interview by Craig Gernhardt photos courtesy of Michael Lois
CRAIG : YOU ' RE A DIVISION 1 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYER FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA . WHAT BROUGHT YOU INTO THE OBSCURE SPORT OF MOTO-TRIALS ?
MICHAEL : At age five I was given a Honda CRF 70 dirt bike . I would follow my great uncle , Jeff Lois on his trials bike . Through the years I ’ ve enjoyed riding and transitioned into racing BMX Factory Answer / SSquared . I won the Tennessee National in 4th grade and the Wisconsin Rapids state race .
I always had a strong love for riding anything with two wheels , but BMX was my focus at that time . In eighth grade I gave the twowheeled world a break and started playing football . Halfway through my freshman year of high school I started at defensive end on the varsity team . My sophomore year I started making a name for myself . When the recruiting process started , I had multiple D1 schools coming to see me or send letters , such as University of Wisconsin , University of Iowa , Michigan State , etc .
As I began to tour schools and look at football programs , it was easy to feel at home at the University of Iowa and the football facility was like no other . I chose to accept their full scholarship and decided to call Iowa my new home . In the middle of my junior year season , I had much success with a lot of good things going for me until I had a life-altering accident . I was at a friend ’ s house swimming when I had decided to bring over a trampoline which we would jump off into the pool . On my third jump , my friend that was holding the pool mat ( which we would use to land so we wouldn ’ t smack the water hard ) pulled it while I was in midair . I hit my head on the bottom of the pool causing me to break my C5-7 vertebrae . My whole left side of my body was paralyzed instantly making it hard to get my head above the water . I would attempt to stand on my right leg but would lose my balance and go back under while yelling for help . After what felt like years going by , my friend finally got me from the bottom of the pool and picked me up bringing me to the side of the pool .
The first thing out of my mouth was “ I think I broke my neck ”. The homeowners called 911 and I was transported to the Children ’ s Hospital of Milwaukee . I had three surgeries fusing C5-7 on the front and back of my neck . There , the reality would start to set in that this would not be easy to bounce back from . Having to relearn how
VOL . 6 ISSUE 8 - AUGUST 2021 // PAGE 165