15.10.2007, 13:35
Thursday, October 11, 2007
The Force is strong with this one ...
Yesterday afternoon I got to spend some quality time on the phone with an old friend. You might know him as drag racing's winningest driver, 14-time champion, and the people's kind of people, John Force.
It's not the first time I've talked to Force since his Sept. 23 accident, but the last time I did, for about five minutes, was two days after the accident and he was so filled with pain medicine I didn't feel it was fair to quote him on anything he said.
It was a much more clear-headed John Force this time, even though he had just taken another dose of pain meds that slowly came to bear on him throughout the 30-minute phone call. I hung up knowing one thing though: He's going to be back. He said it, on his word, and I believe him, and I think everyone around him does, from his doctors to his family and team who were admittedly pretty concerned when he tried to "Brute Force" his way into telling everyone he'd be back by Richmond, therapy be damned.
Now it's pretty clear he's taking his physical therapy very, very seriously, and, naturally, is quite a celebrity at Baylor University Medical Center. He brings hats and signs autographs for his fellow patients in PT, which he attends twice a day for three hours at a pop. "I've met people here with spinal injuries who are so much worse off than me but they get up every day and keep trying so I give them all hats and stuff and try to motivate them, and there's guys here older than me telling me 'You'll race again; we're counting on you.' It's become my happy place," he told me.
You’re going to have to wait for next week's National DRAGSTER to read the full interview, which is filled with details and introspection about his recovery and his life, and laced with the typical John Force humor and self-deprecation ("my legs have so many stitches that they're ugly, but that's okay because I was never cute anyway"). He talks about his love for the fans ("fans are trying to sneak in to see me even though they've got me [registered] under WXYZ or something like I'm a murderer or in witness protection.") and much more. Don’t miss it. We've hired Dallas-area drag racing lensman Randy Anderson to visit Force tomorrow and provide us with images of him going through his daily routine. I'll post it to the National DRAGSTER library in the NHRA members section next Thursday.
The bottom line, though, is he sounded really good, really positive, and the best news I could have heard was, "I'm really getting well, and I'm excited."
That Force even took the time to call, let alone carve out 30 minutes of his day, impressed and excited me, as it did his publicist Dave Densmore. I had emailed Dens to ask for a few minutes with Force and as I was replying to his reply that he would talk to Force about it, the phone rang and it was The Man himself. "I told him that you wanted to set something up but I didn't expect him to call you," said Densmore. "The fact that he did is great." It's clear that the John Force of old is coming back, and he even told me that he hopes to be able to come to Las Vegas for two or three days, a carrot dangled by his doctors if he's a good boy and continues to work hard.
He thanked me for the articles I have written about him in words I'm too embarrassed to reprint here, but our interview was filled with references to my "Hurry Back, Superman" article (see Sept. 23 entry below), including some rather pointed reminders from his doctors: "My doctor, Dr. [Alan] Jones, told me, 'You think you’re Superman? You’re not Superman. This isn't the comic books. You think you’re special? I've read all about you being in all of those crashes and I'm a fan of yours, but this ain't no 'write the article and everything's going to be okay.' "
Surrounded by his family ("Ashley's been here all 17 days and refuses to leave and I got the grandbaby down here; grandchildren are our best medicine") and buoyed by the love of his fans and fellow racers (Gary Scelzi popped in to see him today), he's hell bent to get back.
And, in typical John Force fashion, he apologized to me for talking so much ... yeah, as if I was going to complain! He probably doesn't remember the number of times he told me he was going to let me go when it was me who kept pumping him with questions. Every minute with him was magic. Thanks, big guy. I appreciate the effort.
Force also received the over-sized get-well card we sent him (see entry below), and JFR marketing coordinator Chad Light, who shot the photo at the top of this column, passed along the following message for me to forward to the staff, which says it all: "John Force wanted to thank all of you at National Dragster for the well wishes and the card. You are all extremely important to him and he is proud to call of you friends! John is recovering well and is continuing his physical therapy everyday, he is coming along well and hopes to be released soon. Kind acts and well wishes such as yours provide him such a boost, he is truly dedicated and passionate about getting back out to the races."
Man, I can hardly wait. Hurry back, Superman.
gerade bei nhra.com entdeckt..
grüß
markus
The Force is strong with this one ...
Yesterday afternoon I got to spend some quality time on the phone with an old friend. You might know him as drag racing's winningest driver, 14-time champion, and the people's kind of people, John Force.
It's not the first time I've talked to Force since his Sept. 23 accident, but the last time I did, for about five minutes, was two days after the accident and he was so filled with pain medicine I didn't feel it was fair to quote him on anything he said.
It was a much more clear-headed John Force this time, even though he had just taken another dose of pain meds that slowly came to bear on him throughout the 30-minute phone call. I hung up knowing one thing though: He's going to be back. He said it, on his word, and I believe him, and I think everyone around him does, from his doctors to his family and team who were admittedly pretty concerned when he tried to "Brute Force" his way into telling everyone he'd be back by Richmond, therapy be damned.
Now it's pretty clear he's taking his physical therapy very, very seriously, and, naturally, is quite a celebrity at Baylor University Medical Center. He brings hats and signs autographs for his fellow patients in PT, which he attends twice a day for three hours at a pop. "I've met people here with spinal injuries who are so much worse off than me but they get up every day and keep trying so I give them all hats and stuff and try to motivate them, and there's guys here older than me telling me 'You'll race again; we're counting on you.' It's become my happy place," he told me.
You’re going to have to wait for next week's National DRAGSTER to read the full interview, which is filled with details and introspection about his recovery and his life, and laced with the typical John Force humor and self-deprecation ("my legs have so many stitches that they're ugly, but that's okay because I was never cute anyway"). He talks about his love for the fans ("fans are trying to sneak in to see me even though they've got me [registered] under WXYZ or something like I'm a murderer or in witness protection.") and much more. Don’t miss it. We've hired Dallas-area drag racing lensman Randy Anderson to visit Force tomorrow and provide us with images of him going through his daily routine. I'll post it to the National DRAGSTER library in the NHRA members section next Thursday.
The bottom line, though, is he sounded really good, really positive, and the best news I could have heard was, "I'm really getting well, and I'm excited."
That Force even took the time to call, let alone carve out 30 minutes of his day, impressed and excited me, as it did his publicist Dave Densmore. I had emailed Dens to ask for a few minutes with Force and as I was replying to his reply that he would talk to Force about it, the phone rang and it was The Man himself. "I told him that you wanted to set something up but I didn't expect him to call you," said Densmore. "The fact that he did is great." It's clear that the John Force of old is coming back, and he even told me that he hopes to be able to come to Las Vegas for two or three days, a carrot dangled by his doctors if he's a good boy and continues to work hard.
He thanked me for the articles I have written about him in words I'm too embarrassed to reprint here, but our interview was filled with references to my "Hurry Back, Superman" article (see Sept. 23 entry below), including some rather pointed reminders from his doctors: "My doctor, Dr. [Alan] Jones, told me, 'You think you’re Superman? You’re not Superman. This isn't the comic books. You think you’re special? I've read all about you being in all of those crashes and I'm a fan of yours, but this ain't no 'write the article and everything's going to be okay.' "
Surrounded by his family ("Ashley's been here all 17 days and refuses to leave and I got the grandbaby down here; grandchildren are our best medicine") and buoyed by the love of his fans and fellow racers (Gary Scelzi popped in to see him today), he's hell bent to get back.
And, in typical John Force fashion, he apologized to me for talking so much ... yeah, as if I was going to complain! He probably doesn't remember the number of times he told me he was going to let me go when it was me who kept pumping him with questions. Every minute with him was magic. Thanks, big guy. I appreciate the effort.
Force also received the over-sized get-well card we sent him (see entry below), and JFR marketing coordinator Chad Light, who shot the photo at the top of this column, passed along the following message for me to forward to the staff, which says it all: "John Force wanted to thank all of you at National Dragster for the well wishes and the card. You are all extremely important to him and he is proud to call of you friends! John is recovering well and is continuing his physical therapy everyday, he is coming along well and hopes to be released soon. Kind acts and well wishes such as yours provide him such a boost, he is truly dedicated and passionate about getting back out to the races."
Man, I can hardly wait. Hurry back, Superman.
gerade bei nhra.com entdeckt..
grüß
markus