DUI driver couldn’t stop ‘Miracle Boy’
Published: June 10, 2005
Miracle Boy has a miracle tale, of course. It was 1993. Dave Mirra was 19 and had just begun to redefine the sport of BMX. But the drunken driver didn’t stop to check his bio.
She didn’t stop at all as Mirra walked across the street. She left him with a fractured skull, a blood clot on the brain, a dislocated shoulder and the toughest six months of his life.
After recovering, Mirra spent three more months deciding whether flying through the air on a bike was worth the risk anymore. He considered it a personal decision. He wasn’t cocky or imaginative enough to think his choice would have any effect on the mission to legitimize BMX and all action sports.
Mirra hopped back on his bike because he needed it for “just what it gave me.” The rush. The freedom. All that sentimental stuff. It was a good thing he needed it so much.
Now, at 31, Mirra is the most decorated athlete in BMX history. He’s on television more than Ryan Seacrest. He makes more money than Uncle Scrooge. Sports history will remember him as one of the influential athletes who allowed action sports to wade in the mainstream.
Action sports on the rise
Mirra, who earned the nickname “Miracle Boy” for his innovative stunts, is here participating in the Dew Action Sports Tour, which runs through Sunday. This new tour has him marveling again at how much action sports have grown.
He started competing at age 10 and can remember when contests were held in dirty warehouses.
“Now we’re in arenas with catered food and TV cameras and potential endorsements hanging out, watching the event and making heroes out of a lot of riders,” Mirra said. “That’s amazing.”
He says that word, amazing, quite a bit. Safe to say he’s amazed by the growth. Ask about how admirers praise him for helping with this progress, and Mirra nearly gushes.
“That’s an ultimate compliment right there,” he said.
Like most people, Mirra never set out to leave a legacy. He was just a child, exploring, doing something dangerous. Then he turned pro in 1992 and immediately became the best and most exciting freestyle rider.
After the driver hit him, he got over a fear of falling on his head and returned even better. He’s won a record 13 X-Games gold medals. MTV had him host “The Real World/Road Rules Challenge.” Whenever a great, young talent comes along, people wonder whether he’s the next Dave Mirra.
King of his sport
He’s the Michael Jordan of his sport because he’s dominated with flair, put BMX stars in a new financial stratosphere and left fans so hungry for more that they see a little of him in every great rider. He admits to feeling pressure.
“You feel like you have to prove yourself a little harder now,” Mirra said. “If I can’t ride as well as I want to ride, and I self-destruct, that bothers me a lot. I guess I’d say I’m a perfectionist. And most people in this sport are.”
Miracle Boy has come to enjoy the mental challenge of his sport. As he gets older and his body starts to wear, his mind continues to sharpen. He figures that will help him thrive.
“It’s really cool to go out and learn and push yourself, if you’re scared of something, and then overcome that fear,” Mirra said. “And then all of a sudden, you have something else that scares you, and you overcome that. It’s a big set of stairs, you know.”
He learned that lesson at 19 while in a hospital bed. Then he decided he wanted to climb a few more flights.
Now look at Mirra and his sport. They’re way up there, higher than ever.
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