The Hunt

Hello everyone. Tiffany tells me a lot people have been asking about how I've been, so I guess I will write a quick update. Yep, I'm still paralyzed, but I have been trying to keep myself busy like my therapists told me to do.

We left off the last blog at the ride day at Cahuilla creek. I got pretty low after that just tryin to figure things out and get adapted. It took quite a while for my bike to show up but it did and just in time. I quickly hooked up with some great guys and we hit the road riding everyday we could. I have had my bike for 3 months and have already put in 530 Miles on it! Next stop, Rio de Janeiro 2016! lol!

Those are sweet knee braces right? Ha! They keep my legs from looking like the picture below. Found out the hard way. But it's been amazing picking the sweet scab!

Rookie!

I started acupuncture due to the extremely sore muscles from handcycling. And it has helped!

I have been trying to keep busy doing various activities. As you can see Jaxyn is not impressed

 

Through my foundation, joshfrederickfoundation.org I was able to get all my exercise equipment that I used at Craig for therapy at my own home. And because of generous donations I still have some funds left so we are trying to get it built up more so it can also help other parapaligics purchase equipment to get them back outdoors and doing things that they love. I'm very excited about this and I have some big plans about some events, but it is early, and I hope it will all come together.

I was able to get back on the quad which was cool. Gilbert hooked up an electronic shifter for me. The coolest part for me was my 4 year old, Jaxyn, came running up to me after I got back from the ride. He was so excited that I was back riding again!! "Dad your riding your 4 wheeler! You can you walk!?" This whole thing has probably been the hardest for him to understand. There is not a day goes by where he won't ask me "dad can you walk yet?" " no not yet buddy." "Oh ok." Hopefully someday Jax. Thanks for keeping it real.

Getting in a quick ride. It's been so long since I have gotten arm pump. It felt so good!? Wow, I never thought I would say that.

 

When I was at Craig hospital, my friend, Scott Kiger, (Coastal Racing) came to visit and invited me to go elk hunting at the end of September. I said of course, thinking that he was just being polite and it would be forgotten about. Well not only did he not forget about it, but this cool as hell track chair showed up at my house two weeks before the hunt!? WOW! What a blessing this thing is. I use it all over around my house and up at my track as well. A huge THANK YOU to you Scott. Especially from my wife...Haha.

I'm still able to do my house chores now! yay :/

So not only did I get to hunt elk, deer, and antelope, but my dad got to hunt too! How cool is that?! We had a great time. It was a lot of work for me but it was worth it. I almost talked myself out of it but I'm so glad I didn't. Thanks to Scott for the opportunity. Thanks to Majestic Outfitters and 4 Mile Ranch in Craig Colorado and to our guide Brian Garrison for his patience. He was a good sport. I'm sure it was quite a site with me rustling around with my gun trying to get a shot off. Haha.

Me and my awesome guide, Brian. I had never been antelope hunting before so this was a lot of fun. My physical therapist from Craig, Mackenzie, can't wait for her antelope skin winter boots!

This was a great group of guys that we hunted with. Scott got this nice bull Monday morning. They took the rest of the day off to celebrate. Haha.

I don't always ride in a Polaris, but when I do I make sure it's bad a$$. Mark Holz (holzracingproducts.com) built this hunting rig for Scott. It is equipped with upper seating for shooting, coffee maker, full bar, martini drink kit, snacks and of course toilet paper.

I was so glad my dad was able to hunt too. He didn't know what to think. He told me "I'm 65 years old and have killed lots of deer in my life, but this is the first time someone has cleaned and butchered it for me!"

I will admit, it was a little scary going. I haven't been away from my smokin hot care giver since the accident. This trip I was gone for 5 days and I did it! I'm such a big boy. It was nice to get away for a little bit and clear my head and do some thinking, trying to figure out what's next for me and I have came to this conclusion . I am paralyzed and I have no idea what I'm going to do!.... I have ups and downs just like anyone. One day I'm going to be the first paraplegic astronaut and the next day I don't want to get out of bed. Things are definetly getting easier or I'm just getting numb to the everyday grind. I'm working on some stuff for 2014 and hopefully will return to racing in some form or another. I am definetly getting stronger physically and emotionally. Too bad you can't get things back just from working hard. The Hansens are doing another ride day for me at Iron Mine Raceway in cedar city on October 18-19 we are planning on going and it should be a lot of fun. There is still a few days to buy tickets to win a Maverick! This Saturday @ 1. You don't need to be present to win. We have also got the ball rolling on getting a bike path through and around Moapa. Hopefully that will continue to pick up steam and we can make it happen. I do feel that this whole mess has brought me closer to my wife and kids. Instead of going wide open everywhere I've had to slow down and got to see how they are growing up and all there different interests. Thanks again to everyone and thanks for reading. Hopefully big news next time?

Josh

 

“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!”

― Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa

 

 

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Home

Hello everyone! We have been home from Craig now for 6 weeks. It is so nice to be home around friends and family. We have been overwhelmed with visitors, calls and emails. We are truly blessed. We said we would update the blog as exciting things happen and I don't want to become "that guy" who posts every little thing and turn people off. Well nothing exciting has happened but we are constantly being asked about updating it. So we decided just to update everyone. And since Tiff has a lot on her plate now, I will be updating the blog. Oh but she has time to play candy crush all night...I'm not bitter, so here you go...

Well, just 2 weeks after I got released from Craig, Johnny and Tammy Leach put on a ride day benefit for me at Cahuilla MX track. We weren't sure we were going to make it because we barely got home and were adjusting and I was feeling a little under the weather. I felt like I needed to go so we loaded up the kiddos and headed out. Jaxyn said he was excited to go to the races again but said he liked going in the motor home a lot more. I couldn't have agreed more.

We had a great turn out and everyone was so generous at the auction. I am so thankful for everyone that showed up and for all the people who were bidding online. It was great to be back at the track again and especially at Cahuilla. I have so many great memories there and have spent endless hours of testing and training there. I guess it's a little bitter sweet. I can't even begin to thank Johnny and especially Tammy, enough. She is the amazing woman behind the foundation and has helped us out so much. I hope they know how much we love them and how grateful we are for them.

A great family photo at the benefit ride. I love this picture. My kids have grown so much while I have been gone.

 

There's was a lot of people present for the silent auction.

There was a ton of jerseys donated and Johnny won the best one for me!!!

At a benefit dinner/auction they held for me in Moapa a month earlier, my good friends Josh Taylor and Bobby McCormick donated a shot gun seat ride in their race truck for their next race. It was a great idea and raised a lot of money and the cool part was that my nephew Brodey won the ride! He was so excited. We were able to leave the ride day and make it in time to catch the first lap of the race. They ended up winning the race! It was a really cool deal. Brodey had a blast!

Being at home has been a lot harder than I thought it would be and very challenging. At Craig they keep you very busy and it's go go go. Then I get home and I find myself waiting for my exercise equipment surrounded by all the projects and things I used to do, and with all this time to just sit and think. Then it just all sets in. Wow this really is happening, now what do I do. I am so used to working hard all week and being able to have a positive release on the weekends. Now that is gone. I need a hobby quick! Thanks to my family and friends, they all help snap me out of it before I get too low.

I needed some serious vitamin D. Helping Gavyn do some bike maintenance

Finally I get some exercise equipment. Through the foundation we were able to purchase all the equipment that I used at Craig. It is just taking FOREVER to get here. I was so excited I can finally start doing something to get back into shape.

Jaxyn and me getting some track grooming done. It was real emotional for me to be at my track where i have put in thousands of laps and so much blood sweat and tears. I hope I can continue to use it for good and maybe even put on some riding classes. Thanks to my dad for helping build me a slide board to get in to the Rowley contracting skid steer. Now all I need is to make some hand controls for Johnny's loader and I will be set. ;)

Mark Holz of Holz Racing Products is putting together some hand controls for me but I haven't got them yet. I couldn't wait any longer so I figured I would do it the ol Moapa way until they arrive. I just grabbed the broom stick handle and I'm good to go. It actually worked quite well, you just can't reach the brake pedal very quick but Jaxyn didn't mind. Can-am does not encourage this kind of behavior in any way and it will void your warranty, discretion is advised. ;) On a serious note, the great people of Can-am donated one of these bad ass machines, the Maverick 1000Xrs, to the foundation. You can buy raffle tickets @ joshfrederckfoundation.org till October. Good luck!!!

 

I got a surprise visit from Rick and Donna Ellsworth this week. They were able to compete in the 12 hours de La Tuque race in Canada this past month. I was blessed to not only race, but win it the last 2 years I was bummed not to be able to race it this year. It is such a cool event and I love the people there. My picture was used on the race flyers that they hung all over the town and Donna and Rick along with a bunch more people were able to not only get it for me but to get everybody to sign it. I love it! :')

 

I think about my team from Craig everyday and I try not to let them down. I am so glad to be home around family and friends. I am so thankful for the town I live in and I love to see people around wearing my bracelet or shirt. I am excited about getting back around racing again. And I wish the rest of my exercise equipment would show up already. That's all for now I hope in the future I will have a ton of great stuff to share. Josh

 

Always give a 100% and you will never have to second guess yourself.

 

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Craig: The last week!

Tuesday

Well it's finally here. Our final week. We have a ton of pics to share so it's going to seem super long, but we have so much to show you & we couldn't leave anything out. Tiff is a little overwhelmed right now with getting ready to go home, so I get to write this week...sorry.

I started the week off on a good note. Finally I got my brace off. Now my team can really push me with no restrictions from the doc.

I'm not going to lie. This is how I really felt.

 

Wednesday

Joe and Mackenzie didn't waste anytime the next day, it was on. Floor transfers to chair, over and over again. We couldn't do these before due to the restriction of the brace and now that it's off, they are really pushing me.

Thursday

Very next day Joe tells Chris to have me practice tipping back up in my chair for when I flip over. After practicing all this I can assure you I won't be going anywhere by myself. It's very hard work and they made me do it twice because Tiff missed the first one with the camera. >:/

I did it!!!

So today the young women and young men's group came over to our house and did a service project of deep cleaning our house and picking up our yard for us. We are so grateful we live in this wonderful community and I have had the great privilege of working with these amazing boys.

 

Thursday

Well, today was extremely tough, but it all paid off with an outing to the local Can-Am dealership. We had been planning it for quite some time. Joe and Mackenzie wanted to see if I could transfer into a Maverick. I was very excited but nervous at the same time.

The transfer went way better than I could have imagined! Mackenzie and I just took it easy, & I showed Joe all the horsepower of the maverick.

This is one of my favorite pictures. My team for the last 8 weeks. I was truly blessed, they believed in me and pushed me from day 1. They never let me get down. Joe and Mackenzie are unbelievable and unselfish people. I am so grateful for them. As far as my wife goes, I don't even know where to start. She has been my rock through this whole thing, always keeping me positive and moving forward all the while I know she would much rather be home with the kids. But she knows how much I need her and I am so blessed to have her in my life. I love you babe!

So we couldn't find a DS 450 and this renegade was the closest thing to my race quad and I wanted to see if I could transfer onto a quad and what it felt like, Joe said lets go for it. A little harder, but definitely doable. I will have Gilbert working on a shift lever for me! ;)

After a great lunch with the team I headed back to the gym for my last class. Just in time for a wild game of wall ball. It got a little crazy and even though we lost, we had a great time and we only knocked 2 people out of there chairs. Of course no one saw anything... Too much paper work for our great instructors! Lol

Front view...

Rear view.

Well I thought this was all for me leaving but come to find out it was the ground breaking for Craig's new addition. Haha! This is truly exciting after being here because this place does so much good and everyone that works here is amazing! Although I obviously did not plan on being here, I am thankful for the journey and I hope someday it will all make sense why my Heavenly Father chose this path for me.

 

Friday

My personal "contractors" and best friends from Moapa took the weekend off to come hang out and go watch motocross at Thunder Valley. What a great way to end my stay in Denver. I still had a few classes to first get through today.

 

Yes, those are cones on my lap. I'm not just happy to be at chair class. Lol! So word spread pretty fast that this was my last day so everyone pulled out the stops. Here I am practicing picking up cones with one hand all while keeping a wheelie. Very tough...

So I have been biking after class a few times with Claire and we have a pretty cool little loop that has a little hill right at the end that we race up. She has never been beat by a in patient at Craig before. Well, I have beat her twice (sorry Claire) she wasn't very happy. So she tells me we should get Joe out on Friday and have a "friendly" race. So she schedules it and and we get some trash talking going all day, so 1:00 it's on. Well we come down to the last hill and Joe and me are neck and neck and almost at the end and Joes chain starts slipping and he is yelling " shoot, shoot, shoot" and I'm laughing so hard at Joe's choice of words. Joe is losing because his chain keeps slipping, and all he is yelling is "shoot!" What a great example he is to me. My mom and wife know I need to learn from that. :) We had a great time! A huge thanks to Claire for not giving up on me and getting me outside to try different things.

At the end of the day we had my departure conference, which is when my whole team, including my doctor, nurse P.T., O.T, and my shrink (that's a whole other story ;) ) get together and we go over everything past and present. It got a little emotional at the end, big shocker, but I'm so grateful for these people, so I made Tiff do all the talking, but that didn't go much better. We are both cry babies. Haha. I know deep down inside they were all crying and sad to see us go. At least that's what I keep telling myself...

Saturday

It's time to go watch some MX!

Are you freaking kidding me! How am I suppose to get in this?!

 

Look at Bundy's big guns!! It wasn't pretty but I made it in. I hope nobody was watching because they probably thought that a poor little handicap boy was getting abducted cuz they just picked me up and threw me in there! Lol!

Made it! I know I just made Joe proud. :')

 

Thunder Valley...

We had a great day at the races. It was a little overwhelming, but thanks to my wife and awesome friends, they definitely made it a lot less stressful. And if Joe didn't hook me up with the Free Wheel that Craig had, I would not have been able to go. The terrain there was rocky and uphill. Tiff got her workout in. Haha.

 

Sunday

Well, today was the longest day EVER! Before the crew took off, Tiff made the boys get me ready for the day since they wore me out yesterday.

I really hope Mackenzie doesn't see this. Haha ;)

After they dressed me, they they headed home with all the stuff we can live without for the next 24hrs. It was loaded to the brim! Who would have thought we could accumulate so much crap in 8 weeks?!

Then we just sat around...bored...thinking we should have flew out today. We did have a smokin BBQ with our friends, Dan and Ginger, who we met here at Craig. We've made many great friends who are going through similar things as me. It's been nice having someone who knows how I feel and what I'm going through, to talk to.

 

Monday

Heading home today! I never thought this day would come! We loaded up in a handicap van. I was SO glad I didn't have to do any transfers. I am still worn out from the weekend. But I had to sit way in the back and it kind of made me sick back there:(

Kacee and Ian came in to get us at the airport. Jaxyn came with them. I was so happy to see him and Tiff started crying. She didn't think she'd see any of our kids till we got home. What a great surprise.

Then this is just some of the things we saw when we got into Moapa...

Like I said...so blessed:')

 

So this is how awesome our friends and family are. All the home mods done in less than 10 days!!!

 

It's better than before! Thank you all so much!

Oh, and they put an automatic garage door on my shop! I have been wanting one for over 10 years! I guess this is what it takes....

 

Well, my journey at Craig has come to a end. There are so many people that I would like to thank, but I don't even know where to start because I could go on for days, so a huge THANK YOU to everyone will have to do. We will continue on with this blog as exciting things happen. Next weekend my boss and his awesome wife have put together a benefit ride day at Cahuilla raceway in Southern California, for me. Hopefully I will feel good enough to make the trek down there so I can personally see and thank all those who have participted and helped with this fundraiser too.

As this new chapter begins I really don't know which direction it will take me, but I pray it will all come together and make sense. Thanks for taking this journey with me.

Josh

Quote of the week:

I had wrote this quote in my work out room on a pit board, before all this had happened. It has a totally different meaning to me now....

 

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