I'm going to keep this brief and to the point. Ryan is a young guy who i worked with at a hot rod shop in Washington. He hand built and body worked his first hot rod at the shop; spent a tremendous amount of after hours grinding, welding, body working, bending, and torching... sound familiar? He recently suffered an extremely traumatic injury that damaged both of his hands, with the hopes of only 2 fingers being saved. Take a second to think about how much your life would change if this was you..if hotrodding was your passion, your life. thanks, Lauren
Not sure if you are soliciting help to finish a project or what but the human spirit can accomplish great things. Several years ago I met a man at the marina where we kept our boat. He had been a helicopter pilot in Viet Nam and was shot down in flames. He lost both legs above his knees, one arm and his whole head was just scar tissue. He was sailing his 34' boat around the world solo and was Wintering over at the marina. During those months I found him sitting on the front fender of a Jeep pulling the head to get the valves done and come Spring he was teaching a basic sailing class for kids. We communicated by E-mail for awhile and his last message was that he had permanently retired in Guatamala and had gotten married. If you truly want to do something you can find a way. It may take longer and you may need better tools but lean on your friends and find a way
That is Sad for sure. One thing I've learned in my near 70 years is that Life is full of hurdles, get used to it. If it's important enough you'll find a way. The Wizzard
There is a young fellow who runs a chassis shop around here. As I understand the story, he was a lineman for electric utility and backed into high voltage while working aloft. Threw him off the pole with resulting serious damage to his hands from the current. But he recovered and opened his shop doing what he loved to do. To look at his hands, you would not believe what he is able to do with them. He is an artist with a tig torch and I have seen great projects come out of his shop. I offer this story to support what other posters on this thread has said, if there is a will, there is a way provided the person really is motivated to overcome physical issues. And the prosthetics today, done on 3D printers, are truly amazing! So best of luck to this young man, terrible to hear of his misfortune but it doesn't have to be the end of the story.
Just this morning I worked for a customer in a nearby town. When he came outside , he was using a walker because his right leg was missing...as he was pointing out what he wanted done,he bent over, lost his balance and fell to the ground...tangled all up in his walker...As I reached him, he was sitting up laughing and said.." dammit..thats the third time today..and it ain't even 9:00..!!! " Seems he lost his leg at the hip due to cancer....couldn't help but laugh along with him... his spirit was amazing.. Never again will I bitch about some little ache or pain...
The Jalopy Journal
