BILL BRIDGES: One of R/C's Best In Real Trouble

[YoungChazz]

http://www.redrc.net/2011/05/bill-br...le/#more-42955

Paul and I first encountered Bill Bridges when he was managing the cars side of Hobby Stop West in Toledo, Ohio. Bill encouraged Paul and was of inestimable help in Paul's early career. Bill also encouraged us greatly with the formation of X Factory; while he had no part in the design of the X - 5, along the way we showed him what we were doing and Bill gave us much encouragement as we went. "Wow, that's really neat. You're gonna sell a ton of them."

Without Bill, Paul might not be in R/C today, and X Factory certainly would not exist.

We went up to see Bill in the hospital last Saturday, and he was in good spirits considering the colon surgery had been done just 36 hours before. Liver cancer is among the most difficult to "cure," but Bill does not know how to give up. We pray for him every night.

Paul and I both have changed our schedules to be at the race in June. Thanks to Adam for doing this.

[Spencer Mulcahy]

When you hear things like this you realise how lucky we are to have the nhs. My thoughts go out to Bill and his family get well soon.

[Naushad]

I totally agree with you...

I've been working as a doctor in the NHS for several years now and in general, it is truly something to be proud of..our health care system is the envy of many countries. Yes, it has it's deficiencies and problems but no system is perfect. Unfortunately, some people don't get the outcome they deserve but it's a minority.

Cancer and its consequences can be terrible for so many....I know very well...I wish the best for Mr Bridges and his family and I hope he has a speedy recovery.

Naushad

[YoungChazz]

This is not the place for politics, so I won't go there. Rest assured that Bill is receiving the finest medical care available anywhere in the world -- the Queen could not have better -- and most of the cost has been paid already by Medicaid (not Medicare).

Here is the timeline: Bill's GP diagnosed cancer on Friday and he had XRays the same day. He saw the cancer specialist on Monday, and the operation went well on Thursday. I saw him resting relatively comfortably in the hospital on Saturday. He lacks for nothing, except our prayers.

[YoungChazz]

The Bridges race was June 25, and a few minutes ago I posted this on RCTech:


What a fantastic day! And there was a short hook-up with the west coast Bill race too!

Adam Drake has become such a great ambassador for our sport, and a wonderful friend for Bill. We got a podcast with him, and I'll let you know when we get it up on the site.

We'll also put up pix from the race, and I'll let you know when that happens.

When we went over to buy our raffle tix, it appeared that nobody spent less than $20.00 on those tix and that everybody bought some. We saw one guy spend $80!!! And the pile of stuff in the raffles was indeed awesome; I've never seen so much stuff at a race ever before, and I've been to many "big" races. So many companies stepped up to help Bill; X Factory is proud to have been a small part of that.

Last, special thanks to Nancy Phend, who did most of the organizing regarding the raffles, entry fees, etc. Nancy spent no time with Dakotah or her husband Doug because she was busy with 27 things all at once all day, and even baked millions of great cupcakes & cookies. She was able to give a nice sum to Bill at the end of the day, and that's really what it was all about.

Thanks to all who came and to those who could not attend but sent money anyway. I know the battle Bill has in front of him. Spoke to Bill privately for a minute. He's had the first chemo treatment and it was difficult, but he's doing OK now. Next treatment soon, and we'll see -- these things are cumulative, but I think Bill's (and wife Crissey's) attitude is excellent. Cancer makes it sooo easy to get down...