I just received this letter from the gentleman who helped Tony yesterday after his accident. One of the most beautiful letters I have ever read...enjoy...Laurie
Hi, my name is Travis Campbell from Bristol, Va. I work at Bill Gatton Chevrolet in Bristol,Tn. Today I was taking a test dive with a customer on a dreary day heading north on Commonwealth Ave toward Wytheville, Va, when I noticed a cyclist traveling in the same direction we were, attempting to cross the railroad tracks about half a mile north of the Tenn. state line. Then all of a sudden this Chevy Blazer crosses over in front of the cyclist to the right and hits this guy suddenly and then stops. We go around the Blazer to see the guy and there he is laying still in the middle of the road motionless in the pouring rain looking straight at the front of this Chevy Blazer that just struck him and threw him approx. 40-50 feet. When this took place I noticed how hard the cyclist hit and bounced on the pavement.
I thought to myself this guy is hurt bad. I ran to him and was trying to get a response out of him... there was no response, NONE! I looked around and Tony's things were lying around, sunglasses, POWERade water bottle, bicycle, walkman.. spread out everywhere. I helped him up slowly and we start toward the curb of the road to get to safety away from the speeding traffic that was whipping by about 5 feet from his body. Let me remind you, we are in the pouring down rain in the middle of the afternoon in a heavily traveled highway in Bristol, when he falls again due to the slick cyclist shoes he was wearing! At this point in time it's appearent this guy has some pretty sharp pains in his hip-pelvic area not to mention the bruises all the way up his shins from the pedals and a little swelling on his right eye. This guy was soaked, in pain, had no clue where he was at, who we were, and no clue what just happened and how close his life was almost changed forever.
When we finally got him on his feet and he finally spoke, it was very clear he was not from this area. I asked him where he was from and then a big grin came on his face and he began to explain why he was here and for what he was doing in our town. He said I'm riding for kids. I'm riding to fight cancer. I stood back just for a second and I realized this guy is really doing it, he is putting people he has never met before in front of his life, his kids life (if any), and how in the world can someone miss this much work to ride a bike across country for all these people of whom he has no clue who they are... and taking this much abuse.
As we are talking to Tony the customer noticed the grey Blazer leaving the scene. Oh my God, can you believe this?!! He's leaving the cyclist, that he has just plowed over, on the side of the road . We notified the authorities and here came the ambulance. By this time we are starting to draw a crowd. The paramedics arrive and they are trying to get him to go to the hospital. Reluctantly, he declines and starts to explain his goal and how bad he wants to meet his goal and why he is doing this. This guy is GREAT. He cares about people, he must have a loving caring family for him to be gone so long for this cause. I don't know what drives this guy. I know I sure would like to have some of the same thoughts and qualities. I'm thinking this is just a little too far fetched, and then this huge support bus (motorhome) pulls in and his support team gets out and run to him to check on his safety. When I see the tourbus pull up and I saw his picture on the bus and all of his sponsors on the side of the bus, I realized this guy is taking this stuff serious and I just helped one the greatest inspirations of my life and what an uplifting experience I gained by his pain. I would like to donate to this cause, help in any way, and express my appreciation to Tony for what he has done and will do in the future, Thank you Tony! If someone would please pass this on to Tony and the sponsors that made this happen I would greatly appreciate it. I'm not a good typist so this work took a great deal of time for me to complete.
Sincerely,
Travis Campbell
Bill Gatton Cheverolet
Bristol, Tenn.
Wow! Great letter. It puts into words what many of us feel, but are not able to put into words. This adventure has inspired me as well.
Thanks Tony!
Regards,
Bob A.
Great Falls, Montana
Posted by: N7CZinMT | May 19, 2004 at 08:15 PM