Papa Thiam.....a Well Hung Hero

Late Sunday night, as I drove home to Philadelphia from seeing Papa in DC., I remembered that it was exactly 5 years before (on Sunday, 7/29/97) that I highsided my RC30 while exiting Nascar Turn One onto the front straight at Pocono International in the top of 5th gear (probably somewhere between 130 and 140 mph.). I all too vividly remember sliding towards the wall for what seemed like a long two seconds before impact and thinking that I had finally done it; this was one mistake from which I'd not survive. But fate was kind
that day, for despite shattering pretty much everything (except my right femur...<g>) from my pelvis to my toes, I'd not only survived, but after a half dozen surgical procedures and about three years in and out of a wheelchair (I'd get out to ride, of
course.....) I'd walk again. Over and over again I had fellow motorcyclists praise me for being so strong, for returning to work in my wheelchair, for only missing a single track event while hospitalized, and for climbing ( well, maybe being lifted onto is a better description) back on my new bike (with a whole lot of help......thanks Chris!) and putting my knee back onto the pavement. At the end of the following season, after I rebroke both legs in another highside only one week prior to what was expected to be the last surgical procedure to repair the damage I'd done only 14 months earlier, one friend called me his "hero", for I had shown him what he called "the embodiment of the human spirit" by my decision to keep getting back up. I didn't really understand him, though, because I knew my decision was born more from my fear of seeing myself as a quitter than from any heroics, for although the light at the end of the tunnel fate had put before me was dim, it was bright enough to light my way through it. I knew that althought I might never do either as well as I had, I'd walk and ride again.
During a CCS or Wera event a couple of seasons ago, the announcer at Summit Point commented on an apparently balsy inside move Papa put on a competitor while entering turn one, asking his then girlfriend (who was in the scoring tower at the time) about the
size of his "package". It was a comment that Papa would never live down in the pits, as the spandex shorts we wear under our leathers usually do little to embellish the size of our "package". Today I realized that Papa's "package" is truly huge, not only in comparison to the thin and frail (sorry Papa, but "buff" you aren't <g>) body that filled his leathers, but to that of anyone I personally have ever known.
All participants of sports that involve unusually high risk, have (or certainly should have!), pondered the realization of our worst nightmare........to be paralysed and the very first thing most of us do (well, everyone I've ever spoken with about the subject) after we
fall, is to check to see if we can still feel our fingers and toes, looking for the security of believing that all other injuries can be dealt with. And most say that given the choice, they'd prefer not to have to face life without that security. Yet, my dear friend, Papa,
after realizing that worst nightmare, looks forward into a tunnel which appears to most of us to have no light at it's end, with a level of courageousness I cannot even begin to relate to. While I'm sure the uncertainty of his future has (and will continue to)
scared the hell out of him, his decision to embrace the challenges that future may hold and not wallow in self pity, has proven that he truly deserves to be called a hero, and while I used to be somewhat envious of his intellect, it's the size of his "package" that now
leaves me in awe.

 

great story. love you papa.

 

Very Nice Story!!

Everytime I'm on the track and have a SR,
I think of Papa and ride to another level.
I've read many books and stories of Hero's,
but now I really know one.

Keep going Papa,
Glover #886
Slowest HWT Rookie

www.medievalracing.com:)

 

kewl
Your choice of analogy is uh... disturbling.
But its right on the mark.

 

Yeah, I know!!

But, when you really think deep about it.
I'm just reaching deep within myself and
finding the strengh and will to keep going.
Just like Papa!!

Glover #886
Slowest HWT Rookie
www.medievalracing.com

 

That has to be the most eloquent and sincere post I've ever read on here. Thank you for that. Papa definitely brings out the best in people.

 

And you know what? That poor girl never did come back to the track after the RD embarassed her with that comment! It was classic. Still makes me laugh my ass when I think about it.

 

Great strory! Thanks for sharing.

 

Bob,
Lisa just read this to me and I'm disturbed on several levels:

1) I picked you as someone I want to be friends with,

2)I failed you as a friend since I never referred you to a phsychiatrist,

3) I'm scared because I actually found this eloquent as others have mentioned - so what does this say about my mental health? ,

and 4) I'm not sure where you got the idea that I'm this courageous hero you're talking about. I don't think I'm dealing with this any better than you or anyone else would have. I get mad, sad, scared. I cry about it, just like I think anyone else would. It's not a fun situation and I don't try to pretend it is. I'm just dealing with it because I don't have a choice. The truth is, for the longest time, I looked at you as my hero. Thinking "I hope I can be that fast when I'm that old and have the courage to come back from my injuries if I find myself in that situation", so thanks for the inspiration. And keep the disturbing analogies to yourself.

Papa

 

I certainly appreciate your visiting my son to the hospital. No words can express my gratefulness.

I had to look up the dictionnary to find out what "ballsy" means. Too bad the young man did what you wrote he did !

 

whoops....