After diabetes led to the amputation of a portion of his right leg in 2000, an Edmonton man thought he’d never ride a motorcycle again.
But thanks to a gift from a stranger, Gordon Cameron is back up to speed – up to 120 kilometres per hour – in his customized motorcycle that allows him to steer from a wheelchair in the sidecar.
Last fall, friends introduced him to a widow who was selling a customized 1978 Hondamatic that belonged to her late husband. It’s rigged with a sidecar on the right hand side, where a disabled person can sit safely and control the accelerator and brakes.
“As soon as I wheeled up into the sidecar,” he says, “I’m just, ‘boy this would be something,’” he recalls. “She says, ‘if you're going to ride it, you can have it.’”
He recounts: “The grin must have been ear to ear.”
A year later, he catches people’s attention wherever he goes. Some take photos, others give him the "thumbs up."
"I like just being able to get on it and go ... you can feel the wind and everything."
Cameron takes his motorcycle on errands, or just to get around town. He is still dealing with diabetes, but plans to keep riding as long as he can.
“As soon as I start struggling to do it, I think I’ll just say ‘Okay, I've had so much fun doing it, it’s time to quit and try find someone else that would enjoy it.’”
With a report from CTV Edmonton’s Ashley Molnar
