December 19th, 2007, I was standing in the hallway of work in Ventura at the California Highway Patrol, where I had worked for over 12 years. I was staring at the shift schedule for the upcoming holidays, attempting to figure out a way to adjust my schedule so I didn’t have to work late on both Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. I asked the Sergeant if I could work up on the Rincon, an area notorious for high-speed freeway traffic. My request was, assuming I would have a lot of activity, could I go home earlier on those days? The Sergeant didn’t totally agree, but indicated the possibility with a smile and a statement of, “we’ll see.” I didn’t realize that choice would nearly end my life and severely alter every facet of my existence. Later that day I was struck by a Chevrolet pick up traveling at 74 mph while standing next to a vehicle on an enforcement stop. The idea that I would ever become a California Highway Patrol Officer, was about as remote as the possibility of being hit on the freeway. I was born and raised in Washington State. I grew up and went to school in Redmond, a suburb just east of Seattle. We had five acres in a remote area (at that time), and I could do just about anything I wanted. While I was a child, my dad taught me several things most kids never get the chance to do. I learned how to drive a backhoe,, a bulldozer, and ride a motorcycle when most kids were learning how to ride a bicycle. Needless to say, I had many learning and positive life experiences as a child. I had two younger brothers, Mark (by 3 years) and Andre (by 10 years) who’s company I immensely enjoyed. Our fun was born somewhat out of necessity as we lived far away from the other kids.

Growing up I did quite well academically, and I enjoyed sports immensely. I played ice hockey, basketball, soccer, football, and wrestled as a child. Progressing through Junior High School, I continued with football, wrestling, motocross, and basketball. In High School, I stuck with football and wrestling, and began cycling. I never excelled at sports in high school, but the words, “adequate, decent, fair” come to mind when describing my accomplishments. During my freshman year of college at Arizona State, I raced bicycles for the school. During this time I found my sports calling, cycling. I came back to Washington, and finished my BS degree in Medical Technology at the University of Washington. While attending UW, I continued my cycling and eventually reached a very high amateur level (Category 1 road / Category 2 track/velodrome). Also, I dabbled in “fringe” sports (now mainstream) at that time, such as tournament waterskiing, windsurfing, mountain bike racing, snowboarding, and alpine skiing.

Once I graduated college, I decided I needed a job working outdoors instead of being stuck in a laboratory with no windows. The California Highway Patrol hired me in August of 1995. Now that I had a “real job”, I felt comfortable in asking my wife, Carrie, to marry me. In November 1996 we were married. I didn’t realize how the terms “for better or for worse” were going to play out in our marriage 11 years later. My first assignment with CHP was in Central Los Angeles. I transferred to Ventura (my current assignment) in 1997. During the transition from college to career, I put on a lot of weight, eventually tipping the scales at 224lbs.

In November of 1998, my first daughter, Samantha, was born with our second daughter, Hannah, coming in January of 2000. It was when my first daughter was born, that I decided to get back into sports again, and triathlon was it. At 224lbs and no knowledge of triathlons, it was going to be hard. However, less than a year later and 60 lbs less, I had completed two Ironman events, and qualified for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii with a best of 9:36. Since that first year (1999) in triathlons, I have completed 10 Ironman events including three trips to Hawaii. I earned USA Triathlon All-American honors in 2002, 2003, and 2007. However, after Hawaii in 2003, I took two years away from the sport in order to build our house in Camarillo, CA. The building of our current home was another adventure into an area I had to learn while doing, much the same as my foray into triathlons. I came back in 2006 to compete again in triathlons, but didn’t start training in earnest until preparing for the 2007 season. That year I returned to form with an excellent performance at Ironman Coeur D’Alene. That effort qualified me for Ironman Hawaii again. The race went well and then I spent another week in Maui with my family. I didn’t realize that this was the last time for a lot of things in my life. Two months later I would be fighting for my life.