward to starting his work with the physiotherapists now that he is feeling better and no longer taking pain medication.

In the meantime the snocross and snowmobile community has begun responding to Morgan and his family's needs. In particular, Ashlee Painchaud and Chad Harris of HCP designs have started a tribute program to Morgan, named "Operation Inspiration." Pro helmet painter, Chad Harris, will paint helmets for each pro racer competing at the national snocross race in Duluth, Minn.

The helmets will have a theme dedicated to Morgan and racers will sign helmets to be auctioned on a special Web site. All proceeds will go to Morgan and his family. In addition, T-shirts of a similar theme will be sold on the Web. More info: www.sellyourevents.com/eventpage.aspx?name=OPERATIONINSPIRATION7c or e-mail: blairmorgantrust@bmrt.com