Eric M has proudly served his country in both the Marines and Navy during war time and peace. From that he suffers from PTSD. He has a service dog to help him in times of need. He also suffers from damage to his vertebra. One of these injuries was caused by a police cruiser running a red light with no lights or sirens on, which t-boned his vehicle. They didn't claim fault nor paid for damages. He has beat cancer once but recently has been re-diagnosed with it. This time it's in his brain. Through all of this he'd give someone the shirt off his back. He has often helped me at his expense and refuses to allow me to pay him back. I usually find sneaky ways to do so that he'll accept. Even when my wife was suffering from back injury, the first person in line to help was Eric. Despite the pain he may have been in. I can never pay him back because with out him, I may have lost my wife during this time. I can't ever pay him back enough.
This is what brings me to why I am here. 15th May 2014, a friend of Eric and I had a catastrophic failure on his bike. Eric pulled himself out of bed, grabbed my trailer and brought this friend to his house. Eric tried for several hours to repair the bike so the friend could get home safe to his wife. There was no success, so Eric allowed this trusted friend to ride his bike home for the night. With in hours the friend realized the bike was stolen from his property.
Anyone that rides, especially a war vet, can probably tell you how therapeutic riding can be. Especially when all the thoughts flood your head of war time, old friends, and hard to chew on moments re-visualize in your mind. This on top of doctors and his service dog, this was an important part of his therapy. The three things he's most passionate about is his son, helping friends, and riding his bike.
He has full coverage and gap insurance, but at best, that may get him to the point of not owing anything else.
Eric lives on a fixed budget being a medically retired vet. So raising money for a down payment will take some time and with the brain cancer, time isn't really on our side. The friend that borrowed the bike isn't in the best of employment situations, so again with the time factor of saving up. So any dime I have to spare, I want to use to buy him a bike similar to what he had. He had a 2008 or 9 Suzuki Hayabusa. He's always talked about looking at the Kawasaki ZX1400. Why a big bike you ask? Well, like me, we both like to travel long distances, but on something a little sportier than a typical cruiser. Aka a sports tourer. They site up more than most sports bikes and doesn't kill our bodies to ride.
I miss my very good friend by my side taking long rides to no where and I fear that if I can't make something happen soon, I may loose that chance to build some more memories.
