Shane Hmiel

For a 30 year old, Shane Hmiel has had a lot of ups and downs.
He started racing in 2002 in the NASCAR Busch Series and while he was prone to be a little over aggressive at times, he was one of the top non-cup series drivers.  He is the son of the well respected Steve Hmiel, a former crew chief and now one of the top people at Dale Earnhardt Inc.  His career seemed to be heading in the right direction, he was in the top 10 in points and then out of no where he was suspended by NASCAR indefinitely.  The reason...he used drugs, more specifically marijuana. 
As with most stories he was given a second chance and was making something out of it again.  But then he got suspended again.  Then shortly after that he failed a 3rd drug test and was banned from NASCAR for life at the ripe age of 26 years old.  He admits he made some dumb decisions and that banning him from NASCAR was the best thing to happen to him. 
He went to rehab and got himself cleaned up in 2007.  He has been clean the last 3 years and became a better overall person.  He found out he had bipolar disorder and that caused him to do some of the dumb things he had done.  He won't use that as a excuse though and said he had been dabbling with marijuana since he was 12. 
The reason I give you this back story is so you can see the true heartbreak of his life.  He fought 3 years to stay sober and be a better person and was racing again in a smaller series trying to keep his dream of racing alive.  He was back to winning races and earning other drivers and fans respect back one race at a time.
A week ago his life almost came to an end and he will be in the hospital for the weeks to recover from the devastating injuries he obtained in a freak accident in Terre Haute, Ind.  While qualifying his car lost control and hit the wall and flipped over a handful of times.  That happens a lot but the problem was his rollcage broke and hit his head.  He was knocked out and got head injuries along with some damage to his neck.  He got some internal injuries and had to be put in a medically induced coma while they tried to fix him up.  He is currently in critical condition at the hospital.
I had the privilege of meeting Shane a year ago and he is a great guy, a lot better than the view people have of him.  I wish him a speedy recovery and I hope he gets the chance to race again one day.  He made mistakes in his past but he had corrected them and became a better person.  He redeemed himself and it is sad that it is all but taken away from him again.