Once more I'm proud to say that I'll be sending another check to Joe in the amount of $9,000. Thank you all for donating to our friend in need. The help is tremendous and it shows how great the motocross industry really is. I don't want to name the people who gave money but it came in from everywhere, from $5 to a couple thousand at a time. Thank you again. If you still didn't get a "GO JOE!" t-shirt, you can now order them online right here on the website by clicking on the button above. You will be directed to the PayPal account and make a $25 donation, which is for a t-shirt and the shipping. The t-shirt proceeds go directly to Joe. Please don't forget to leave a note with your mailing address and the size you want. We still have some stickers available (but not enough to sell online….sorry.) You can buy the stickers for $5 at the Asterisk booth (see Colleen) next weekend at the Freestone MX race. It will be quite a while before we'll see our friend Joe back in shape. He still needs our financial help. Stephan LeGrand
I'll turn it over to Joe now: "I'm at home now. It's good to be back. I still have a lot of problems. My joints are swollen. A couple of days ago I tried to get on the computer and respond to everybody but the infection is now down in my hands and I can barely move them at all. As you can imagine, it's kind of slowing me down. That's about it. There is not a lot to report. Keep contacting me, keep using the website. As soon as my hands begin to get better I will respond to every one of you. The minute I have enough energy I will be back online, but it's going to be a while. Thank you again for everything from the bottom of my heart."
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First of all, Glen Helen was a blast! The "Help Us Help Joe" stickers were everywhere in the pits. A lot of people stepped it up and helped sell the t-shirts and stickers. (Thank you to the Asterisk and Dunlop people!) People were handing me money in the pits to help with the cause. It was really awesome. At the end of the day I had $600 to give to Joe. I would like to thank Mike Alessi who donated his $500 holeshot money and gave a speech after his second place finish about Joe on the podium. Thank you Mike and congrats for a great day.
Finally, the good news is that Joe is out of the hospital. He's now at home and will get the rest he needs to get back into shape. The road to full recovery is still ahead. The donations on PayPal are still coming strong. If you didn't buy a "Go Joe" t-shirt yet you can buy them next weekend at Hangtown at the Asterisk booth or buy them here at the website. Show your support! Thank you so much. LeBig
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It's been just over a week since we started to raise money for our good friend Joe Bonello. I'm happy to let you all know that I'll be giving a check to Joe in the amount of $9,600. I can't say how proud I am of all the people who donated their time, money and resources to lend Joe a hand. It's really awesome.
At the opening of the Nationals this Sunday in Glen Helen we'll be selling "Go Joe!" t-shirts ($20) and "Help Us Help Joe" stickers ($5). All of the proceeds will go to Joe. Please look for them in the pits. They are sure to be collectors items. If you can't make it to Glen Helen, we'll be selling the remainder on the website (www.helpjoeb.com).
Thanks again for all of your effort. It means a lot to Joe, and to all of us as well.
LeBig |
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Here is a Joe update (Sunday, May 18th) from Robin Hartfiel: "First off, Joe sends his sincere apologies for not being able to speak to anyone. He still hasn't seen the website yet, but he had tears in his eyes when he said "Merci, LeBig". The good news is that the motocross community looks like it has really been rallying to help Joe. I deposited the $5,000 check into his account from the WMXF and another $500 check from Tom White (who has had his share of medical experiences with the tragic circumstances of his son Brad), and I also left $550 in cash sitting in Joe's wallet from race promoter Tim Clark. The website seems to be getting a "who's who" of industry folks signing into the guestbook as well... so please let me add my thanks to you Stephan!
Unfortunately, Joe still has a long way to go for recovery or being able to work trackside again. He now has the worst case of hives I have ever seen! From the tips of his toes to the top of his bald head, he is completely covered with big red sores. They took him off the antibiotic that was causing the allergic reaction, but now he is even worse than before. He is pumped full of benedryl which makes him groggy and he slept most of the time I was there at the hospital. His doctor is gone for the next two weeks to attend his daughter's wedding, so I met the replacement doctor who didn't seem to know why Joe had the reaction or when I could check him out. The good news is that other than hydration, all the drip bags have been disconnected, so hopefully the medication that caused the reaction will begin flushing its way though his system."
Look for Joe's tee-shirts ($20) and stickers ($5) at Glen Helen next weekend. After the race they will be on sale on the website as well. Thank you Greg Primm and MERC from EXOST for the great help. Thank you all! 
Photo by Tony Scavo
Stephan "LeBig" LeGrand
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We just got word from a friend who visited Joe in the hospital.
"I just got back from the hospital and the bad news is that I couldn't bail him out today as scheduled. He had a bad reaction to some antibiotics and they need to keep him for another day of observation and do more bloodwork. Dagnabbit! He was feeling pretty miserable and spent most of the time asleep today. Probably a good idea not to have anyone visit him today.
The good news is that the website looks great! I took Joe checks from Tom White and Tim Clark today. I ran into Mark Tuttle, editor of Rider Magazine at Yamaha yesterday and he is looking to help. Former Motorcyclist Editor Mitch Boehm is also going to help out and maybe give Joe a writing assignment for his new retro magazine so he will have something to do when he finally does escape from the hospital."
Thanks for your continued support everyone!
Stephan "LeBig" LeGrand |
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A lot of you guys are asking me what actually happened to Joe. Here is the story:
Joe had two vertebrae in his neck fused... old injury and fairly routine. Then when he was shooting the X Games in San Diego, a screw backed out of the cage holding his neck together, punched a bunch of holes in his esophagus on the way down before lodging in his chest cavity. He drove himself from San Diego to St. Joseph's Hospital in Orange for immediate surgery, but by that time every single internal hole was infected and swelling shut. So they opened his throat, fused a couple more vertebrae, put in drip tubes and a tracheal breather tube and punched a hole into his chest to get the screw out. He couldn't swallow or even have a sip of water for six weeks... He was back in ICU soon after that with another infection. He went back to the hospital today for antibiaotics allergic reaction.
Thank you Robin Hartfiel for the details.
The donation is doing really great but the more the better.
You guys are awesome. I'm so proud of "us". 
Stephan |
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