Passes & Canyons Blog

This is an update on Jim Campbell’s condition. I reported this on Examiner.com so rather than rewrite just for the sake of making it different I’m just going to copy/paste what I put up there. The photo is by Beth Egan, Jim’s wife.

My phone rang this afternoon and it was Jim Campbell on the line, calling from the Fort Worth hospital where he is still recovering from his horrific crash three weeks ago. Four weeks ago I wrote about how Jim had ridden 30,000 miles in 30 days to raise money for muscular dystrophy.

Jim was very upbeat and said he hopes to be released from the hospital next week. He suffered a broken neck, hip, and pelvis in the crash but feels fortunate.

“Not too many people would have walked away from what I went through,” he said. “I’ll recover fully.”

The accident occurred when traffic in the left-hand lane slowed abruptly. Jim pulled into the median but just after he did the car that had been in front of him did the same, hitting Jim and his Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic. This drove Jim into the road divider and, as he said, “I went from 70 to zero in one second.” A hole in his helmet attests to the force of the impact.

“That guy threw a card in my deck that I wasn’t ready to play,” he said.

While so many have been concerned for Jim’s well-being, Jim was feeling bad about his failure to get back in touch with people trying to reach him. The woman he had been working with at the Muscular Dystrophy Association had not heard about his accident until he called her yesterday. Of course she was shocked. And he was calling me to apologize for not returning my emails. Believe me, I told him not to worry about it.

Jim’s wife Beth had this to say on Jim’s 30K for MDA Facebook page: “Jim finally got moved to the PT floor in the hospital. He had a rough 1st day and was in a lot of pain today. Recovery is coming along, slowly but surely. Time and prayers are what Jim needs. Thank you to all who have sent flowers, cards & well wishes our way. We really do appreciate them and all of you.”

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Two weeks ago I wrote about Jim Campbell, who had just completed at 30-day, 30,000-mile ride on his H-D Screamin’ Eagle Ultra Classic to raise money for muscular dystrophy. Since then I’ve emailed Jim a couple times about telling his story more fully in a book or in additional articles, but I haven’t had a reply.

    Jim Campbell in a Ft. Worth hospital

I found out why about half an hour ago. In an email from Jeff Sirles, Jim’s friend who first told me about his pal’s feat, I was informed that Jim is in the hospital in Ft. Worth. Here’s Jim’s note.

Hi Ken

Thought you may want to know Jim Campbell was in a severe bike wreck in Ft. Worth, Tx over the weekend. He is hospitalized there. Ill spare the details… its all on his 30K for MDA facebook. He needs our support in other ways now. He is a fighter and will live to ride another day. Please let your readers know.

Regards

Jeff Sirles

Oh my gosh.

So I immediately went to the FaceBook page and found this report from Jim’s wife, Beth.

Well, for 30k+ miles Jim rode his Harley w/o an accident but the odds finally caught up to him. On Fri. evening Jim wrecked his cycle on hwy 20 outside of Ft. Worth TX. He was taken by ambulance to Harris Methodist Hospital in Ft. Worth in the ICU unit. He has a broken neck & pelvis. Please keep him in your thoughts & prayers and we’ll update this site with his progress for those who wish to know.
Beth, Jim’s wife

I don’t know what to say other than “Oh my gosh.” To have ridden so far–safely–and then to have this happen . . .

You can track Jim’s progress on the FaceBook page, as I’ll be doing. Best wishes, Jim.

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My timing couldn’t have been better. I called Jim Campbell at home just 10 minutes after he had completed a 30-day, 30,000-mile ride to raise money for muscular dystrophy. He was still unloading the bike, a 2008 Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle Ultra Classic.

    Stopped in Wyoming by snow and ice. Photo: Jim Campbell

If that seems impossible to you, there are definitely other doubters. One person commenting on the story I first published on Examiner.com said simply, “I just don’t believe it. He did it for a great cause, but I just don’t believe it is possible to do 1000+ miles a day continuous for 30 days.”

Now, I wasn’t there for it all but I believe Jim. As he said in a rebuttal in the comments, “For all who care..I have all the logs, gas receipts, and signed journal from around the country for the 31 days… I can’t believe that I did it either, and not be ‘taken out’ by a car, or Semi truck…( my biggest worry ).”

Jim’s wife Beth adds in her own comment, “I can tell you firsthand that he DID indeed do all those miles & did them consecutively. It is amazing to me as well and went without sleep a lot, didn’t stop for weather when he probably should have, & in many cases risked life & limb to complete his goal (don’t try this at home kids). He is a very driven guy, to say the least, which is probably one of the reasons I married him.”

He also has the numbers on his odometer and verification from Harley dealers all across the country. I think it’s legit. Not to mention amazing.

I just lucked into this story because a friend of Jim’s discovered my Examiner page and sent me an email saying he had a friend who he thought deserved some publicity. Hey, I’m an ex-newspaper guy. I know a good story when I find it under my nose. I jumped all over it.

There’s no sense in my repeating the story here, it’s all available on Examiner. Here are the links:
Harley rider covers 30K in 30 days for MDA
Tales from the road: 30K in 30 days for MDA
Magic spud and more tales from the road of 30K for MDA Harley rider

And if you want to add your donation to the $20,000 Jim has raised for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, you can donate on his FaceBook page. You can also follow his whole trip there on the FaceBook page.

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