Help Dave Szymanski
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David Szymanski: Motorcycle Enthusiast and Man with a Magnanimous Spirit
David Szymanski - known as “Dave” or “Ski” by some (and lovingly called “D.J.” ONLY by those lucky enough to be his two little sisters) - is usually the man people to turn to for a helping hand. I am pretty sure that his generosity is sequenced in his DNA. But, as many of us know, asking for help is not something that comes easily for those who are accustomed to doing the helping.
A friend of mine once told me that: “It isn’t a matter of if you will be in a motorcycle accident; it’s a matter of when.” Dave’s “when” happened last week on a motorcycle trip with his girlfriend Jessica. While taking a blind curve in the Colorado Mountains, he hit a patch of gravel on the pavement—a very tricky hazard for a motorcyclist to navigate. In an effort to save himself from a wreck and being thrown off his bike, he braced his leg to keep the rear of his bike steady. This action, while saving the bike and lessening the possible magnitude of the incident, managed to break his leg in three places. Jessica, who was trailing behind him on her own bike, is thankfully unharmed.
While injured on the side of the road, Dave managed to “MacGyver” a splint for his leg using road maps and cable ties until someone stopped to his aid and kindly drove him three hours to the nearest hospital—where he was admitted as a patient for three days.
Now, with a leg filled with screws and titanium rods, he is back home in Portland, Oregon; where he is laid up with a full leg cast, medication for pain and strict orders not to work or put pressure on his leg for the next 3-4 weeks.
Dave is a full-time tattoo artist; self-employed since the age of 19. When you are self-employed, you don’t have the luxury of paid sick time or short-term disability pay. Nor is it common have tens of thousands of dollars in the bank to pay for surgeries and the multitude of doctor visits that are required for such a malady. When tragedy happens to those who are self-employed, they are forced live off their savings … which in Dave and Jessica’s case is now dwindling, and possibly erasing the future they had planned for purchasing a home of their own.
What do you do when the guy who helps everyone needs help? Start a campaign showing him that WE care and will give back, pay-it-forward and respect his magnanimous spirit in kind.
If you ride, please share the love. If you are self-employed, please pay it forward. If you know Dave, have been helped by Dave, or just want some good Karma, please share in his generosity by donating today. Thank you!
With love and much appreciation,
Jeni Szymanski Coffey
(One of two people in the world who can call him “D.J.” without pissing him off.)
David Szymanski - known as “Dave” or “Ski” by some (and lovingly called “D.J.” ONLY by those lucky enough to be his two little sisters) - is usually the man people to turn to for a helping hand. I am pretty sure that his generosity is sequenced in his DNA. But, as many of us know, asking for help is not something that comes easily for those who are accustomed to doing the helping.
A friend of mine once told me that: “It isn’t a matter of if you will be in a motorcycle accident; it’s a matter of when.” Dave’s “when” happened last week on a motorcycle trip with his girlfriend Jessica. While taking a blind curve in the Colorado Mountains, he hit a patch of gravel on the pavement—a very tricky hazard for a motorcyclist to navigate. In an effort to save himself from a wreck and being thrown off his bike, he braced his leg to keep the rear of his bike steady. This action, while saving the bike and lessening the possible magnitude of the incident, managed to break his leg in three places. Jessica, who was trailing behind him on her own bike, is thankfully unharmed.
While injured on the side of the road, Dave managed to “MacGyver” a splint for his leg using road maps and cable ties until someone stopped to his aid and kindly drove him three hours to the nearest hospital—where he was admitted as a patient for three days.
Now, with a leg filled with screws and titanium rods, he is back home in Portland, Oregon; where he is laid up with a full leg cast, medication for pain and strict orders not to work or put pressure on his leg for the next 3-4 weeks.
Dave is a full-time tattoo artist; self-employed since the age of 19. When you are self-employed, you don’t have the luxury of paid sick time or short-term disability pay. Nor is it common have tens of thousands of dollars in the bank to pay for surgeries and the multitude of doctor visits that are required for such a malady. When tragedy happens to those who are self-employed, they are forced live off their savings … which in Dave and Jessica’s case is now dwindling, and possibly erasing the future they had planned for purchasing a home of their own.
What do you do when the guy who helps everyone needs help? Start a campaign showing him that WE care and will give back, pay-it-forward and respect his magnanimous spirit in kind.
If you ride, please share the love. If you are self-employed, please pay it forward. If you know Dave, have been helped by Dave, or just want some good Karma, please share in his generosity by donating today. Thank you!
With love and much appreciation,
Jeni Szymanski Coffey
(One of two people in the world who can call him “D.J.” without pissing him off.)
Organizer
Jeni Coffey
Organizer
Avon, IN
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