Dakardantan

[mufti]

Hello everyone, it's been more than a year i was out of this site and many things changed. For good i must say. The current design and funcionality is superb, and with all that photos every dakar fan must feel just like in heaven.

In the last day a rediscovered my will to find some more information about competitors who took part in the past. And one of whom i cannot find any info is American Chuck Stearns. All i know is that he sufferd leukaemia and died in 1985. Can anybode provide some more info to me, please?

[José]

Thanks a lot for yours congratulations.
Jeff, the expert of the history of Dakar, will find some thing about this great champ.
So long

[Henning]

Yes, he died from HIV/AIDS caused by a blood transfusion in 1980 suffering from a injury caused by a motorcycle accident. He got blood which was not checked.

For me (as a "non doctor") it is unbelievable that a person suffering AIDS can get a 6th place at PD and will dye in the same years.

I did some research in the internet, because I had the great look to by his bike from 1985 somme weeks ago. Firstly the seller told me it is the bike of Serge Bacou but after some research he told me it is the bike of Chuck Stearns.

I will try to get in contact with his mother, maybe she is interested in any contact.

Greetings Henning

[José]

Hello Henning. Welcome on this site. We are very happy that the memory of Chuck Stearn is evoked today. It was a prestigious driver. I met Serge Bacou there is not for a very long time (he lives near to me) I believe that all his motorcycles were got back by Yamaha France. Naturally we would like credit note of the contact with Chuck's family to know better who was this driver.

[Henning]

Hallo José,

I will try to get in contact to the mother of Chuck. If there is any reply I will poste it.

About Serge Bacou: Can you give me any adress or mail-adress or something else of him?

Why: As I wrote I have the bike of Chuck in my garage, but it is restaured by my pre-owner and some details are missing. My pre-owner told me also that Serge owns his bike from 1985. Though I would like to have a look at this bike to complete mine.

If you want to get in contact with me, my mail is: Henning.Willig@web.de.

Greetings Henning

[José]

OK I am going to try to send you it as quickly as possible.
Best regards
José

[Henning]

Hallo Jose,

merci beaucoup. Henning

[Henning]

Hallo Jose and all the others interested in the life of Chuck Stearns. I am in contact with his mother. She lives in the US, close to Los Angeles and she wrote to me the following:

Chuck was a wonderful son, so caring and he really loved his mom. He was an extremely energetic child, and grew up always attempting to do things that no one else would do. He ran track and played football in high school and played football from the time he was 7 years old. In high school, the young ladies loved him, but he was interested only in playing football and riding motorcycles. If the girls wanted to go along with him, then he welcomed them. The Yamaha people noticed him while he was racing the Baja 1000 in 1982. And I think the reason he did so well in motorcycle racing and why he was noticed by the French team, was that he was already riding "over the edge." He wanted to do a little more than the ordinary.They sponsored him to ride the Spanish Baja and he won first place--even after someone stole his bike and his leathers, boots and helmet.

I was very proud of all the things he did and succeeding in the racing world. He had a bright future ahead of him. Unfortunately, in 1983, he was in a bad motorcycle crash and had to have a blood transfusion. The blood was tainted and he caught the HIV virus from the bad blood. In the early 80's no one knew what caused that horrible disease. He came home after the Paris-Dakar Race at the end of January 1985 and was suffering from pneumonia. He recovered and went back to France. His last race after the Paris-Dakar was in March of 1985 -- Paris/Tunisia. He passed out on one of the trails and was air-lifted to Paris where he was admitted to the hospital with a blood disease. They didn't know what it was. He stayed there until June and my son, Scott, went to Paris to fly him home. He went immediately to UCLA Medical Center and I was informed that he had contracted AIDS and that probably he would not live until Christmas. That was devastating news. We admitted him to a local hospital where doctors were trained to care for people with that disease. I was there every day with him and the nurses and doctors took very good care of him. They love taking care of him. He was always upbeat. He stayed there until he passed away on October 6, 1985, a month shy of his 26th birthday.

I will stay with her in contact and will update this as soon as I know more.

Greetings Henning

[José]

Thank you very much Henning for this sending. I am certain that all our friends fans of Chuck will be extremely touched by the comments of her mom whom you made us share.
Greet the mom of Chuck on behalf of Dakardantan and of all those who remember him.
Cordially


Malgré ma piètre maîtrise de l'anglais et l'incommensurable aide de "Reverso", je vous livre la traduction des propos recueillis par Henning, qui sont extrêment touchants. Qu'il soit remercier pour la quête qu'il a effectué aux Etats Unis.


-« Chuck était un fils merveilleux, toujours là en cas de problème et qui aimait vraiment sa maman. Il était un enfant extrêmement énergique et a grandi essayant toujours de faire des choses que personne d'autre ne ferait. Il était indépendant et volontaire. Il a joué au football américain au lycée il avait commencé à 7 ans. Dans le lycée, les jeunes filles l’appréciaient, mais il ne s’intéressait qu’au football américain et à la moto. Si les filles voulaient l’accompagner, il les amenait avec lui . Les responsables de Yamaha l'ont remarqué alors qu’ il participait à la Baja 1000 en 1982. Et je pense que la raison pour laquelle il a réussi dans cette discipline et pour laquelle Yamaha l’a recruté est qu’il était déjà « au-dessus du lot ». Il voulait toujours se surpasser. Ils l'ont sponsorisé pour qu’il participe à la Baja espagnole qu’il a gagné . Après la course il s’est fait voler sa moto et tout son équipement. (sa combinaison, ses bottes et son casque).
J'étais très fiere de toutes les choses qu'il a faites et des succès qu’il a connu en courant. Un avenir brillant s’ouvrait devant lui. Malheureusement, en 1983, il a eu un mauvais accident de moto et a du se faire transfuser. Le sang qu’il a reçu était infecté et il a attrapé le virus HIV. Au début des années 80 personne ne connaissait cette horrible maladie. Il est revenu à la maison après le Paris-Dakar 1985 et avait contracté une pneumonie. Il s'est rétabli et est retourné en France. Sa dernière course après le Paris-Dakar était le rallye de Tunisie en mars 1985. Il a abandonné et a dû être rapatrié amené par pont aérien à Paris et admis à l'hôpital à cause de sa maladie du sang contaminé. Mais les médecins ne l’ont pas détecté. Il est resté hospitalisé jusqu'en juin et mon fils, Scott, est allé le chercher à Paris pour le ramener à la maison.
Il est allé immédiatement au Centre Médical UCLA et j'ai été informé qu'il avait contracté le SIDA et que probablement il ne vivrait pas jusqu'à Noël. Ce fût une annonce terrible à supporter. Il a été admis dans un hôpital spécialisé proche de chez nous. J'allais le voir chaque jour et les infirmières et les docteurs ont pris grand soin de lui. Il était toujours optimiste. Il est resté là jusqu'à ce qu'il décède le 6 octobre 1985, un petit mois avant son 26ème anniversaire ».

Je reste en contact avec la maman de Chuck et vous ferai partager nos futurs échanges .

Salutations
Henning

[Jeff]

Hello henning, we do not have many informations about the rally for Chuck.
I looked for in all we have and i have to admit that we are very poor in photos, stories and so.
But I found something that may interets you... it an short interview of Chuck after his "Dakar". It's in french but we can translate if you need...
Cheers



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[Henning]

Hallo Jeff,

je parle un peut francais et je peut traduire ca, mais je devais chercher quelques mots au dictionaire et il dure un peut plus long que l'anglais.

Un question: Qui a publier cette article? J'ai besoin du original ou d'un copy tres bon pour envoyer ca chez Barbara Stearns, la maman du Chuck.

Pouvez vous m'envoyer l'article? L'adresse e-mail est: Henning.Willig@web.de

Cordialement Henning

[Jeff]

C'est fait, Henning, l'article (et même la revue) est parti.

Grace à J-P bosonnet, j'ai retrouvé quelques photos de Chuck issue du Livre Mitsubishi (ACP) de 1985:







Je te les fais passer en plus grosse def...
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