STEPHEN MURRAY BUILDS DIRT COURSE
Stephen Murray sat in his wheelchair motionless, watching the sport he once dominated. It was the Salt Lake City stop of the Dew Tour, and BMX riders were doing tricks over a gnarly course with 50-foot high jumps. Murray sat inside the course, with other riders and media and VIP's. As the riders finished their runs, many would walk inside the dirt course rather than over against the fence, where spectators stood screaming at each amazing trick. The riders would stop and bend over to hug Murray. He would smile and gasp out a greeting.
At first, not many people knew that the course had been built by Murray himself. No, he didn't put his hands in the dirt---he isn't able to move his hands. Legendary BMX dirt course builder and BMX rider Fuzzy Hall did the actual work for him.
It was one year and three months ago, during the first stop of the 2007 Dew Tour, that Stephen Murray's life changed forever. At that time, he was the biggest star in BMX jumping. He had won a gold medal at the X Games and won two dirt jumping titles at the Gravity Games.
In the final section of the dirt course in Baltimore, Murray was doing his signature trick, a double back flip. He was the only one who could do it in competition. But this time, Murray didn't pull it off. He came down on his head, breaking his neck and back.
Doctors did not expect Murray to live. When he lived, they did not expect him to be able to breathe without a respirator or to ever be able to sit in a wheelchair. Or to speak. Or certainly, to be able to build a BMX dirt jumping track. The doctors were wrong.
"Stephen and I talked for hours on the phone about the course and what he would like. We came up with an idea in the small amount of space we had to work with. Basically, Stephen doesn't like anything linear or straight. He loves to have "hips," a jump to the left or to the right, a course that's not easy to get through, with a different flow than a straight linear course," Fuzzy Hall says.
He adds, "Obviously he's in a position where he can't help build it right now, so I flew in his right hand man, Adam Aloise, to give it the same feeling Stephen would want in a course. Adam helped build the course in Stephen's back yard, so we thought, 'let's just fly him in and have him give Stephen exactly what he's looking for. That's as close as you'd get to Stephen actually having his hands in the dirt, building the course."
Murray watched as his signature double backflip, that once only he could do, was offered by most of the riders. He said, "Every contest, the level of riding just blows you away. Every single time, the sport progresses to a new level. I designed this course, and it shows that the right knowledge and experience in building the jumps allows bigger air (and) badder tricks. Tonight was unbelievable."
Between heats, the announcer interviewed Hall, who said that Stephen could watch the sport until he gets better.
That is the feeling, almost the faith, that BMX riders in every discipline; from supercross to vert, have about Murray. That he will get better, that he will ride again.
They put their faith into action. There is a Stephen Murray booth in the "village" at every Dew Tour stop. The village is where Tour athletes sign autographs, where kids can borrow bikes and try a mini-BMX course or try skateboarding or send computer emails, buy food, get airbrushed tats, and generally celebrate the BMX and skateboard culture.
Many people purchase the black tee-shirts that say "Stephen Murray" in big yellow letters, and donate money to the Stephen Murray Recovery Fund. BMX riders and other action sports stars help organize frequent benefits for Murray, whose insurance coverage doesn't even begin to cover his horrendous and ongoing medical costs. Athletes from Ryan Sheckler to Shaun White have donated personal items to be auctioned off for the paralyzed rider. The benefits and fundraisers show a side of action athletes that few people know exists: the support and loyalty they have for one of their own. And yes, they do believe he will recover and walk, maybe even ride, again.
He may not be able to ride now, but Stephen Murray is very much still a part of the sport he loves.