Double Amputee Triumphs Over Obstacles To Become Top Motorbike Racer
Jet, April 23, 2001 by Scotty Ballard
At age 37, Reggie Showers is the world's fastest-moving amputee. "I have been clocked at 188 mph," says Showers. "It doesn't seem that fast once you get used to it ... it's just another day at the office."Although Showers is a double-amputee who lost his legs at age 14 following an electrical accident, he doesn't believe in accepting the mindset of "disabled." He says that he doesn't shy away from a challenge and that he is currently living the greatest adventure of his life.
Over the past decade, Showers has dominated the International Drag Bike Association (IDBA), having won 25 of his 32 career final rounds, and now he's winning on the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) circuit.
"I do pro-stock drag-bike racing. (Two motorcycles) drag race a quarter-mile track 1,320 feet long. It's basically an acceleration drag race. A standing start to a quarter-mile finish (where the speeds can reach up to 190 mph) in about 7.2 seconds," Showers tells JET.
The youngest of a family of six, Showers grew up in an inner-city West Philadelphia neighborhood. He became interested in bikes at age 6, after his older brothers went to Vietnam.
"I used to fantasize about riding them," he says. "I (would) go to the garage and climb on the bikes and flip the switches."
Showers says when he grew older, his parents helped him buy a dirt bike at 10 years old.
"That is when I started honing my skills," he says. "It was a steady progression."
It was Showers' daredevil spirit that led him to that fateful accident on Memorial Day in 1978.
"I was 14 and my parents were having a cookout, but the food wasn't done yet, and I was bored," he says. "So I took off to a dirt-bike track next to a railroad yard that we used as a playground, unaware of the danger lurking there."
He says he was a very adventurous kid and used to climb everything. "So when I saw these really tall boxcars, I decided to climb them. I never realized there was a dangerous electrical wire overhead."
Once on top of the rail car, Showers got within 3 feet of electrically charged wires and was struck by 13,000 volts of electricity.
"It was the electrical field around the wire," explains Showers. "When I got within distance, it arced out and struck me. They say it takes 6,500 volts to kill a man in the electric chair, so it's a testimony to the glow of God that I survived."
But he didn't go unscathed. Showers suffered second- and third-degree burns to his arms and lower body. His legs, from his knees to his shin, were so badly burned that they were amputated.
"It was a traumatic blow," he says. "But with the support of my family and friends, and a church across the street, I knew everything was going to be all right."
A month after the accident, Showers began rehabilitation to learn how to walk with prosthetics.
He says he used to think it was kind of embarrassing that a 14-year-old had to walk with the aid of a cane, but during the summer of 1978, he was struck with a moment of clarity that changed his entire outlook on life.
"At a Philadelphia baseball game that same year a friend asked to use my cane. When I lent it to him, I discovered I could (walk) without it; that's when I realized I could do anything I wanted to do if I put my mind to it. I wasn't going to let my disability stop me."
Showers says he used the summer to recover from his injuries and never missed school, going on to graduate with his 1982 high school class.
"I never once cried about what happened; well, maybe from the pain (following surgery). I never once questioned `Why me' in pride," Showers says. "To me it was a calling from God; it was His will. I looked at it as an adventure."
He says that despite the accident he "still had motorcycles in the back of my mind."
"My parents were set against it. (But) while in college at Temple University in Philadelphia studying communications, I began racing again. That motorcycle thing was burning a hole in my heart. I was juggling school while racing on weekends."
Eventually, racing won.
"I started on a local scale and got some trophies and made a name for myself," he says.
Showers says when he began racing on a more professional level he hid his disability from racing officials because he was scared they wouldn't let him race.
He admits that preparing for a race was a small obstacle at first because his legs were not suited for the sport.
"My mobility was not as proficient (early on), but my sponsor, Prosthetic Design, Incorporated (PDI), has provided me a special set of legs."
He says riding the bike puts him in a very cramped position, but his Pro Series Race legs, designed by PDI, can make him as tall or short as he wants in order to race.
"Normally I'm five-foot-eleven but on race day I'm five-foot-eight. Just losing three to four inches allows me to `get feet on pad' and tuck under the windshield."
And once he started racing professionally in 1989 with the International Drag Bike Association (IDBA), it didn't take long to establish a reputation.
As a rookie during the 1989-90 season, Showers stunned his competitors and the IDBA by winning the world championship and setting 14 world records.
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