Reflections on Valentines Day-- Editorial

In honor of Valentines day, I decided to write an editorial about a guy dying from injuries incurred during a snowmobile accident.

Yeah. It makes perfect sense.....

Published in the February 11, 2013 issue of the Kishwaukee Kaleidoscope

Valentines day is fast approaching. Valentines day, is of course, is that special day during the year when people who are in a relationship take an extra moment to tell the person they love that they do in fact love them.

Myself? I've been in a relationship for two years. My boyfriend, Austin, is a farmer, diesel mechanic, and a Motor sport enthusiast. Austin races motocross in the quad b class at as many race tracks as he can make it to. He spends half his summer thundering around the farm, and the other half in the shed, wrench in hand, trying to eke out every last horsepower from the engine. He loves to jump his quad. I'm quite certain that the four wheels of his quad spend more time in the air than they do on the ground. What makes Austin the happiest is what scares me the most. 

Watching his races can be hard. Often times there is no place to stand where you can see the entire track, and some of it is always hidden from view. Waiting to see him come back around a turn can be extremely nerve racking. I can't even describe to you what I felt the couple times he didn't come around those hidden corners at the time I expected him to.

In the winter his life is a little more subdued. He spends most of his time composing lists of parts that he would like to replace and being nervous about the upcoming season. A couple weeks ago we stayed up a little later than we usually do to watch the snowmobiles during the winter X-Games. Caleb Moore, one of the first riders, took to the ramp to execute a back flip on his snowmobile. At least, that was the plan.

Anyone with a computer and access to the Internet can look up that fateful back flip online. I'm not going to describe it here. What I can tell you is this. The camera angle that they showed as it happened live didn't do that crash justice. 

It really didn't look like it was that serious. Taking Moore away in an ambulance seemed like it was just a matter of routine. Just double checking that he was okay. The camera angle they kept showing on TV made it look like the sled has missed him when it landed. Later, Austin showed me another camera angle of the crash that he had found online that fully explained the extent of Moore's injuries.

The injuries that Caleb Moore sustained in that snowmobile crash proved to be fatal. One week after the crash Caleb Moore passed away. He was just 25 years old. Moore's death is the first in the 18 year history of the X-Games.

I like to hope that in many ways Caleb Moore and Austin are very similar. I like to hope that just like Austin, Caleb was never happier than when in Mid-air. I like to hope that his last memories are of that moment, and not of the crash.

This valentines day, I'm going to take an extra minute to be thankful that my adrenaline junky boyfriend is safe with me. Although I know how dangerous this sport is, I know I can't keep him from it, because it is what makes him happy. I suggest that everyone here at Kish does the same. Not just for your significant other, but for everyone you love.