To support and raise funds for spinal cord injury research, Point Loma native Bob White, 50, recently biked more than 600 miles from San Francisco to San Diego. Once a quadriplegic himself, White raised about $1,500 as a result of his efforts.
He said he plans to donate the funds to the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Foundation in the name of Tony Mezzadri to support spinal cord injury research at UCSD. Mezzadri, a former Ocean Beach resident, was paralyzed ten years ago as result of a surfing accident off the Ocean Beach Pier.
White said he kicked off his fundraising journey May 22 at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Managing an average of 125 miles per day, his return was marked at the Robb Field Skate Park in Ocean Beach on May 26 at 6 p.m.
“Basically I really wanted to do the ride and “¦ I knew I would need some encouragement to continue, so I thought, ‘Why not just throw some money on my back for Tony [Mezzadri’s fundraising efforts],'” White said.
Most of the donations raised by White came from friends and family members, he said.
White said he’s lived on the same block in Point Loma his entire life and spent much of his childhood engaging in some of the outdoor activities that San Diego is well-known for, such as sailing and surfing, and he even competed in water skiing and motocross tournaments.
White said it was during a race at Qualcomm Stadium (then known as Jack Murphy Stadium) that he crashed and broke his third, fourth, fifth and sixth vertebrae, which left him with the spinal cord injury.
“That was back in 1983. I went over a double jump and I missed it and I landed with the bike on top of me,” he said. “From that point on, I was a quadriplegic.”
He was airlifted to UCSD Medical Center, where he spent the next three and a half months recovering. Although he still suffers from a few residual problems as a result of his injury, White said he was lucky enough to make a near-full recovery.
“I made like a 90 to 95 percent recovery,” he said. “I can’t do sports competitively anymore, but you know, I can [still] do them.”
White said he plans to also volunteer his time once again this year to the Tony Mezzadri Surf Classic Contest, which will raise additional funds for the UCSD Foundation. He said he wanted to do something a little extra this year to help and chose the bike ride to accomplish that desire.
White said his trip posed more of a challenge than he expected as he encountered headwinds during the four days of the journey. He said thinking about his wife gave him the extra encouragement.
“She gave me the energy to keep on riding,” said White.
At journey’s end, White recalled that ten minutes before getting off his bike, he wasn’t sure he’d ever have the desire to ride again because of the difficult nature of his journey. All that changed with his emotional encounter at the finish line.
“I got off the bike and a cancer survivor asked me to ride next year and I told them I would,” White said.
Meanwhile, Mezzadri said he received e-mail updates from White’s wife on his progress throughout Bob’s journey.
“I think the ride got pretty tough with all the wind and everything,” Mezzadri said. “I really think he’s awesome, too, because he had a spinal cord injury as well. It’s like he hasn’t forgotten it … after all these years and he’s still thinking about helping people who weren’t as fortunate as he is. And I just think that’s awesome. That’s the type of person I wish I was more like really.”
Mezzadri will host this year’s Tony Mezzadri Surf Classic Contest on Sept. 27 off the Ocean Beach Pier. For more information, visit www.tonycontest.org.