After motorcycle accident, he’s just trying to get by
While in the hospital following a motorcycle accident, Fred Roach lost his wife to divorce and nearly lost one of his legs.
“About two years ago I was in a bad motorcycle wreck. I had just bought a new Harley. I hadn’t even put 300 miles on it. I was going around a curve when this guy came all the way over in my lane. He ran me off the road and I flipped five times. They thought I was about dead when they loaded me in the helicopter.
“I was in a coma for three weeks. After a bunch of surgeries on this leg they said, ‘We probably just need to cut it off.’ I said, ‘Bullshit. Y’all are fired, and I’m leaving.’ They told me I wouldn’t ever walk again. Well, you know what? God has more power than anybody. I know that’s the only reason I’m alive and able to walk today. This leg is 4 inches shorter than the other one, but a doctor made a special shoe so I can walk without a wobble.
“At the time of the accident, my wife and I had been married 35 years. But while I was in the hospital, she decided to divorce me and take everything I had. So I’m on my own. I don’t ask nobody for nothing. I get a little disability check every month. I come over here every morning and get me a Dr. Pepper and a pack of cigarettes, and I sit here most of the day. My biggest challenge is just to be able to keep walking and to get by every day.
“I have a mini-Chihuahua in my apartment, and I wouldn’t take a million dollars for that dog. His name is Chico, and he’s a really good boy.”
— Fred Roach, 63
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