Rebel with a Cause

Even a motorcycle accident that left him a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic at age 21 won’t keep Rick Davidson off a Harley — especially when that Harley is the means by which the disability-rights activist drums up support for federal legislation.

Taking up the mantle — or cape, in this case — of “Superman” Christopher Reeve, Davidson traveled from his home in Olathe, Kan., to the shop of famous Orange County Choppers in New York City, where he embarked on a coast-to-coast trip in June that would park him at the White House, the U.S. Congress, governors’ offices and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in an effort to put a human face and personality on the disabled community.

Davidson’s goal for the trip, which he described on his Web site, was to “get the attention of the American public to see that even if you have a disability, you don’t have to live your life in an institution or bored out of your mind. Life continues after the injury.”

“Rick felt that when Christopher Reeve died, the population of people with spinal cord injuries lost a key figure,” says Michelle Bradley, Davidson’s home care nurse and trip coordinator. “People listened to Christopher Reeve because he was a celebrity, but Rick recognized that Reeve was also a normal guy with a spinal cord injury just like him.”

Ironically, Davidson’s personal stake in advocacy was not because of his own experience with a disability. Instead, he became dismayed when his father suffered a head injury and was placed in a nursing home with no other options for care. As a result, he decided to focus on legislation that would guarantee individuals with severe injuries the right to choose home care over institutional care and increase funding for spinal cord-injury research.

“What he experienced with his dad got Rick fired up. He began to understand that there need to be changes [in the health care system],” Bradley says. “It isn’t just about Rick, it’s about everybody else who needs to be out [of institutions] … especially young people who don’t need to be stuck in nursing homes when they’re 20 years old. They need the chance to be contributing members of society and to lead lives of significance.”

Aided by local and national sponsorships — from Harley-Davidson dealerships and churches to DME manufacturers and providers such as Elyria, Ohio-based Invacare and Sheridan, Colo.-based Aspen Seating — Davidson set off to talk to citizens and lawmakers about three bills currently under consideration in Congress that would improve the lives of all disabled individuals.

Two of the bills, the Money Follows the Person Act of 2005 (S. 528) and the Medicaid Community-Based Attendant Services and Supports Act of 2005, or MiCASSA (S. 401), would allow sick and disabled individuals to choose home health care services. The third bill, the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Act (S. 828), would allocate increased funds for paralysis and spinal cord-injury research.

The reception for Davidson’s motorcade — a specially designed trailer pulled by a 2003 Anniversary Edition Harley-Davidson Electra Glide — particularly by members of Vice President Dick Cheney’s staff and members of Congress, was “better than we could ever have imagined,” Bradley says. “A half-hour meeting with Cheney’s legislative aides turned into a two-hour meeting. After Rick’s visit, seven more members of Congress signed on in support of the bills. And response from the public was phenomenal.”

For fun as the two-week trip began, Davidson was able to tour the facilities at Orange County Choppers, a space that normally is off-limits to the public. And at the journey’s end in Burbank, Calif., talk show host Leno showed off his private motorcycle and automobile collection. After the trip, Davidson doubled-back to Las Vegas to celebrate his birthday.

What could beat that? Perhaps the fact that, on this trip from Atlantic to Pacific, Davidson saw the ocean for the first time.

After a stop last month in Sturgis, S.D., for the city’s annual motorcycle rally, Davidson planned follow-up calls with newfound friends in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. To learn more, visit www.rickdavidson.org.