DI Teams with Limbs Across America to Get Blake Robinson Back on his Feet

January 27th, 2011 by Drag Illustrated

Sometimes things simply fall into place, but for Blake Robinson, that had hardly been the case. As reported initially in Issue 40 of Drag Illustrated that was printed in the winter of 2009, Texas drag racer, Blake Robinson, was the victim of a freak accident on July 24^th, 2009, when a nitrous bottle exploded at his shop. Not only did the explosion cause multiple serious injuries to his body, but also forced an above-knee amputation of Robinson’s left leg. Having endured dozens of surgeries and skin grafts to repair his badly damaged right leg and severe nerve damage to his left wrist, Robinson underwent physical therapy to regain the use of his hand, although likely to be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

In the months following the publication of the issue of Drag Illustrated featuring the story on Robinson’s unfortunate situation, Colleen Byers, girlfriend of DI sales team member, Will Mandell, came across the article while thumbing through the magazine. Mandell and DI National Sales Director, Scott Dohrmann, who are professional musicians, had recently played a benefit show for a mutual friend at a fundraiser for Limbs Across America just days prior. Immediately, a plan was put in place to try and align Denise Destin, Executive Director for Limbs Across America, and Blake Robinson.

Limbs Across America, a non-profit organization headed up by Rob Pittman and Denise Destin, was eager to help. Their goal, it just so happens, is to reach out to people nationwide with limb loss and empower them by enhancing the productivity and quality of life through furnishing prosthetic limbs to the uninsured and underserved. Most certainly, Blake Robinson was a perfect candidate.

Within five months Limbs Across America had officially come to the rescue and in November of 2010 Robinson made the trek from his home in Waco, Texas to Nashville, Tennessee to be outfitted with a new prosthetic leg. The process started with a casting being made, followed by a knee-like socket, then the necessary test fitting and a test-run on the new limb. By the end of the day, and for the first time since the accident, Blake had walked – nearly 150-feet, to boot.

“After speaking with Denise [Destin] at Limbs Across America for the first time, I couldn’t help but feel like my luck had changed,” says Robinson, who was an avid sportsman bracket racer prior to the accident. “I couldn’t wait to tell my family the good news. Who ever would have thought that someone thumbing through an old issue of Drag Illustrated would eventually result in me being able to walk again? They say things happen for a reason, but I feel a lot of it depends on the people involved, and I have to say that I’d certainly not be in this situation if it hadn’t been for the kindness of Will and Colleen. They did this, and it just goes to show you that there are still good people out there in this world.”

Over the course of the last 19 months, a number of people and members of the racing industry have stepped up to help Blake, and along with the appreciation and admiration of Drag Illustrated, those who contributed receive endless praise from Robinson himself.

“I don’t hesitate in calling the people who have helped heroes because that’s exactly what they are to me,” says Robinson. “I can’t thank everyone enough for the support through this trying time. I will never forget it.”