Life has Obstacles

Life has obstacles and for Dan Lapoint, it happens to be the loss of his left leg. At forty-eight years old Dan sat down with me and recalled his accident like it happen yesterday. In 1984, like so many people, he was heading to the white water derby in North Creek on his motorcycle when a drunk driver struck him. The driver of the car had been drinking for several days and boasted to his passengers how he would scare the motorcycle riders. The station wagon took off Dan’s left leg leaving the car with a flat tire. The drunk driver sped off, leaving the scene but was soon caught.

I visited him in the hospital during his recovery. Dan was one of the toughest young men I knew. He grew up working on farms in Argyle and as if that’s not enough to make anyone tough, Dan was also an expert in tae kwon do and competed in tournaments. When I saw Dan lying in that hospital bed drenched in sweat from the phantom pains, I thought it was the end of life for Dan, as he knew it. After spending two and one half months in the hospital he was released and even though the infections caused more of his leg to be removed, he was on the road to recovery.

By the end of that year, Dan asked Fronhofer Tool Company to build a special shifter for his motorcycle so he could race. He had had a hand shifter but the rules state that both hands have to remain on the handle-bars at all times. We built a shifter for the right side of his bike and he was off to the races.

Getting fired from his job at Nibco in South Glens Falls was another set back. He had missed a lot of time due to his injury and being only a few months short of a ten-year anniversary, left him without any benefits. Dan, being a Harley enthusiast, sent himself to school to become a Harley mechanic. This, together with his love for racing made him a top contender. In 1994 he took first place in the FX Street, ECRA, second in 1995 and first again in 1996. He is now saving his money and in a few years hopes to be racing super stock where top speeds in the quarter mile are close to 150mph. With his stock bike he reaches a top speed in the quarter mile of 115mph.

This all seems so routine and normal to Dan. In fact, he feels lucky. Life is going to toss stuff at you but Dan says; “you can’t do anything about the past, just the future”.

I for one am very glad there are people out there for my kids to look up to, people that don’t whine and enjoy getting on with the business of living. Actually, I’m glad I have Dan to look up to. He can be an inspiration for anyone and he has been that, many times over for many people. He doesn’t realize it, but he’s got the attitude that everyone of us envies and the attitude that each one of us hopes to have if tragedy were to strike us.

When I was interviewing Dan for this article, he kept talking about how good his son Scott and daughter Jenelle were doing. Even though he’s had many articles written about him (mostly in race magazines that are equally impressed with his resilience) he’s still just a dad first, a genuine family man. That’s what makes him a remarkable person to many of us.

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Last modified: November 08, 2007