The Cure is Knowledge
Nothing Will Stop Rob Dyer And Skate4Cancer
Erin: We were always well aware of the risks of being on major highways for up to 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for months on end, constantly competing with the wind from transport trucks as they whipped by, never really knowing if drivers were aware of our presence. We always said right from the beginning that if anything were to happen to us while we were on the road, at least we were doing something we completely believed in.
On April 14, 2010 our fears became reality. Can you explain to me what happened?
Rob:The day started like everyday since January; you get into a routine and just start skating. It was a pretty amazing road and that's why it is even weirder. Normally, when you fear traffic it's on a road with no shoulder and no bike lane, but this road had the best pavement and the biggest bike lane, so it wasn't a concern. You just stick to the bike lane and you're cool; you don't have to stress about traffic but apparently that day I should have.
It happened about 2 km away from the South Australia boarder, leaving Victoria. I could feel it coming before it hit me; it was so weird, I don't even really know how to explain it. I could feel the car there before it actually brushed against my leg. It wasn't a direct hit otherwise I definitely would have ended up with a broken leg. It was almost like pushing me off the road from the side. It got my one leg while my other leg was in mid-extension and that is when I went down. My legs were so spread apart when it pushed my one leg inwards while my other leg was going forward, that's when the pulling of the groin happened. From there, I didn't have reception on my phone, so that was another thing that was really frustrating about where we were: pretty much on the edge of the Outback. I just assumed [the person who side-swiped me] would just decide to come back. The flies were so annoying too; if you were just sitting somewhere they attack you and it's the most frustrating thing in the world. Eventually I was able to get on my feet and start walking to get better cell phone service. I walked up the top of the hill, got service and was able to call the van. They came right away and we drove to the hospital from there.
In terms of the Skate, how far along were you and where exactly in Australia were you?
We were on Highway 8020 and it was 2 km away from the South Australia border. I would say we had done just under half of the skate. The full skate, by the end, was going to be 4500km and we were approaching 2000km at that point. It was even weirder that it was just before the Outback; it could have been a lot worse, if we had been in the middle of nowhere. Luckily, we were close to where we could seek medical attention quickly.
What was the first thing that went through your mind when the car hit you?
That it wasn't a big deal. We have faced gnarly situations like this before and I just thought "whatever". I thought I would probably have the day to rest and just sit in the van and chill, catching my breath. The fear of cars gets put back in your head, too. When I was lying in the van and they were asking me questions, I could really start feeling the heart beat in my groin. That feeling when something is really swelling up. I knew something was up but I just thought whatever, we will push through. Then walking was a struggle and going to the doctor made me realize that it wasn't what I thought; it wasn't nothing.
You went to the hospital almost right away. How did it go?
They got us in right away. They came up to the van to put me in a wheel chair, and within minutes the doctor was in the room. They were really cool; they were so stoked on just the idea of Skate4Cancer. They asked a million questions, more so about Skate4Cancer than the injury, which at the time was a little funny but frustrating since you are like ‘yo, my body is fucked up, please help me out.' It was really cool to see people in a hospital really stoked on the idea of Skate4Cancer because they are the ones who fight it on a day-to-day level. For them to connect with Skate4Cancer was really cool, since they were incredible people.
What did the doctor say?
He said the same thing that we already knew [groin injury], which was more reason to go to Adelaide. It is always good to get a second opinion. That's one thing I have learned from people that I have loved dearly that have had cancer is that if someone tells you something and your body is still says ‘no, I don't think that's it,' you go get a second opinion. Doctors aren't perfect. The doctor told us pretty much what we knew already; that is was a pull, or some muscle was torn. We didn't think that any of the bones were broken, but that was something we needed to go to the city for, to get an MRI or an X-ray to figure out what the issue was. When we went to Adelaide, we sat down and assessed the situation: no matter what the MRI or X-ray was going to tell us, it was still going to be six weeks of letting it heal. And who knows, the MRI results could make it even more than six weeks. At that point we thought we might as well go back to Canada and where an X-ray is not going to cost $1000 or more. Since we were going to be off our feet for six weeks, we decided that we might as well get it taken care of in a country surrounded by our family and friends, and also surrounded by a [healthcare] system that we are familiar with. We figured it was a good idea to go home and get the testing done and that is what we are doing now.
What about the car that hit you, did you try to track him down at all?
The initial reaction for all of us was that we were in the perfect place to try and track the car down. Hit and runs on skateboards and bikes are so common out where we were, no one was going to bust them or stop them; he had a clear getaway, so he peaced out. But the difference was that we were so close to the border, where there are inspections for fruits and vegetables and they have cameras. Our first thoughts were ‘that guy sucks, let's call the police and get them to check the tapes.' It occurred to us that if went to the cops, they might see this a reason to stop our skate, thinking it's not safe for us to continue if we've already been hit by a car once. At that time we still thought that we would be able to keep skating the rest of the skate, so we left it and went into the city to get checked out. That guy will get his.
Out of everything that you are going through what is the hardest part to deal with?
Going home when it is not done. The whole time we have been skating across the country, the one thing you can't wait for is to go home accomplished. It is the weirdest thing ever, to go home unaccomplished. We have never had this type of situation come up.
On the first skate from L.A. to Toronto you had to go to the hospital in the first week due to an ankle injury. What did the doctors tell you then?
That doctor was a little more intense. He said, straight up, you are dumb for skating on this. We were young and stupid as hell. We thought we could just get some painkillers and eventually the pain would go away. Which is so stupid, looking back on it. It is a really dumb way to approach the situation, but that's what happened. This is just an example of the same situation and being older and smarter. There's a lesson to teach to kids as well: you only get one ankle and if you mess it up by being stupid and treating it like that, then you won't be skateboarding at all or having fun later in life.
Last time you were able to push through and managed to finish the skate even though you had suffered a pretty bad injury. Is it safe to say that there is no doubt in your mind that Australia will be skated?
Oh yeah, 100%. If I didn't I couldn't live with it. We are definitely coming back in January; I made a promise that we would be back in a year to finish it. We don't want to pick up where we left off, either; we want to start the whole thing over.
Sydney to Adelaide is such a huge accomplishment in itself. It is over 4500 km and you have already done more then half of it. Why is it so important to you to start from the beginning again, instead of just picking up from where you left off?
It is more just a matter of doing it in one chunk. To do it in two different parts over a year is just weird to me; it's not what I want it to be. I don't want it to be Sydney to Adelaide, I want it to be the whole thing, at one time.
So you are heading back to Toronto now what are your plans once you get back?
Just chill for a bit, work on day-to-day Skate4Cancer stuff. Stay in bed, rest and heal properly.
There has been a lot of talk recently about a drop-in center in Toronto. Can you elaborate on that?
We are going to try and get support for the drop-in center via funding, and also trying to get kids super involved with it and the creation of it. It may take a year or two until we actually see something come out of it. I don't want to go ahead and say we have ideas for it yet, if I do I want to make sure that everything for it works out. Ideas are coming soon.
What do you want people to take from this?
I would say the short-term answer to that is just trying to show kids, really teach them, and even teach myself. You learn from your peers and you learn from your friends and this is really a learning experience, to really take care of your body even if it means something really hard to stomach and deal with at the time. I am not finished the skate right now, and that is a really heavy hit to take and a really heavy thing to have to deal with until we get back out here. It is kind of haunting me until we actually do it, but we are doing the right thing by going home.
The long-term thing that I would like people to take is not giving up. Eventually we will finish and it will be something that took us a year and a half, maybe two years to finish because of this incident. Even in really hard times, just getting back out there and doing it. Keeping your heart up, even when it's really dark. It's very similar to cancer: we go years and years without improvements, not necessarily finding a cure but making it easier for people to deal with. For education or science or anything, we have gone years without having a break through, but it doesn't mean that you should give up. The whole point of it is to eventually get there, and that is the thing for us.
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Photo by Erin Hogue