Scott Hellzen and Taylor: another life saved

by Andy Dills

By now, most of you know that Scott Hellzen and Taylor, who regularly ride together, were in a motorcycle accident on June 5th 2023 that resulted in Taylor breaking an arm and Scott losing his right leg – both escaping a life-threatening event.

A few days ago, I was able to have a discussion with Scott about this day and the recovery to date.  When I arrived at his house, he just pulled in with his sister and joyfully yelled out to me to come on in.  He then just jumped out of his car, got on his crutches, and hopped right on into the house like it was nothing – both physically or mentally.  At that moment, I really realized the character and strength in Scott went very deep, as some of you already know. 

So knowing Scott like we all do, he sat down at the table and just jumped right into, “Okay, so the thing I would do differently is…”  Basically, Scott emphasized the need to be on intercoms when riding together because Scott could have warned him that the curve was coming up and tight.  If intercoms are not available, he recommends riders use their GPS or maps so that they know where the turns are coming up.

In this accident, they were traveling about 60-65 mph when Scott, as the lead rider, disappeared over a hill that hid a tight 20-mph turn.  When Taylor topped the hill, he had a split second to respond to a scene of basically Scott sitting broadside just in front of him (if you take time slowing down during an accident and heightened adrenaline).

So what happened next was a combination of a miraculous saving and quick emergency action.  With no other option, the second bike hit Scott directly on his right leg – Scott knew in that instant that his leg was gone.  

He said that he was knocked straight up and the bike did a 180. Right there in that action and trauma, Scott directed the first person who stopped to give him his belt, of which Scott immediately created a tourniquet around his bleeding leg.  Going into like an automated command sergeant mode, Scott continued to direct people to keep his head up above his heart, stop traffic, put vehicles above and below the hill.  In fact, the highway patrolman later told him at the ICU that he couldn’t talk to Scott because Scott was too busy giving orders out.  We love you Scott!

Overall, everyone that arrived at the scene was very helpful according to Scott and increased our confidence in our fellow human beings.  In fact, there was an ER nurse on her way home that stopped and knew exactly what to do and got him completely ready for the ambulance (30 minutes later!).

Despite all this, Scott remembers the ER doctor holding his head, yelling at him “come back, come back, open your eyes, you’re in the emergency room!”  She did that twice over three and a half hours to save his life.

During the emergency, Scott had all three arteries broken/non-fixable in his leg and the doctor did everything to save as much of his leg as possible – in addition to Scott saying, “She saved my life.”

During this time, Taylor was greatly concerned for Scott and according to Scott was following every instance of the ER evolution to save Scott’s life.  Taylor was anxiously waiting to hear Scott’s voice to know that his friend was alive.

Finally, Scott says everyone should carry a tourniquet on your body where you can reach it – not on your bike or anywhere else.  This one device was the key to slowing the bleeding that ultimately saved Scott’s life.  You never know when a severe accident will occur – like in this case, two highly skilled riders who regularly ride together faced a life-and-death accident.

What’s next for Scott?  In short, everything.  Prosthetics and a few RT modifications will allow him to continue to ride, ski, drive, and, well everything.

Scott is so grateful for the support and encouragement – which he highlights “so that’s my community” – from his current and former dealership peers and management, PPBMWR club members, long time riding friends, family, and especially Ana.

As a final take away, Scott said a good friend of his from the military called him up and said he needed to “have a positive outlook, don’t look back because it was an accident, and just look forward and figure out what you can do and get going on it.”  Another helicopter vet friend reiterated to him, “you’ll get through it, and that’s what you have to be. You have to be positive.”

Note: if you want to help in Scott's additional medical expenses, you can either give to him directly or through this Go Fund Me link.