Reid’s Story: A Rider Who Sees the Good in All
By Janalee Card Chmel
splitting his shin in half and his head was then split open when
he landed on the ground.
O’Sullivan Law Firm
Reid is one of those rare human beings who can find the
silver lining in anything, absolutely anything.
On August 25, 2014, Reid was the victim of a motorcycle
accident that put him in a coma for two weeks, resulted in the
loss of one of his legs, and has left him with nerve damage
and pain that haunts him each and every hour of the day. What
is his reaction to this? He looks at the bright side, “I am so
blessed by the Lord. I have a beautiful wife, a wonderful home
and a fantastic business. If God parted the skies and said to
me, go ahead and complain, I’d say, I’m not complaining about
anything. You’ve done right by me, brother!’”
Many of us, probably most of us would not have the same
attitude as Reid were we in his situation. He has a pretty
inspiring outlook for someone who was riding his HarleyDavidson legally on the way to work one day and, due to the
negligence of another driver, has seen his entire life shaken
up and flipped upside-down.
It was 8:30 in the morning and Reid was riding at twenty
mph through a school zone at 38th and Vivian in Wheat Ridge,
when he saw an oncoming truck turning left across his lane.
“I saw him and I knew he would take a left to go onto Vivian,”
recalls Reid. “I veered to my left to swerve around him but he
got into my lane and stopped! If I had veered six more inches,
I’d have missed him, but he stopped!”
The impact, even with both drivers at only twenty mph or
less, launched Reid off of his motorcycle and threw him sixty
feet after destroying his leg. Reid’s leg was caught between
the rear bumper and quarter-panel of the truck at the moment
of impact. “It ripped my whole kneecap off like opening a bottle
of pop,” It also ripped his leg muscles and tendons, essentially
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After the accident, Reid was in a coma and on life support
for two weeks. Doctors told his wife that he might never
emerge from the coma and, if he did, he would likely have the
mentality of a three-year-old due to brain injury. Fortunately, a
few days later Reid opened his eyes and sat up. When he did,
he was in possession of his full mental capacity. His doctors
called him a miracle.
Having had a frustrating meeting with another attorney, Reid
was referred by BikerDown to the O’Sullivan Law Firm and
Scott drove to the hospital to meet with Reid. “Scott worked
for me and worked for me,” recalls Reid. “He is magnificent.
The dude is unbelievable. He works hard and he still does
things to help me.”
Scott discovered that the man driving the truck who hit Reid
had a $1.5 million umbrella policy. Scott immediately set about
getting it for Reid. Just four months later, he handed a check to
Reid, but Scott wasn’t finished there. “I had Medicaid and they
wanted me to pay $700,000 in bills,” says Reid. “Scott went
to bat for me and I only had to pay them $65,000.” He adds,
“Scott is the elite attorney of the attorneys. The only thing he
cared about was helping me. He worked twenty-four hours a
day for me. Scott is the best of the best!”
Unfortunately, Reid is still faces lifetime of chronic pain
and other health issues due to the accident. He is now very
susceptible to pneumonia and has had to be hospitalized and
put on life support three times with that illness. Another thing
that has been changed is his motorcycle riding, he now needs
help getting on and off his bike, which frustrates him and has
impacted how he feels about riding. Still, this is a man who
always chooses to look at the good in his life. “I’m so blesse d
that I couldn’t complain.”
December 2015
Thunder Roads Magazine® Colorado 7