Over the years I have done a lot of interviews and talked to a lot of different people and heard their stories. Every so often you meet someone who's story just touches you and you have to retell it to others.

     This is the story of Corky from Charlotte County Custom Cycles,  his new custom scoot and how it came to be.

     Corky... "Everyone knows me as Corky. If someone calls and uses my full given name, then I know they are either trying to sell something, collect something or otherwise is an "official" call!" ... is a transplant Floridian like so many others. He originally hails from New Jersey, but now calls this area "home". He and his wife being long time riding enthusiasts spent a lot of time together on various bikes both up north and here, but it's his recent history that makes such an amazing tale.

     This story starts in June of 2001. That's when Corky's wife and riding partner was diagnosed with brain aneurisms. The doctors at the time told Corky and his wife that her chances weren't very good. She's had to undergo several brain surgeries and suffered through a couple strokes. It's been rough on both of them. "Being together as long as we have been together, I was able to keep her smiling. And you know, when stuff is bad if you can laugh through it and keep smiling, you can lick almost everything in my eyes." But here it is 2009 and she is still with us and Corky is still keeping her smiling. " Thankfully, God -wise, she's till here with me. She can't ride anymore, and I think that hurts her more than anything. Her sense of balance is gone because of everything and when she did get on a bike, she would be leaning when we shouldn't be leaning or whatever, so she had to give it up."

     That's a hard enough life twist to deal with, but May the 2nd of 2008 threw another curve Corky's way in the form of an accident while he was out riding. " I was leaving the house, going out to deliver some t-shirts, run some errands and so forth, and actually what happened was that I hit a big pot hole and broke a handlebar riser! Needless to say the bike went one way and I was already trying to climb off of it and went a different direction. Then both of us went down! I tell you what, for having an accident, I laid on the ground and could see the bone sticking through my left leg. I heard one woman crying and calling my name and it was actually my neighbor and I'm yelling out to her" Carmen, I'm fine!". I mean I couldn't tell you how ecstatic I was just to be able to say "Hey, I'm fine". I mean I could see what had happened to me, I could see my leg and didn't know if there were other injuries, but felt all right about the whole thing!"

     Corky was lucky the guy behind him was a rider too. He stopped to help and call in the paramedics and made sure no-one ran over Corky further as he lay in the road. And Corky stayed awake through the whole thing! He even managed to live up to his words about laughter and smiling as he joked with the rescue people and later the doctor in the ER. He was actually upset because he had finally lost some weight and gotten into a pair of pants that he liked and they cut them off of him! He continued his joking as they first moved him to a local hospital and then flew him by helicopter to Lee Memorial Hospital. Corky chuckles as he goes on to say, " I had to laugh when I got on the helicopter. The guy is asking me if I had ever been on a helicopter before. Now I'm a Viet Nam vet so I told him " Yes, but I'm not used to one without a machine gun in the window!" They didn't know quite what to say to that!"

(cont.)