We lost one of our own

Does anyone know what happened? I was following his crash thread and his injuries seemed to be on the mend. Certainly not the sort of thing that'd lead us here.

In any case, condolences to family and friends. It's sad news.

Stefan said:

Damn.  He was an awesome contributor here.  He will be missed.

RIP HappyAndy.  If there is anything we can do to help, please keep us in the loop.

I will, absolutely. I'm waiting on a call from his wife. She doesn't know this, but I al going to set up a fund for her, but I need some info from her that I just don't have. 

They were good people, very giving and caring. 

Huckleberry said:

Does anyone know what happened? I was following his crash thread and his injuries seemed to be on the mend. Certainly not the sort of thing that'd lead us here.

In any case, condolences to family and friends. It's sad news.

I'm hoping his wife will fill me in. He posted in that thread just a handful of hours before he passed, so I have my suspicions, but not enough medical knowledge to make a statement. 

True to Andy's form, his last post wasn't to garner pitty for his situation, but he was offering comfort to someone else here. Man, we lost one of the good ones. 

Damn.  

Damn...

I have a feeling pulmonary embolism or stroke could be the culprit.  He had mentioned a massive hematoma and severe pain, there may well have been a blood clot that moved somewhere critical. A friend of the family had this happen to her 27 year old daughter after breaking her foot. 

It's a sad thing to happen. 

I have deep sympathy for the family. If y'all set anything up, make sure to let the rest of us know. I would like to contribute. 

Thanks Toyman, and all who have expressed interest. I want to set up gofundme or similar, but do I need to have her bank info for her to be the beneficiary? That's the only thing holding me up, I haven't talked to her yet and I'm waiting to hear from the sites I'm considering for the fund.   

Ninja edit: I found out how. I'll set something up tonight or tomorrow am.  

I would doubt bank info would be needed for a go fund me. But it might be better to run this through her bank. They probably won't skim the cream off the top with their percentages. 

Very sad news.  Condolences. 

Damn he even posted less than 24 hours before he passed. HappyAndy was the right username, he seemed to be just naturally positive and brought good vibes to any conversation.

I have good friends who I don't communicate with at all for months, we're all busy people, try not to feel bad about it.

Cotton said:

Sorry the hear this.  I remember his thread about the trials bike accident. There have been quite a few missing recently that were active.  Mark Wemple comes to mind.

I think I have Mark's phone number from when I bought some scales from him this spring. I'll send him a quick text, however, i do know he is a lawyer and was moving, both of which sound time consuming and stressful to me.

NovaDerrick ain't been around either but IIRC he hooked up w/ a car chick and has a kid now.

fasted58 said:

NovaDerrick ain't been around either but IIRC he hooked up w/ a car chick and has a kid now.

He got banned once or twice too doe saying things, so he may just have called it quits. 

Robbie said:

Cotton said:

Sorry the hear this.  I remember his thread about the trials bike accident. There have been quite a few missing recently that were active.  Mark Wemple comes to mind.

I think I have Mark's phone number from when I bought some scales from him this spring. I'll send him a quick text, however, i do know he is a lawyer and was moving, both of which sound time consuming and stressful to me.

Got a response, he's been busy with family and work, but he really appreciates the check in!

True to Andy's form, his last post wasn't to garner pitty for his situation, but he was offering comfort to someone else here. Man, we lost one of the good ones. 

The other guy was me.   I did not know Andy other then the brief conversation we had in the crashing sucks thread, but felt a connection, comarodery, two guys that just got pretty banged up in bike crashes. When I read the news, I was in shock,  he stated there was a set back but he turned the corner and was more positive. Then no more updates. 

Wishing I knew him better as he seemed to be a class act, and from all that has been said about him here he was. Also wishing  his family all the best in these tough times. 

Man, sorry to hear about this.  I'm visiting family next weekend and plan on giving everyone a big hug.  You never know when it may be your last.

Stay happy everyone.

Read Go Dog Go to my son last night. Tearing up pretty bad during it.

What a loss. 

Sad

Erich said:

Read Go Dog Go to my son last night. Tearing up pretty bad during it.

What a loss. 

I've been looking for our copy so I can read it. 

I hadn't said this here before, but the timing of his accident, a serious health scare with my wife, and a long weekend vacation made things weird. I was in PA on that long weekend vacation with my family. We were going to go see Andy before we headed home. We didn't because my wife wasn't up to the long drive to his place as she was still on the mend from surgery. We headed home. Had we gone, we'd have been there on the day he died.     

I would have either been able to see my friend one more time, or walked into a terrible situation. 

In reply to DrBoost :

Not my loss, but I know a lot of the thoughts you're going through. Knowing you'd have watched him pass is he'll. Being able to say goodbye vs. The pain.  That's one that sticks, unfortunately. Speak up if you need to. It'll help. Otherwise, keep doing what you're doing. I'm glad I have what information I do. 

I posted in the other thread but I need to post here too.  I just found out about his passing.  Andy was a great guy and I called him my friend.  My wife and I are both choked up here now.  We'll miss his visits to our shop.  He would stop by when he was in the area and had some time to pop in.  I read his last posts and could hear his voice and his laugh in my head.  This sucks.

Wow.  Truly a tragedy.  Reading the thread in Sprockets was surreal.  I will henceforth be attacking my projects with a newfound intensity.  You never know which day might be your last on this earth.  A reminder for us all to count our blessings, and to hug those dear to us.

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

I knew a guy.  Internet friend.  We went to visit him a couple times in Texas.  He had a S2 Europa he was doing a resto-mod on (4AGE small port, frame off, megasquirt, etc.), an Esprit S4, was building a BREN gun and a M60, both semi-auto from parts kits, lovely wife, beautiful house.  Hadn't heard from him in a while.  Someone on the Europa email list asked where he was and the rest of us found out he passed like 2 years before from metastatic cancer.  Kinda hit me hard.  RIP John.

So, yeah, work on those projects.  Love your family.  No one gets out of here alive.

I talked at length with his wife today. I am posting this with her permission.   

Andy's bike wreck was worse than he initially thought. When he finally did realize the extent of it, he didn't burden anyone else with it, true to form. His hip was "shattered" and he was in rough shape. Once he did start getting care from competent medical professionals, he thought he turned a corner. Unfortunately he had blood clots that reached his heart and lungs in the early hours of June 25th.      

His wife and kids are doing ok. His wife is an amazing woman, I actually felt better after talking to her. She actually had me laughing. Her kids are making their way through it, but we all know that's going to be a long road.     

I assume everyone knows that I started a GoFundMe for the family. I have thanked everyone that has contributed, but I just wanted to publicly express my gratitude. It's only from a good heart that one can give of their time or money to someone in need, doubly so when it's someone you've never met. I also want to thank the powers-that-be at GRM for letting me post this and the GoFundMe thread. You didn't have to do that. It's helping me work through things because it's the only thing I can do to help, and it's making me feel like I'm helping.     

Thanks for the update. Thanks for taking the initiative to contact the family and set up the fund account.