I did an Internet search on "American Motorcycle Racer" and Chris Blais was one of only 145 on the list that included famous names from various types of motorcycle racing, such as Malcolm Smith, Evel Knievel, Jeff Ward, Steve McQueen and Jeremy McGrath.

Blais didn’t race supercross; he wasn’t a daredevil, nor did he do X Games or Supermoto.

He was in a racing category more like Malcolm and McQueen – big open desert races.

A few of Blais’ career highlights include a 2003 Baja 1000 second-place four-man team finish (highlighted in the movie "Dust to Glory"), a 2005 Parker 250 second-place finish, a 2005 San Felipe 250 second-place overall and a Lisbon to Dakar Rally third-place in 2007.

Blais raced 4,918 miles of The Dakar in stages over the span of 15 days with a one-day rest break.

2007 was also his third year competing in The Dakar with two previous ninth- and fourth-place finishes stemming from 2005 and 2006.

Sudden stop

While pre-fun running the Best in the Desert series (BITD) Las Vegas to Reno course (sometimes referred to as the Nevada 1000) in early August of 2007, Blais went down at about mile-marker 225. Nobody saw him fall.

Blais described his fall: "I hit a small bump and went over the bars – definitely something that shouldn’t have made me crash. The rougher the course the better, I’ve always said. If I had to get off the bike and push it along the trail to keep going, then that was a good race course."

Fellow Baja racer Johnny Campbell is recorded as being the first at the scene.

According to Internet forum postings from multiple firsthand accounts, Blais’ condition was reported as "not good."

"He has no feeling below his waist" was logged online several times by pre-run participants and team supporters.

Blais was airlifted by helicopter, rushed to surgery and soon diagnosed with a thoracic "T-7" spinal injury.

Support came quickly. Only weeks after Blais crashed, the community fundraising for his recovery began.

"While I was at Loma Linda University Medical Center," Blais recalled, "Dan Barnett and his friend Dennis Kaney, a helpful quadriplegic guy, would come visit and talk to me. That really picked my spirits up.

"Dan set me up with Ernie Espinoza for a loaner [wheelchair] from Colours Wheelchair. My wife Patty picked it up. The chair was loaned to us on ‘good faith’ while we got help to get our finances in order.

"When I got home I got all kinds of calls and mail saying, ‘This is what I do and how I can help you.’ Thank God for the Internet. I learned different ways to get in and out of my car on YouTube. What I learned at rehab was scary.

"We visit my rehabilitation facility Project Walk in Carlsbad once a week. I work out two hours on Tuesday and another two hours on Wednesday morning. I’ll stay at a hotel to cut down on the commute back and forth."

Blais makes the trip to Project Walk from his home in Apple Valley.

"It’s like a real gym experience with trainers who ultimately specialize in tough retraining of motor skills and function," he said of Project Walk.

"My abdominal muscles are working, including my lower back, and I now have small movement in my hip flexes.

"I’ll pretty much do whatever it takes to walk again. I’ve got time.

"I get there in my Toyota 4-Runner. Buying a vehicle to adapt manual hand controls was a bit of a challenge. I went with the simplest things.

"When I saw that the vehicle was factory-equipped with two grab handles [on the driver’s side], that sold me on that car right on the lot.

"If I had one leg to regain movement of as soon as possible I would want my right leg to function again. That would make driving and getting around much easier."

Competitive spirit lives on

"I do like to race my Polaris RZR," Blais said. "Jeff Connor at Pacific Mobility in Carlsbad outfitted the utility vehicle with MPS [Manufacturing and Product Services] manual hand controls. I call them ‘mobility project services.’

"Jeff’s been a Honda pit volunteer for quite a while. He’s very helpful.

"I’ve done a couple of races at Pismo Beach and Searchlight in the RZR, and a couple of races in the karts at Pole Position Raceway."

"That was fun just being competitive again. Yeah, that was good," Blais yipped.

Jimmy Button is also listed on the "American Motorcycle Racer" Internet search.

Supercross, Jan. 22, 2000, San Diego: as Button entered the whoop section he went over the bars, resulting in a cervical neck injury diagnosis of C-4-5-6, incomplete quadriplegic.

"The biggest thing that really helped was I had family around every minute of the eight months I was in the hospital," Button said. "I’ve never been alone.

"Not once did I ever have the opportunity, or option, to get down. Family always kept my spirits hopeful and up. I got lucky. I regained function of my legs and arms.

"I got around in Advertisement

Primus Golf Academy a medical wheelchair – nothing fancy or custom, since I was showing remarkable improvement in function with the help of Barrows Neurological Center in Phoenix. I was out of that chair and donated it to another downed racer who couldn’t afford one."

Button’s Road 2 Recovery

The Road 2 Recovery (R2R) Foundation is dedicated to helping AMA licensed professional motocross/supercross members with financial assistance if they sustain career-ending injuries.

It also provides motivational, emotional and spiritual support to these individuals and their families.

Biographies of the R2R board of directors read like top industry résumés. It’s no wonder their ability to facilitate and develop a medical advisory board to improve onsite medical care at the national amateur races and promote safety and the wellbeing of the racers is high on their list.

Bios from R2R’s Web site include the two below.

Jimmy Button, director/co-founder: Jimmy was a former professional motocross/supercross rider for Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki prior to an accident in 2000 that forced him to retire.

After being in the industry for more than 20 years, Jimmy looked nowhere else but his community to devote his time.

In late 2000, Jimmy helped found R2R with Bob Moore and Bob Walker which arose in response to Jimmy’s life-changing injuries.

In 2001, Jimmy co-founded Action Sports Management (ASM), where he began the job of representing professional riders in all aspects of motorcycling.

Today Jimmy is executive director of WMG Management and manages many of the world’s top motocross and freestyle motocross riders as well as developing amateur riders.

Anita Button, director of operations: Anita has been involved in amateur and professional racing for over 30 years, having attended nearly every race her son Jimmy was entered in from 1978 until 2000.

Anita volunteered for the R2R since its inception and has now joined the foundation full-time since retiring from Qwest Communications, where she worked for 35 years as a project manager.

Anita’s husband, Jim Sr., has been in the motorcycle business for 36 years and continues to run a motorcycle dealership to this day.

"My mom’s an awesome volunteer for R2R," said Button. "She’s very detail-oriented. Her work skills as a project manager for many years suit her perfectly for the hundreds of details it takes to produce all the fabulous fundraisers she’s organized over the years.

"I don’t have the time to run R2R like my mom does. Since co-founding the sports media management company in August of 2001 our company has grown with subsequent mergers to 375 employees with six offices on six continents, with our home office based in Carlsbad."

The Carlsbad connection

Upon discussing with Button some commonalities from the interviews with Barnett, Manley and Blais, Button chimed, "Wait a minute – Blais is driving all the way from Apple Valley to Carlsbad for physical therapy? He must be coming to Project Walk. They’re located a couple hundred yards down the street from my office. That place is awesome."

"You’re exactly right. He does go to Project Walk," I replied.

"You want to hear something interesting?" Button asked. "Every now and then guys will fly in from around the country and around to world to work out and get therapy there. Guys like Doug Henry, mountain bikers, motocrossers from Europe, especially guys from Down Under.

"I go to lunch all the time with guys who visit there. We’ll touch base and make a plan of it. Maybe I’ll have to hook up with Blais for lunch since he’s down here every week!"

Down the road

Button surmised his current condition: "Even though I can walk and

use my arms, I’m still classified as an incomplete quadriplegic. I have pain, especially on days when it’s cold and damp; it gets harder for me to move. I still have a bruise on my spinal cord from the injury.

"I have one last thing to share: neck braces. If the Leatt brace or the advancements in neck safety technology had been invented before they were and I had a chance to wear one, I would have.

"I know from racing experience and the vantage point I have from the sidelines watching today’s racers wearing the neck braces certainly adds a significant advantage to their safety and control on hard landings.

"I believe there should be a scientific study done on the number of neck injuries before and after the invention of the Leatt brace, because I’ve seen a significant decrease in neck-related injuries now that more people are wearing them. I want to know real numbers.

"I’m a huge advocate of neck safety. It’s unfortunate about what happened to me, but it did happen."

Button shook his head. "If I was wearing today’s neck braces I would have walked away from that crash and would be a happily retired MX racer with money in the bank."

For a peek into Chris Blais’ early rehabilitation days, visit www.resmarket.com/chrisblaismedicalfund.

More information on outreach, awareness and resources for racers and dirt bikers can be found at www.road2recovery.com and www.riderdown.org.

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