From the LDRider list:
Vladimir Yarets, the tough-as-nails, 62-year-old, deaf-and-mute Russian from
Belarus who has been nursing an old Jawa 350 two-stroke around the world
tangled with a semi about a week ago on I-74 near Le Roy, about 20 miles
southeast of Bloomington, Illinois.

Details are sketchy, but he's said to be in stable condition at the St.
Francis Hospital intensive care ward in Peoria with two broken legs, a
broken pelvis, a broken arm and who knows what else.

Many who attended the finish of the Iron Butt Rally in Missoula got to meet
this guy. I met him there and he later spent some days recharging his LD
batteries at my home in St. Paul, Minnesota. The guy has a big heart and an
amazing talent for making friends wherever he goes.

One of those friends is Anastasia Kitsul, a native of Russia and graduate of
Yale and now of Puerto Rico who helped Vladimir for several weeks when his
Jawa got tangled up in a customs mess or something when it was being shipped
from South America. Anyway, she has been kind of his behind-the-scenes
helper during his travels, and she called me last night with the news.

She's trying to get the police report, but what she heard so far was that
the Jawa had stalled on one of the freeway lanes, or was going really slow.
She heard that the semi tried to swerve around him but couldn't and the
truck nailed him.

She is trying to help locate his bike, explain things to the hospital, get
the accident report, contact his family back in Belarus, etc. She asked if I
knew any long-distance riders who might live in the Peoria area, and if so,
would anyone be able to stop at the hospital and say hi. She knows it would
mean a lot to him. And just to be honest about all this, if you stopped in
to say hi, who knows where that might lead.

Also, she's hoping to locate the bike (they said it was totaled) and get it
out of storage before those bills get too high. Vladimir was packing a LOT
of stuff on the bike, including an amazing collection of maps and pictures
of his world travels.

Anyway, if anyone in LD land is willing to swing by and say hi to Vladimir,
send me an e-mail and I'll give you the phone number of the hospital. I'm at
jcwinterer@stthomas.edu.

Probably most of us know what it's like to have bike troubles far from home,
and some of us know what it's like to crash and need care. Vladimir has
gotten himself into a real tough one this time.

I imagine he must be pretty miserable, compounded by his inability to talk
or hear. He can read a little, but Anastasia said his glasses were either
destroyed or are with the bike, so he can't read the faxes in Russian that
she has sent him.

Let's hope this can somehow have a happy ending.

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http://www.nohorizons.net

I heard from a friend of Vladimir last evening. He is doing better and will be moved to the orthopedic unit as soon as a bed becomes available.
John

I've cross-posted the info here to ADVRider. There are some people there that know him as well. People should hook up and see if we can set up PayPall or some such for him.


http://tinyurl.com/s04b

__________________
http://www.nohorizons.net

I suggested PayPal to John yesterday, he's on it. I think.

If someone sets up the account and takes responsibility for dealing weith it, we can host it here no problem.

We would but we'll be away in Mexico for a critical week. Next week.

Grant

------------------
Grant Johnson

Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------

One world, Two wheels.
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Grant, I think Jim Winterer in Minnesota is working on the paypal thing. I will check to make sure. If he doesn't want to do that, I will see about it.
John

More updates:

http://tinyurl.com/rsu8

__________________
http://www.nohorizons.net

Ok, here's the latest:

http://www.caringbridge.org/il/vladimir/

__________________
http://www.nohorizons.net

You beat me to it, Kevin. I posted it on that other site, also.
John

Update

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showt...threadid=27552

__________________
http://www.nohorizons.net

God Bless all you brothers & sisters for rallying to Vladimir's side. We met him in northern Ontario last June riding around the Great Lakes. He was on his way to Alaska & we compared notes (I went up in 1979) He looked me up in Denver & stayed 5 days; great parties but he was anxious to move on. I told him that large "lawnmower" of a bike shouldn't be on the Interstates. (The last Jawa I saw was in Alaska!) I'd rush to his bedside but too far, winter is nigh, & I'm looking for a job. Thanks for stepping up to the bat for a real biker.

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Brendan Murphy

Hello,

I'm from the ADVRider forum, and wanted to make sure everyone here was aware of the PayPal account set up for Vladimir Yarets.

You can access the account by going to the Caring Bridge web site :

http://www.CaringBridge.org/il/vladimir

and following the link there, or by going directly to http://www.paypal.com and following the directions for making a payment. The payment address is vladimiryaretsfund@togsoftware.com

If you have not done so already please log on and make a donation. Just $10 from all the regulars in the LDR forum would mean more than $1000 for Vladimir.

You can follow the ADVRider thread at:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showt...5&pagenumber=1

and there are several links from the Caring Bridge site listed above. This is a chance for everyone in the LDR commiunity to rally together and support one of their own in need. PLease take a minute and donate, every little bit helps!

Thank you!!

I passed a Jawa with a TON of stickers on it about 6 weeks ago now - he was going east as I was travelling through Big Horn national forest Wyoming. I think it was Vladimir - only because I was grounded to a halt in the snow about an hour I passed him and that the guys I met in the lodge said that a really friendly Russian guy stopped by that day. He made a big impression!
Hope he is fit soon.

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http://colesyboy.tripod.com

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http://www.trailsunexpected.com

Hello all,

I have not met Vladmir but would like to contribute some money. What is the latest re. the PayPal account ?

hed

No changes to above info re PayPal at this point.

------------------
Grant Johnson

Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------

One world, Two wheels.
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Just tried to make a donation but PayPal is down for maintenance until 0330 PDT?

Anybody able to tell me what this equates re: GMT? I assume it's a US time zone of some sort - Pacific ???? Time?

Thanks

Steve

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My photos: www.possu.smugmug.com