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Tara Llanes "ROAD TO RECOVERY" FUND - Let's try this agin

DylanDeanDesign

DylanDeanDesign

Turbo Monkey
Dec 10, 2004
1,097
0
San Diego area, California USA
Ok, let's try this again... I am truly disappointed in some of you trying to debate the country's health care system, or having issued doinating to Tara's recovery fund... damn people. this isn't the time or place. if you don't want to donate, then don't. if you have issues w/ the American healthcare system, go piss about it somewhere else. Tara does have health insurance, & i'm sure her sponsors, as well as Jeep are kicking in to help her out. but there's still soooooooo much more that will be needed to help her even attempt to get back to normality.

I wanted to post this a brand new forum topic so people will see the updates! Definately keep posting your messages to tara on the other forum as well... i've posted this info in both places... as well as a few other (sorry for the spam... but this is good spam!:spam: :D)

If fraser or someone could make this a sticky, i'd appreciate it

www.tarallanesroadtorecovery.com

On Saturday September 1st 2007, the mountain biking world suffered a tremendous tragedy. While competing in the Jeep King of the Mountain finale in Beaver Creek Colorado, one of the greatest athletes the sport has known, Tara Llanes, suffered a horrific crash during the first run of her semi-final heat. Tara was rushed to Vail Valley Hospital, then airlifted to Denver Health Hospital a short time later. Following seven hours of surgery to the back and spinal cord, it was determined she was paralyzed below the waist.

Tara has been a phenomenal competitor throughout her career, and a dear friend to everyone in the mountain biking community around the world. Her competitiveness, aggressive riding style, and never say die attitude have motivated competitors and spectators alike to dig a little deeper. Tara’s always been there for everyone around her. Whether it be offering advice and encouragement to younger racers, a strong sounding board for her family and friends, or lending a helping hand to anyone in need, she truly possesses the heart of a champion.

It is now that Tara needs the support of the mountain biking family she has cherished throughout her career. Her road through rehabilitation and recovery will be a long and expensive one. Following her two week stay at the Denver Health Hospital, she will begin a six to seven week inpatient rehabilitation stay at the Craig facility, also in Denver Colorado. From there, she will travel back to her home in southern California and continue outpatient physical therapy. As you can imagine, there are a number of costs associated with the entire effort ranging from the immediate medical to rehabilitation, travel, communication, home wheelchair modifications, and so on. Through your generosity, we can make certain Tara receives every opportunity for the best care that can be afforded.


I encourage you, please show Tara your love and support by making a charitable contribution to the Road to Recovery Fund through one of the following avenue:

Mail personal or cashiers checks and money orders to:
Tara Llanes
Road to Recovery Fund
4068 Green Ave
Los Alamitos, CA 90720

the PAYPAL link is up - click the Heart w/ the "DONATE" in the center!
 
DylanDeanDesign

DylanDeanDesign

Turbo Monkey
Dec 10, 2004
1,097
0
San Diego area, California USA
Tara Llanes: The Heart of a Champion
By James Herrera, Tara’s coach and close friend

As she lays in a hospital bed following a seven hour surgery to the back and spinal cord, one of Tara’s doctors enters the room to explain the use of the Incentive Spiromter, a device frequently utilized in the medical community to test the health of the lungs following surgery. “Tara, now put this hose in your mouth and take the deepest breath you can.” The effects of the post surgery meds are still taking their toll as Tara, half asleep, takes hold of the device and inhales. “Not bad, 1000mls,” as the doctor takes back the device and turns to put it on the bedside table. Tara sleepily asks the doc, “so how much should I be doing?” He replies, “well, in a healthy young athlete like yourself, 4000-5000 is not uncommon, but you just had surgery last night.” As the doctor turns to leave the room, Tara sternly responds, “let me see that thing again.” With all the strength she can muster, she cranks out a 1750. Later in the day, she’d stepped it up to 2500. No one knows better than I do, this girls got the heart of a champion.

On Saturday September 1, 2007, Tara had a horrible crash at the Jeep King of the Mountain finale in Beaver Creek Colorado. During a semi final heat with eventual race winner Jill Kintner, Tara entered the second to last straight on the course and went over the bars on obstacle that sent her over the bars, coming down hard on her head then back. She was rushed to Vail Valley Medical Center, then Denver Health Hospital, where a specialty spinal cord team worked on her for seven hours over Saturday night. Tara’s crash caused a fracture to the C7 and L1 vertebra and damage to the spinal cord, resulting in a below the waist paralysis, a condition her surgeons say is most likely permanent, but there is always a possibility that things will change for the better.

En route to the hospital, I received a phone call from Honda motocross superstar, Ernesto Fonseca www.ernestofonseca.com, reaffirming our beliefs that doctors don’t always know the ultimate outcome of a patient’s condition. In March of 2006, Ernesto suffered a training crash in preparation for the Daytona Supercross, resulting in damage to the spinal cord. Like Tara, Fonseca labored through a lengthy surgery and has made tremendous progress following surgery. “Don’t believe a word the doctors tell you. You just keep telling her to push and stay strong. I’m doing way more than they told me I ever would, and it’s only been a year.”

Through the advice of Tara’s physicians, Fonseca, and a number of other medical and personal friends, the family visited the world renowned Craig Hospital www.craighospital.org in Denver, a facility specializing in spinal cord injury rehabilitation and research. The tour was rather amazing, highlighting the rehabilitation, recreation, and education efforts provided to the patient and family. As we progressed through the tour, there was a circuit training physical therapy session taking place on the facilities basketball court. The intensity of the therapists, coaches, and hard work of the patients reaffirmed my belief that Tara would fit right in and push her recovery efforts to their absolute limit.

While visiting Craig, we had the pleasure of meeting the family of Stephen Murray, the professional dirt jumper who was left paralyzed below the shoulders following a crash in June of 2007 at the Dew Tour in Baltimore, MD. Stephen’s mom and wife are both incredible individuals, offering great information about the Craig facility and their sincerest support for Tara and her family. Charitable contributions to Stephen’s relief fund can be made at www.stephenmurray.org.

Tara has been an athlete and champion of many sorts her entire life. She began her athletic lifestyle with a basketball in the third grade, going on to win a high school national championship. While in junior high, she discovered the sport of BMX. “My mom and I used to always pass this track, Orange BMX, on the side of the freeway. I think my nagging finally got to her and one night we stopped and watched the racing. By the next week, my mom bought me a pink CW with matching pink and grey AXO gear and we went back to the track. I ended up getting second place. Who would have known that night would have changed my future?” For the next few years, Tara and her biggest fan and supporter, MOM, flew around the country competing at national level events. Along the way, she acquired Haro as a sponsor.

“After a few years on the team I started to here about mountain biking. I was 16 years old and talked to my team manager about getting me a mountain bike to try out. He finally agreed and I went to a race in Big Bear and won in the junior class. Since then I've been able to travel the world and meet a lot of new friends. Throughout everything I can't thank my mom enough for being behind me 110%. She was the one who would drive me to every single basketball practice, track meet, softball game, or BMX race. She was the one who would work on my bike for me at the BMX track just like all of the dads were doing for their sons. She was the one who would put streamers up in the hotel room at the BMX Grand Nationals in Oklahoma, because that race always happened to fall on my birthday. She's the best!”

Being a close friend to Tara and her coach for the past two years, I can’t even begin to express just how incredible this girl is. As an athlete, she is a coach’s dream: a fierce competitor, dedicated, motivated, and upbeat in every way. Having to pull back the reins on how long or hard she’d train was my biggest chore. I can quite honestly say, I’ve met very few people in my life that are even remotely this driven. But her athleticism and competitive spirit are only a small part of what makes Tara the person she is. She is compassionate, grateful, and helpful to every person she comes across, always placing the wellbeing of others before her own. On more than one occasion, her actions, the way she lives her life, became my example to follow.

My friends in the industry, Tara needs our help. She’d certainly never ask for it herself, but I’m definitely not above seeking a little assistance for one of my dearest friends. T’s at the beginning of a long and costly road to recovery. Following her two week stay at the Denver Health Hospital, she will begin a six to seven week inpatient rehabilitation stay at the Craig facility, also in Denver Colorado. From there, she will travel back to her home in southern California and continue outpatient physical therapy. As you can imagine, there are a number of costs associated with the entire effort ranging from the immediate medical to rehabilitation, travel, communication, home wheelchair modifications, and so on. Through your generosity, we can make certain Tara receives every opportunity for the best care that can be afforded. To make a charitable contribution to Tara’s Road to Recovery Fund, please visit www.tarallanesroadtorecovery.com. Contributions can be mailed, wired, credit card deposited, or taken directly to a Bank of America. Some account set-ups are still in the works, but immediate contributions can be mailed to:

Tara Llanes
Road to Recovery Fund
4068 Green Ave.
Los Alamitos, CA 90720

From the jungle of flowers in her room, number of texts, MySpace messages, and phone calls, I know Tara’s got some incredible friends and one of the most amazing support mechanisms anyone could hope for. She loves receiving your messages of support on her MySpace page at www.myspace.com/mtbtara. T and her family would like to express their sincerest thanks for your gifts, thoughts, prayers, and well wishes. We’d also like to send a special thanks to Ted Martin and the Jeep King of the Mountain Series group for immediately lending support towards travel and housing costs for Team Llanes, Travis Chipries at Giant Bicycles, Brian Hawkins with Giant for Women, Leah Garcia for brightening the room with her laugh and positive energy, and all the other sponsors, industry friends, and publications who have agreed to lend their support and spread the word about the Road to Recovery Fund. Tara is deeply grateful.

For major corporate/sponsor contributions to the Tara Llanes Road to Recovery Fund, please contact Tara’s Mom, Barbara Llanes at 714-322-9055.

Information on Tara’s progress will be made available on her MySpace page daily.

For media related inquiries, please contact me at james@pushyourlimit.com.

Thank you.
 
DylanDeanDesign

DylanDeanDesign

Turbo Monkey
Dec 10, 2004
1,097
0
San Diego area, California USA
regarding the other ideas for raising funds (calendar, etc), i'm personally not in charge of that... in fact i have nothing to do with anything. i'm just forwarding all the information since Tara's a friend & we need to take care of our own! I would be glad to forward any ideas though.


the PAYPAL link is up - click the Heart w/ the "DONATE" in the center!
 
LordOpie

LordOpie

MOTHER HEN
Oct 17, 2002
21,022
3
Denver
DylanDeanDesign said:
Ok, let's try this again... I am truly disappointed in some of you trying to debate the country's health care system, or having issued doinating to Tara's recovery fund... damn people. this isn't the time or place.
Click to expand...
Then why say all that in the new thread? Why not just let it be?
 
J

JRogers

talks too much
Mar 19, 2002
3,785
1
Claremont, CA
DylanDeanDesign said:
“Don’t believe a word the doctors tell you. You just keep telling her to push and stay strong. I’m doing way more than they told me I ever would, and it’s only been a year.”
Click to expand...
Those are great words. I am inspired by Ernesto and others like him. I hope Tara can follow the same path.

I keep thinking of a girl who was injured on my college's ski team last year. It was a small school and fairly tight community, so even though I didn't know her personally, I had seen her around and she was a friend of a friend. During a race, she slid off course and hit a lift pole with her back. She lost a lot of mobility, but I've seen from keeping up with her progress that it has not dampened her spirit- she concentrates on what she can do and not what she can't. She still drives, rides a bike, skis and pushes her wheelchair through the Vermont snow to get to class in spite of having an injury that seems very similar to Tara's. She also, like Tara, did rehab at the Craig facility. I hope that's the beginning of a similar path.
 
N

NJ Jess

Monkey
Sep 23, 2006
127
0
mtbnj.com
I hope and pray the very best for Tara. This is a tough journey for even the strongest person. Keep pushing the envelope to this new race. I'm in for $100 too!
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,380
7,769
i already donate in my own way, but i'd like to send my best wishes to her.
 
Strickland

Strickland

Chimp
Jul 27, 2007
43
0
Amarillo
I know how she feels, I broke my lower back and bruised my spinal chord a couple years ago. I can walk now but I still suffer from many incapabilities. I ride dh though even though I have to ride on my heels from nerve damage in my calves.
 
Skookum

Skookum

bikey's is cool
Jul 26, 2002
10,184
0
in a bear cave
i honestly don't follow the professional end of mountain biking. But through threads on here i read about and thought very highly of the skills clinics for women she did. For what it's worth i'm saddened to hear about the injury, but even though i don't know much other than what i read on here, it certainly sounds like her great competitive spirit is just the sort of window of hope necessary for recovery. Healin vibes and positive thoughts toward the recovery and health of a special rider and person.
 
BigMike

BigMike

BrokenbikeMike
Jul 29, 2003
8,931
0
Montgomery county MD
wow, holy fack. She got hurt bad. That sucks!

This is why I like the MTB community, what other sport do you know where random people that don't know her would donate to a fund?
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
86,058
24,587
media blackout
this is a total tragedy. my heart goes out to her and family... i know what they are going through. i have a cousin who is a quadriplegic as a result of a moto-x accident a little over a decade ago. the dr's didn't think he would make it as long as he has, but his friends and the rest of my family have been so supportive that he has been fighting the whole time. tara seems to be such a strong person with supportive people around her - i'm sure that things will go better then expected. i'll be keeping her in my thoughts & prayers.
 
dump

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,235
4,495
sorry to hear that... donation made.
Best of luck on the road to recovery.
 
DylanDeanDesign

DylanDeanDesign

Turbo Monkey
Dec 10, 2004
1,097
0
San Diego area, California USA
Tara was transferred to the Craig Hospital yesterday morning to begin her inpatient spinal cord rehabilitation therapy. Based on everything we know from research, doctor’s reports, and stories from past and current patients, Craig Hospital is the best spinal cord rehab hospital in the country, if not the world. Many patients travel from all over the globe, simply to get the best specialized care for the nature of their injury. We’re all pretty excited that Tara has the best opportunity for care available.

Her new mailing address for the next 6-7 weeks will be:

Craig Hospital
3425 S. Clarkson St.
Englewood, CO 80113
c/o Patient: Tara Llanes

Tara and her family want to thank each and every one of you for the tremendous amount of support she has received to date in the form of emails, text and MySpace messages, calls, visits, cards, flowers, gifts, and many donations to her recovery efforts. Her computer and phone usage have been incredibly limited. But rest assured, she has seen or heard, and deeply appreciates, every one of your messages to her.

Upon arrival at Craig yesterday, she had the opportunity to meet with her physical and occupation therapist, members of her personal rehabilitation team that will work with Tara for the duration of her stay. She’ll be undergoing a few initial evaluations this next 2 days, and will begin an incredibly focused rehab schedule on Monday. Keep the prayers, messages, and positive karma flowing her way.

Tara’s close friend Elke Brutsaert and I will be manning a “Road to Recovery” booth at Interbike next week, both at the Outdoor Dirt Demo and hopefully in the lobby of the convention center. We’ll have some great Heart of a Champion/Road to Recovery t-shirts available for sale/donation in addition to tickets for the raffle of a pit bike that was donated to the cause by a great sponsor. At the final World Cup race in Slovenia, a number of athletes donated signed jerseys that will also be part of our fundraising efforts.

If any of Tara’s sponsors or friends would like to donate product that we might add to the auction pool, please contact me via email, phone, or stop by and visit with Elke or I at the show. We will continue to hold a number of fundraisers for months to come, so the generosity of your donations is not exclusive to Interbike. Friends are holding such a wide variety of fundraisers from salon services, cosmetics, high school booster club efforts, walkathons, and so many others, I can’t keep them all straight. Former gravity superstar and close friend of Tara, Jen Zeuner owner of the Hot Tomato Café & Pizzeria www.hottomatocafe.com in Fruita Colorado, will be holding a special pizza, booze, and music night at the restaurant this coming month. More details to come. Through the caring and generosity of Tara’s incredible network of sponsors and friends, we will insure she continues to have every opportunity for the best recovery possible. Tara Llanes Road to Recovery.

Cheers,

James Herrera, MS
Performance Driven
james@pushyourlimit.com
www.pushyourlimit.com
(719) 232-1561
 
downhill mike

downhill mike

Turbo Monkey
Mar 23, 2005
1,286
4
We will set up a collection at Whiteface Mountain for Tara and all money will be forwarded to the effort.
We are still open for a few more weeks with 1 remaining ladies days.
I will let you know how much we collect.

Can other mountain bike parks do this too?

DHM
 
DylanDeanDesign

DylanDeanDesign

Turbo Monkey
Dec 10, 2004
1,097
0
San Diego area, California USA
some great news from Tara! it's not much, but definate step in the right direction!

Hey all! So I have some freakin' awesome news!! (that was for you hels..hehe) So today when I was getting ready to get in my chair and my mom was helping me put my shorts on I was looking at my left leg and my muscle looked like it was moving. So I quick told me my to stop moving my leg around and I focused really hard and sure enough it was ME doing it. I was moving my left quad muscle!!! All the way from the top to my knee! I was FREAKING STOKED! You have no idea. I called in my nurse and she was stoked as well. She was like, "it takes some people 2 years to do that and you did that in like 4 weeks!" So needless to say today was a pretty awesome day.
 
tmx

tmx

aka chromegoddess
Mar 16, 2003
1,683
2
Portland
DylanDeanDesign said:
some great news from Tara! it's not much, but definate step in the right direction!

Hey all! So I have some freakin' awesome news!! (that was for you hels..hehe) So today when I was getting ready to get in my chair and my mom was helping me put my shorts on I was looking at my left leg and my muscle looked like it was moving. So I quick told me my to stop moving my leg around and I focused really hard and sure enough it was ME doing it. I was moving my left quad muscle!!! All the way from the top to my knee! I was FREAKING STOKED! You have no idea. I called in my nurse and she was stoked as well. She was like, "it takes some people 2 years to do that and you did that in like 4 weeks!" So needless to say today was a pretty awesome day.
Click to expand...
Totally awesome news! (Tears of joy rock!!!)

Go Tara Go! GO GO GO GO!!!




btw, DHMike, I would love to see all the resorts and promoters do something for Tara similar to what you're doing. It was top shelf when Diablo did something of the sort for Sergio and he wasn't even injured at their mountain.
 
Zutroy

Zutroy

Turbo Monkey
Dec 9, 2004
2,443
0
Ventura,CA
Also anyone that can't get up to Sandhill. Donnie is donating a portion of the proceeds from the Fall Classic race at Fontucky to the fund.
 
ÆX

ÆX

Turbo Monkey
Sep 8, 2001
4,920
17
NM
jvnixon said:
Pro mountain bike racer and Giant for Women Ride Society leader Tara Llanes is to be featured on the television program, "Access Hollywood." The segment about Tara is scheduled to air on the nationally-syndicated television show on Wednesday December 26, 2007.

http://www.accesshollywood.com/insideaccess/wheretowatch/
Click to expand...
have to say i teared up when she was racing her chair down the ramp at the end...................
 
downhill mike

downhill mike

Turbo Monkey
Mar 23, 2005
1,286
4
At Whiteface Mountain Bike Park we will once again for our 3rd consecutive year have Ladies Days on the 1st Saturday of each month we are open in the summer.
This year there will be no charge for the ladies as always but a collection box will be set up at each Ladies day for Tara's Road To Recovery Fund.
This could raise over $1,000.00?
Maybe other mountain bike parks could do something similar?
 
A

A.P

Monkey
Nov 21, 2005
423
0
boston
Ricky James is completely paralyzed from the sternum down and is still killing it on a dirtbike with a couple modifications. He is now focusing on racing enduro, pretty crazy. Someone should forward this to her.

 
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