The ADV Rider thread I wish I'd never read: The sad tale of Clayton Schwartz

OK, so you read the truly epic Angola story (Angola: It's not like they said). Now there's this...


Seattle to Argentina on a KLR650: The Thread on AdvRider I Wish I'd Never Read

http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/seattle-to-argentina-on-a-klr650.136505/

Clayton Schwartz, screenname OZYMANDIAS, was a young and adventurous guy who decided to ride from Seattle to Argentina on his KLR 650. He had three months to complete the trip before his first semester of Law school at Vanderbilt University.

Things went very badly about 3 weeks into his trip. Somewhere south of Acapulco, an accident involving Clayton and a donkey changed his life. Clayton woke up in a Mexican hospital permanently paralyzed from mid-chest down.

Clayton struggled for the next two years before he finally took his own life.

His ride report is here: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136505

There are several links to a short book Clayton wrote about his accident and his suicide. The book, Two Arms and a Head: The Death of a Newly Paraplegic Philosopher, ends as he inserts a large knife into his abdomen and bleeds out.

Here is the link to his online book: www.2arms1head.com

It is a very difficult read, often harsh and very graphic, about how life can turn on a dime.

Now that I've read it, I can't un-ring that bell.