Joe Richmond’s friends will be gathering from 6-9 p.m. on Wednesday (Oct. 21) at
(554 S. Broadway) for a night of live music, bingo and fundraising. Friends are donating music paraphernalia such as T-Shirts and CDs for an old-fashioned garage sale. Anyone with merch or music to donate is asked to contact Jessica Broom at broomdesigns@yahoo.com. Photo by John Moore.
One small patch of sandy gravel in the road was enough to leave a hole the size of a golf ball in Joe Richmond’s right foot and leave him in a financial hole that will take him years to dig out from.
Richmond is a well-known and well-liked Denver music producer and drummer who’s played with many local bands over the past decade including , and, most recently, . (He performed with Tennis at their headlining set at this year’s Underground Music Showcase.)
Last weekend, Richmond was enjoying a day trip on a rented motorcycle, on his way to cash in a gift from his girlfriend. Richmond is an experienced motorcycle driver but he admits the monster 1,800cc Indian Chieftain he picked out “was by far the biggest bike I had ever been on.”
He was having a fine but uneventful time cruising around the Colorado mountains when he hit the soft gravel on Highway 1, about 10 miles outside of Cripple Creek. Richmond skidded about 20 yards across the highway “and I took a nice little trip into the guard rail,” as he put it. But Richmond popped up quickly and at first thought he had only lost some skin on his hand and arm.
“My first thought was I had to move that bike out from the middle of the road,” he said. “It was a huge bike but I managed to lift it up. I was trying to push it off the road, but after a few steps, I knew something was wrong. I looked down at my foot, and I could see that it was real bad.” The fall had tore Richmond’s shoe off, and his bare foot had been dragged under the skidding motorcycle. He saw the hole between his ankle and heel.
Luckily, a retired EMT then happened to pass by with this wife. They stopped and transported Richmond to a nearby hospital. He was taken in for surgery but because there wasn’t enough skin left to patch the injury, doctors had to leave the wound open. Richmond now has to visit a wound clinic to re-dress the wound three times a week as he waits for a possible second surgery.
But Richmond’s biggest shock was not the unexpected hole in the road. It was being told by the hospital that that he’d been dropped by his insurance company months before. He thought he was covered through one of his earlier band jobs, but the notice of termination was apparently sent to an out-of-date address.
Void of insurance, Richmond was told he’ll likely end up owing a minimum of $70,000 from his two-day hospital stay, surgery, medicines and rehab. A second surgery could send that figure even further skyward. Friends have started that as of Monday had raised just under $14,000.
The accident already has cost Richmond upcoming work. Because of his injury, he had to cancel his part in Tennis’ upcoming tour opening for Shakey Graves.
Richmond also has been producing and recording a handful of Denver bands like in a new recording space he opened with Patrick Meese off 8th Avenue and Santa Fe Drive. “The bummer part of that is it’s up a flight of stairs,” Richmond said with a characteristic laugh. “I guess I’m going to have to scoot my butt up there to get any work done.”
Richmond’s friends will be gathering from 6-9 p.m. on Wednesday (Oct. 21) at
(554 S. Broadway) for a night of live music, bingo and fundraising. Friends are donating music paraphernalia such as T-Shirts and CDs for an old-fashioned garage sale. Anyone with merch or music to donate is asked to contact Jessica Broom at broomdesigns@yahoo.com.
Here are more excerpts from our conversation with Richmond about the accident and its aftermath:
Reverb: When you first heard the number $70,000 – what was your reaction?
Richmond: It’s funny because at first, I thought I had insurance, so I was like, “OK, whatever.” It wasn’t until someone said, “Oh, the insurance you gave us isn’t working,” that I knew I had been dropped. As we were riding back home, it really started to hit me, and I had a little bit of a breakdown. I was like, “Oh, man. This is going to bury me.” But I’ll just take it one day at a time and see what happens.
You sound remarkably upbeat as you say that. How is that even possible?
You know, I’m not sure. Jess was telling me that before they even saw me in the hospital, I was lying on the bed with this giant hole in my foot, and here I am hamming it up for all the nurses. Maybe it’s just one of those things. I hate to sound down about it but, to be honest, for most of my life, I have had this cycle where as soon as I feel like I’ve kind of got some stuff in order, things get pulled out from underneath me. I got divorced at an early age. Then the band stuff ( in 2013). I was just starting to feel like I was back on my feet and getting myself out of this hole that I was in. So when something like this happens, I kind of have to look at it like, “Well, it’s just another thing.” All you can do is deal with it.
Yeah but even as you are saying that, you are not throwing things against the wall. You’re giggling.
Believe me, there are times when I am doing that but…you caught me at a good time.
What do you think when you go online and see that your friends have raised almost $14,000 on your behalf in less than a week?
I am pretty blown away every time I see that somebody has taken the time to give some of their hard-earned money. My life is not anything special or out-of-the-ordinary. I know everyone has their own things in life that they have to deal with all the time. So it’s pretty astonishing to me that people would go out of their way to help me out. It’s still hard for me to wrap my head around, especially some of the messages of support that they are posting. I am not very good at taking praise. It’s hard for me because I am more comfortable doing things for other people and deflecting. So this has been very humbling. Having a bunch of people that give a shit and want to do something is pretty awesome.
Well, your accident coincides with the death of Gary Lee Bomer in Mexico, and I am sure that must have been rattling through your mind. He had an accident and died, and you didn’t.
We actually went by Gary Lee’s last week right before I went on my ride, and I saw the flowers that were there and … yeah, it weighs heavily. I know I am extremely lucky to have come out of this the way that I did. Regardless of the situation I am in now, I am alive, and I will be all right through this. I will have some things to deal with but, at the same time, it could have been so much worse.
I am assuming you are going to be at the fundraiser Wednesday.
I am assuming that I will be there, too, but actually, I don’t really know much about what is going to be happening. I think they are trying to hide it from me.
What does it mean to you that people are not just writing checks but they are also gathering and rallying on your behalf?
It’s hard for me to feel like I deserve it. I always want to help and be there for other people, so this puts me in the opposite position, and that makes me uncomfortable. I’d rather do things for other people and be in the background. As a producer and sound guy, that is where I am most comfortable. But it’s kind of crazy to me that people care enough that they would want to show up and help out.
Award-winning journalist John Moore founded The Denver Post Underground Music Showcase (The UMS) in 2001, and in 2011 was named one of the 12 most influential theater critics in the U.S. by American Theatre Magazine. He is now Senior Arts Journalist covering the local theatre community for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Follow his coverage at www.mydenvercenter.org.
