When I was a kid in the 1970s, it was good to be Evel.
Evel Knievel, that is. The motorcycle daredevil defined cool by jumping over canyons and Greyhound buses and Caesar’s Palace fountains. Or trying to, at least. He broke more bones than Tony Soprano – except the bones Knievel broke were his own after failed jump attempts.
One of my first cherished toys was an Evel Knievel action figure, complete with red, white and blue jumpsuit. And no matter how many times I smashed him into the wall, or ran him over with my bike, or pounded on him with a hammer, the miniature version of Evel Knievel lived to see another day.
Much like the man himself.
Despite the fact he broke some 40 bones in his body over the course of his career, the man seemed indestructible. That might have been part of his appeal – if Evel Knievel could take these risks and live to tell the tale, maybe we should be unafraid to take risks in our own lives.
But last Friday, life caught up to him: Knievel died at the age of 69 in Clearwater. According to an obit in USA Today, Knievel was burdened with the same kinds of ailments and health issues that many of us mortals have to deal with. Knievel had been living with diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and had liver damage from hepatitis C that eventually led to a transplant.
It’s another reminder that no matter how tough we think we are, no matter how indestructible we consider ourselves to be, diseases can catch up to anyone. That’s why it’s so important to do everything possible to adopt a healthy lifestyle to ward off ailments that you often can try to prevent, such as type 2 diabetes or heart disease.
It’s unlikely the biggest health risk most of us are going to face is crashing into the side of a canyon. But taking care of your health now may help you prevent the kind of hard landing Evel Knievel faced later in his life.
-- Scott Samples
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