Jordan Szoke, the most successful motorcycle racer in Canadian Superbike history, is recovering from a bad off-season crash, and now you have your chance to help, thanks to a new GoFundMe campaign.
As we told you in mid-May, Szoke had a bad crack-up at Walton, using the MX track to stay in shape. Here’s what he posted on social media then: “At approximately 3:30pm on Tuesday May 10th, I had a serious crash on my moto bike at Walton raceway. I suffered a fractured jaw, punctured neck, broken and plated right leg and shattered left ankle.
I’d like to thank everyone that was there to help me, the paramedics, doctors, nurses and hospital staff. Special thanks to Brian Couture and Jacob Black for staying by my side.
I’d also like to thank Canadian Kawasaki Motors for there ongoing and continued support.
It’s going to be a long road to recovery, but with the help of my family, friends and fans I will be back.”
In the days since, it’s been obvious that Szoke is going to need some time to patch up, and that means he can’t go racing—and that means it’ll be hard for him to pay the bills, since he makes his living on two wheels. So, there’s a GoFundMe campaign started, raising cash to help him get through this period.
You can find the campaign here; at time of writing, it’s about a quarter of the way towards its $50,000 fundraising goal. As the GoFundMe points out, not only will Szoke need to replace lost income from his race season, but he’ll also have other bills related to his recovery. If you’ve enjoyed his racing over the years, consider going and donating when he needs it.
Szoke is an independent contractor, not a salaried employee of Canadian Kawasaki. As such, he is responsible for his own safety and well being.
What does it say about racing in this country that the competitors cannot afford insurance? I know this was not during the Canadian superbike series..and I suspect that insurance would be astronomical….but that is what the companies should be covering if they want to call themselves a Pro series. Covering his salary even if he doesn’t appear in a race should be the least that Kawasaki does. (and if they already are then kuddos to them). EIther way hopefully the go fund me does well. I need him to have enough money to come back again next year so we can cheer him on then!