During the afternoon practice one hot summer day, Wade was assigned to play defensive tackle between the offensive guard and tackle. It was scrimmage at full speed with pads. On this play, Wade was blocked by the two large offensive linemen opposite him to his left and right side. The double team block was to ensure that Wade could not reach the runner who would be running full speed behind the offensive lineman.
Wade saw the large fullback coming out of the backfield and reached across his blockers in an effort to stop him. As Wade reached over the offensive line, his arm somehow got caught in the fullback’s waistband. Wade missed the tackle, but his arm remained caught with the fullback — while his torso was locked in a stationary position between the two blocking lineman. The 235-pound fullback tore Wade’s arm completely out of its shoulder socket.
The few seconds the play took seemed to Wade like a slow motion movie of choreographed steps representing increasing levels of excruciating pain. The final steps culminated in Wade’s body lying motionless on the ground, with his arm somewhere near the middle of his back. The pain was unbearable throughout his entire body. He began to convulse, but he didn’t throw up because he hadn’t had any water. He could hear the defensive coach running over, screaming at him, not out of concern for his painful condition, but because he missed the tackle.
The players were gathered around Wade, who remained limp on the ground in a contorted fetal position, his arm behind him near the center of his back. Where his arm was supposed to be connected to his shoulder socket, there was only a flap of skin. Seeing Wade in this static position on the ground, his coach started to run toward him faster. As he got close enough to assess the damage, he yelled to one the players, “Call an ambulance!”
Wade had been doubled teamed before by offensive linemen who outweighed him by 150 pounds. He knew the key defensive move was to keep the two linemen from getting to his torso by using his forearms to penetrate under those linemen, catching the backfield runner’s legs as he tried to run past them. It hadn’t worked this time. A lineman had gotten under Wade first.
However, Wade wasn’t thinking about tackling protocol as the ambulance attendants got him on the gurney for the ride back to the hospital. He remained in bent position in the ambulance in order to withstand the immense pain. As they closed the rear door to drive him away, he heard the coach say, “Son, you’ll be back on the field in no time.”
Wade arrived at the emergency room of the local hospital, where the attending physician told Wade, “This is the worse dislocation I’ve ever seen.”
The physician continued speaking to Wade, “You should immediately see an orthopedic surgeon after we finish here. I don’t think this is going to heal properly without surgery. But first we have to get your shoulder back in its socket, and it’s going to be very painful.”
He gave Wade a shot for pain and started to get him hydrated with an IV. After the morphine had some time to work, the physician told Wade, “There’s no easy way to do this and I apologize in advance for what we’re about to do. I’m also sorry about the light medication dose I’m giving you, but you can’t tolerate a higher dose in your dehydrated condition. I want you to try to remain as relaxed as you possibly can. Don’t try to pull or fight the direction we will be pulling you arm. It will only make it more difficult.”
The automated surgical table was lowered to about knee height. It took the doctor and two interns, their shoes covered with blue surgical wraps, on Wade’s neck and ribs to twist and pull his arm until it reset in the shoulder socket. As the medical staff pulled, Wade tried to imagine himself outside of his body looking down at the procedure to block out the pain. He heard strange sounds of muscle, cartilage and bone gristle as they rubbed against each other searching for a natural position.
At some point, Wade screamed and almost passed out from the pain. But finally his arm popped back into its socket, and the medical staff began wrapping and taping it flat against his chest. He was taped from his waist to his neck, his arm immobile, pressed against his body.
Wade didn’t have the surgery suggested by the emergency physician. Instead he gave up football for the season and began physical therapy as soon as his doctor allowed it. After several months of physical therapy, the shoulder began to function normally as long as he didn’t try to raise his arm above his head. Wade now had several warnings from doctors that there was so much damage that the shoulder would continue to separate along the same dislocation path.
As daily mobility returned, Wade could only think of getting back to the garage. He called Jesse, told him what happened, and asked when he could come back. Jesse said he would check with his uncle. In a few days, Wade was back working at the garage.
10
Wade applied himself to learning about internal combustion engines as intently as he did to football. His passion and natural mechanical ability, combined with the good instruction by Jesse, resulted in quick accumulation of knowledge and skill.
Not only was Wade a fast learner, but the James motorcycle was an excellent bike for learning basic skills. It had fewer parts and was less expensive to repair than other more complex and expensive motorcycles. After he completed his first project with Jesse, he shifted over to help Jesse do repair work on cars for paying customers. Between mechanical assignments, Wade helped clean up the garage, get parts, and do simple tasks like screw on a cylinder head once a gasket had been properly aligned by Jesse. He would change oil and spark plugs and adjust brakes. He learned to adjust carburetors and eventually how to rebuild them. He would also test drive vehicles after repair work had been done, which gave him immediate feedback on the work he had performed.
Jesse was a patient and excellent teacher. He not only explained what to do, but he explained why it was done that way. After showing Wade each step, he would watch Wade do the same task to make sure he had learned it correctly. Both the garage and Jesse benefited as Wade assisted them without pay. From time to time, a satisfied customer would tip Wade as well as Jesse, which left Wade feeling appreciated and confident that he had done a good job.
Wade was able to assist in the rebuilding of many motorcycles after the 1947 faded blue Indian motorcycle. One day when Jesse was off, Jesse’s uncle asked Wade, “Are you interested in working on cars as well?”
Wade quickly replied, “Definitely.”
Soon motorcycle work graduated to work on cars of different types, and Wade was happy as he continued assisting part-time at the garage for the next year.
Jesse’s uncle told Wade that if he ever wanted to do his own project car, he would extend the same deal to Wade that he had given Jesse. Wade could use the garage and tools on off hours and when they were closed. Wade thanked Jesse’s uncle and said he would think about it. In fact, Wade was excited. He felt he was ready for his own project. He wasn’t sure how complex a job he could take on at this point, but he knew he could rely on the expertise of Jesse and Jesse’s uncle if he got into mechanical trouble.
Wade came across an opportunity to buy a partially dismantled 1933 Chevy two-door coup, at a low price. The car had its original chassis and body intact. The engine and drive train had been removed long before. The front fenders and hood were off but came with the deal. Cosmetically, the car wasn’t in perfect condition. The original paint job was faded, but the car had been garaged for many years and had a few spots of surface rust. It had most of its original parts, and it seemed structurally in good shape. The price attractive at a few hundred dollars, but Wade had to consider parts it might need.