Around 6 weeks before the Australian BMX Championships I heard a horrific story about a 40+ class racer becoming a paraplegic after a freak training accident at the new Bathurst track. It was one of those stories that you hoped sounded a lot worse than it actually was. Nearly 2 months later and someone has set up a gofundme.com page to help enable Bruce and his family to start rebuilding their lives. When I saw this it’s when it really hit home for me, sure BMX is a sport with a certain amount of risk factor, but you never think that you would actually get an injury like that.  The page’s goal is to raise $100k. It’s a big ask, but they have already raised $5,400 in just 3 days.

The BMX community is very special, for me it’s like an extended family and I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. We have band together to help fellow riders for as long as I can remember. When someone wants to go to an event like the world championships their local club and community would normally do what they can to help fund the trip. I’ve seen people have bikes stolen and the BMX community have either been able to have the bikes returned or at least helped a fellow rider get back on the track again. Heck I’ve driven 1800kms before with nothing but the clothes I was wearing, having left my gear bag at home, and I was able to borrow enough gear to be able to compete and enjoy the road trip.

Bruce is no mega star Olympic hopeful, but he’s a BMXing brother and a family man who needs our help. If you haven’t already checked out the page or made a donation please, no matter how big or small, donate now, every little bit helps.

See the link for details

www.gofundme.com/Brucesbmxbattle