San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
TABRON Buoyed by messages of support
Scarlett and Dylan.
Tabron hasn’t been able to return to his job in corporate sales, and he faces the possibility of losing both his health insurance and his home. To help the family, BMX athlete Chad Kagy — who was best man at the Tabrons’ wedding — launched a Gofundme campaign that has raised nearly $120,000 since September. More than 1,500 people nationwide have contributed to the fund, and thousands more have sent Tabron messages of love and support on social media using the hashtag #simonstrong.
Shanna said the messages her husband has received in recent months have been the best tonic for his recovery. Realizing that he may very well have died last fall, he found himself wondering what legacy he would have left behind.
“Was he kind enough? Did he accomplish enough? Did he live life to its fullest? I think reading all the kind messages from strangers and dear friends proved to him that he has had a good life and made good choices,” Shanna said.
Kagy, who met Tabron at the X Games in San Diego in
1998, said seeing his formerly confident friend question himself so much has been disconcerting. Although Kagy was surprised the campaign raised so much money, he was not surprised at the public outpouring of support. Tabron is known for his generosity to others, and he has been an inspiration to others by being true to himself.
“He didn’t follow the traditional path. He rode a style that was unique to him, and he always stuck to it,” Kagy said. “He was authentic to his core without following the newest trends just because there was a new trick available. He was more about challenging himself and doing what he was good at.”
Tabron was born and raised in Liverpool, England, where he started racing BMX bikes at age 8. By 13, he was competing, and by 17 he was a world champion. For nearly 20 years, he bounced back and forth between England and the U.S. until 12 years ago when he met and fell in love with Shanna, who worked at the time for the sports network Fuel TV. Six years ago, when Shanna was pregnant with their twins, the Tabrons moved into their hilltop home in Bonsall.
The family’s life took a dark turn in 2018, when then-3-year-old Scarlett was diagnosed with restrictive cardiomyopathy, a rare heart condition that makes the organ’s lower walls rigid. Facing death, Scarlett was put on the waiting list for a new heart, which she received two years ago today at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego.
Then Tabron suffered two serious cycling injuries, first a broken leg and then a torn aorta, which happened when his bike handlebars smashed into his abdomen. Shanna has spent most of the past 21⁄2 years as a fulltime caregiver.
“It’s been extremely difficult,” she said. “We had a really hard time, first almost losing one of our kids and then Simon, who is my best friend. But I’m grateful that we’ve had so much time together as a family this past year.”
Despite his daughter’s heart disease and his recently aortic injury, Tabron said his heart attack last fall was unrelated and also unexpected. It was caused by undiagnosed clogged arteries. During the half-hour Shanna and, later, first responders worked to save Tabron’s life on the porch after his heart attack, the loss of blood flow to his brain caused a stroke. The stroke left him with Wernicke’s aphasia, which has impacted his word recovery, reading and writing abilities.
Tabron said that in the early days and weeks of his recovery, he didn’t remember much of anything, including his children’s names, his cycling career, his guitar-playing ability, the names of colors or types of currency. In the hospital, he watched all the episodes of the Netflix series “The Crown” three times over to spark memories of his childhood in England, and was grateful when his native Liverpool accent returned.
Since arriving home in mid-october, Tabron’s recovery has been slow but steady. Shanna serves as his interpreter, gently suggesting words whenever he struggles to find one. “Kind” may come out as “calm” and words like “adapt” and “window” are still a bit tricky. The children also help by carefully enunciating their words. Tabron is still learning how to type and use a computer again but said “Siri,” the voice assistant on his iphone, has become his best friend.
“It’s very different now for Simon. He’s still learning his numbers,” Shanna said. “It’s been hard. He is really quick and smart and witty, but now he has to go slow, which is frustrating. But he has remained so positive.”
Because his job in sales for an extermination company required in-the-moment financial calculations
and fast-paced negotiating skills, he isn’t sure when he’ll be able to return to work. In the meantime, the money from the Gofundme account is being used to pay their mortgage, household bills, medical co-pays and other expenses.
Tabron said he’s so grateful and moved by the public’s generosity that he’s often frequently moved to tears. For himself, his family and his fans, he is determined to work his way back to his old self.
“I will try every single day,” he said. “Some days, it’s so hard and so sad. But every day is a new day and I start again. I just want to try more and more.”
One thing that Tabron is certain he will return to — and hopefully soon — is cycling. His cardiologists have yet to give him the all-clear to return to ramp-riding. But he has carved out a flat dirt track on their Bonsall property and he rides bikes every day with the twins. He’s looking forward to the day he can start practicing again on the indoor vertical ramps at his good friend Tony Hawk’s private practice center in Vista.
“In my mind, I’m the same as I was before, so it’s been strange to stop riding,” he said. “I want to ride again. This has been my life. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.”
To visit the Tabron family fundraising page, visit gofundme.com/f/help-simonsheart-2020.