Motocross–An Important Part Of Chet Dyreson’s Life

Editor’s Note: 49 year old Chet Dyreson of Perris, California has always been involved in motocross–racing high performance motorcycles on off road terrain and going through obstacles that most people never attempt. This week you’ll read a story of a man who has refused to be limited by a tragic accident. Part 1 of a 5 part series.

Our love of motocross can be traced back to my dad, since he and I once rode regularly in the desert together. After high school, I got away from my love of motocross, married and had children. Our main family activity was boating, which was primarily a summertime activity. We didn’t really have a sport for the winter months in which we all could participate. One Christmas I bought a motocross bike for myself and bikes for all of my kids. My children developed into pretty serious motocross racers. We started off by trail riding on the bikes, and my sons especially loved it.

Chet Dyreson's family has a strong love for motocross.

Before my accident, I had a small general contracting business. I had three children I was raising by myself – Casey, my oldest son who’s 27 now, my daughter Christie, who’s now 23, and my youngest son Clint, who’s now 22. I was really busy with three children and a contracting business. Each day I’d drop my kids off at school and take them to daycare after school. When they got a little older, I let them stay home after school. I’d come in every day after work and help each child with his or her homework.

My oldest son played football when he was in high school, but our main sport was motocross. We went to motocross races almost every weekend, and often if the children kept their grades up, I’d even take them out of school on Thursday, and we’d be at the motocross races all weekend. Each one of us had a motocross bike and in later years we had several bikes.

My younger son, Clint, was really serious about racing up until he was about 18. I guess you could say motocross was one of the threads that ran through our family’s life that not only was a recreational activity that we could all take part in but also was a bonding type of sport that our entire family loved to do together. We used Kawasaki motorcycles. Back in those days, I spent 4 or 5 days at the motocross track a week. My children were at the track every weekend.

Chet Dyreson has spent a lot of his time at the motocross track.

In our recreational motocrossing, none of us ever had any serious accidents after my big one, other than my younger son landing short of a jump and breaking both his legs. When my son broke both of his legs, we became a two wheelchair family.

There were six motocross tracks within an hour’s drive of our home. We always went to one big race every year. My children raced in their age classes, and I raced with a group of other riders who were 30 and older. You have to understand that a weekend motocross race for my family was more than just getting to the race track, running a few warm up laps and then entering a race. A lot of socializing went on, and at different races, we would barbecue, cook together and camp out. Some of the races were all day events, and others were 2 day events. We’d go with our friends to hang-out, eat and just have a great time. I never saw the day coming that we wouldn’t go racing. Even today, although I’m in a wheelchair, motocross races are still a big part of our family’s life.

To contact Chet Dyreson, visit his webpage at http://wheelingtocuresci.org. You can email him at wheelchairmodz@yahoo.com.

Next: Chet Dyreson’s Life Changing Accident

About the Author: For the last 12 years, John E. Phillips of Vestavia, Alabama, has been a professional blogger for major companies, corporations and tourism associations throughout the nation. During his 24 years as Outdoor Editor for “The Birmingham Post-Herald” newspaper, he published more than 7,000 newspaper columns and sold more than 100,000 of his photos to newspapers, magazines and internet sites. He also hosted a radio show that was syndicated at 27 radio stations; created, wrote and sold a syndicated newspaper column that ran in 38 newspapers for more than a decade; and wrote and sold more than 30 books. Learn more at http://www.nighthawkpublications.com

Ashleigh Justice Wakes Up And Isn’t Prepared For Her New Life

Editor’s Note: As a 15-year-old new driver, Ashleigh Justice of Phoenix, Arizona, was driving her family vehicle when tragedy struck and changed her life forever. Part 2 of a 5 part series.

Ashleigh Justice had a hard time accepting what her injury did to her body. She didn't give up, and her short term memory and personality eventually returned.

The 10 days I spent in intensive care after my accident were the worst 10 days of my life. I felt like I was in a nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from. The doctors had put me in an induced coma for 3 days to reduce the brain swelling. I remember the day the surgeons brought me out of the coma. I had to track my surgeon’s finger with my eyes as the surgeon moved it. The surgeons also asked me questions, and I was to blink once for no and twice for yes. I had doctors and students all around me, as I began to come out of my coma, who were all looking at me. I remember feeling as though I only existed and had no thoughts and no memory. While I was in the coma, the doctors did a spinal fusion on my neck, took a piece of bone from my hip and used it to replace a shattered vertebra and put titanium rods and plates in my back.

When I woke up, I remember being really dizzy and very sick. If my mother and my sister tried to take me around the hospital in a reclining wheelchair, I became very nauseated. The doctors diagnosed me with axonal shear injury. During the accident, my brain hit my skull, creating problems with my short term memory and affecting my ability to talk. Sometimes I knew the words I wanted to say, but I couldn’t say them. Not being able to say the words I wanted to caused me to be very frustrated, so I just quit talking.  However, I gradually felt more like myself.  A year passed before my short term memory returned.

About Ashleigh Justice
As a 10-year veteran of SCI and TBI,  Ashleigh has lived with her injuries (the result of a rollover car accident) since she was 15 and has overcome many challenges, including most recently, becoming a parent. She has spent many years mentoring other people with SCI and has discovered that with the right attitude and the right amount of knowledge, nothing is impossible. Today, Ashleigh writes a blog for brain and spinal cord injured individuals (quadriplegia mainly) called The QuadFiles, sponsored by AdvisaCare.  It’s a compilation of resources, stories and motivations – see www.theQuadfiles.com for details. 

Next: Quadriplegic Ashleigh Justice Wants To Be Normal Again

About the Author: For the last 12 years, John E. Phillips of Vestavia, Alabama, has been a professional blogger for major companies, corporations and tourism associations throughout the nation. During his 24 years as Outdoor Editor for “The Birmingham Post-Herald” newspaper, he published more than 7,000 newspaper columns and sold more than 100,000 of his photos to newspapers, magazines and internet sites. He also hosted a radio show that was syndicated at 27 radio stations; created, wrote and sold a syndicated newspaper column that ran in 38 newspapers for more than a decade; and wrote and sold more than 30 books. Learn more at http://www.nighthawkpublications.com