This article was written for Thunder Press. After much runaround
and edit'ting, certain people went back on their word and never printed
it. Here is thge final copy. All proceeds were earmarked for Eddie.....
Thanks to The Professor for all his work.
--------------------------------------------
Cyber-Bikers Come Through for Injured Rider
by Richard "The Professor" Price
A group of generous online bikers has helped turn a dream into a
reality for one injured rider. In 1994, Eddie Kieger was a computer
design engineer in northern California's Silicon Valley. He was also a
biker, in the most genuine sense of the word. When he wasn't at work or
out riding his '86 Softail, he often corresponded with other bikers on
the internet through the "Harley Email Digest" and the
"rec.motorcycles.harley" newsgroup. Eddie made many friends online, and
met some of them face-to-face during his travels to Sturgis and other
events.
It was early in the morning, March the 26th when Eddie's life
was changed forever. No one knows for sure what precipitated the
single-vehicle accident on the Highway 101 overpass in San Jose. Eddie
had had a few drinks, perhaps a few too many. Although he was wearing a
helmet, he suffered a serious brain injury that left him in a coma for
over a month. After his condition stabilized, his family moved him to a
nursing facility in his home state of Ohio.
Fast forward to January of 1997. Eddie is making progress,
but it's a difficult task, to say the least. His brain is struggling to
re-learn the basic movements and thoughts that we all take for granted.
Early in January, Eddie's mom, Ann Kieger, heard of a
wheelchair-lift equipped van for sale, the perfect thing to help her
get Eddie out of his room once in a while and lift his spirits. While
the price was reasonable, it was just a bit beyond her means. What
could she do? You guessed it, she contacted one of Eddie's online
friends, a lady aptly named SunShine, and asked for ideas. SunShine put
the call out on the internet, and the online biker community responded,
like you wouldn't believe. Ann set up a charitable trust fund account
and the donations came rolling in. The denizens of the biker newsgroups
started up an online auction, with all sorts of items donated and all
profits pledged to the fund. Donations came in from as far away as
Guam, Spain, and Finland. Some members of the European biker community
took up a collection and sent in over $700. SunShine set up a World
Wide Web page to track donations and post updates. Within weeks, the
$8000 price of the van was reached, and then surpassed! As of this
writing, the total collected has come to over $14,000, and is still
growing! Excess funds will be used for the van's registration,
insurance and maintenance, as well as for expanded physical therapy
expenses not covered by insurance.
Needless to say, Ann was blown away by this overwhelming
response. In a recent open letter to all her new internet friends, Ann
endeavored to express her gratitude: "When Eddie first went down it was
you people who deluged us with cards, letters, pictures and shirts -
from all over the world! The bikers in San Jose got together and helped
me out with getting his house ready for market and in countless other
ways.... My buddy SunShine, who does INDEED live up to her nickname,
has been a ray of sunshine in our lives, that's for sure." She
continues, "This has come at a very opportune time, because Eddie has
been very depressed and despondent the last month or so, and this has
given him hope and joy again. I'm afraid I was beginning to catch his
depression instead of pulling him out of the morass. So ... the
biggest, heartiest THANK YOU to each and every one of you! You have
touched us and warmed us and cheered us more than you will ever know."
Eddie's father, Edward F. Kieger II, said simply "I can't conceive of any other group of people being consistently this good."
When the day came to pick up the van, Eddie was pretty excited.
SunShine reports: "He was mad at us for bringing the media. He didn't
like it. He wouldn't smile, wouldn't laugh, even at my best
wisecracks... I told him he didn't have to like that part but he'd
better like the van or I'd take it back! As soon as we started out of
his room, he perked up and became himself again. ... He loves the van."
Ann and Eddie (and SunShine too) are looking forward to van
trips all over, and maybe even getting to meet some of the generous
friends who have so selflessly helped them. Ann would love to host a
big biker bash for all of us someday. Hey Ann, be careful what you
dream, your dreams might just come true!
SunShine's WWW Page for Eddie: http://www.psc.edu/~grant/eddie/index.html
Eddie's Auction Page: http://www.west.net/~online/ek/