WATERVILLE, Maine — There are a couple of hundred employees at F-3 Manufacturing in Waterville.
Brandon Dudley is just one of the welders, doing a job good enough to be named Employee of the Month last December.
“He’s one of our best workers,” co-owner Joyce Galea said.
This year, he’s already had some days off.
“He used vacation time to go to the X Games,” Galea added.
Not to vacation and spectate. But to race and compete.
Dudley is a professional Para Snow BikeCross rider. His journey to the podium began five years ago. It includes hospital trips, years of recovery, and switching sports in the action sports world.
Brandon Dudley fell in love with dirt bike riding nine years ago. Dudley and his brother Logan raced together throughout the years climbing up the Maine dirt biking scene.
When the racing became more competitive Brandon Dudley’s bike finished faster.
“Me and Brandon starting riding dirt bikes around the same time, he’d always been a little faster than me which kind of irritated me,” Logan said.
Dudley’s room is still littered with old trophies, they stand on his dresser. Two first-place trophies are too big to fit on top, so they rest for the floor.
The dates of the plaques are a little outdated for someone with Dudley’s ability. That’s because he had to switch his riding focus to a different action sport but not by choice.
Five years ago, Dudley overshot a landing during a practice session.
“I pretty much shattered my neck and back and was paralyzed from the neck down, it left me paralyzed from the chest down,” Dudley said.
Dudley dealt with the fact that he’d never be able to get on a dirt bike again. But a rider with that talent still needed to compete somehow, someway.
After rehabbing for a year, a group of sponsors got together to help partner with Dudley and get him an Adaptive SnowBike.
The highest level of competition for this sport is at the most renowned event in the world of Action Sports, the X Games in Aspen, Colorado.
On January 25 Dudley won the Silver Medal in Para Snow BikeCross, a sport where riders race with a dirt bike that’s modified with a sled to ride on snow.
This medal was extra special. Nine days before last year’s X Games Dudley re-broke his back in practice and had to rehab, again.
“That was maybe my sign to just hang it up and get into something a little safer and easier on the body,” Dudley said.
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But he never gave up.
His attitude was still positive even as he had to work his way back from devasting injury a second time.
“Success doesn’t happen overnight it really takes time and some days you get knocked down harder than others and I think it’s key to just keep getting back up,” he said.
The journey from the hospital bed to the podium was not possible without the support of Team Dudley. His race team is made up of close friends.
“Pretty much we’re a family, there’s no other way to put it,” Dakota Allard said.
Allard is a long-time friend and is in charge of filming all the races.
Dudley inspires everyone he meets. Pursuing his love for riding despite suffering two major injuries literally handicapping his life.
“It’s truly inspiring, sometimes I forget he’s in the situation he’s in because of his attitude,” Allard added.
“I really enjoy showing people what you can do when life throws curveballs at you,” Dudley said.
Now, Dudley is back in Maine waiting for snow like every other fan of winter. Soon he will begin training for the 2021 X Games where his goal is to win gold and add a fresh first-place accolade to his bedroom dresser.