HE survived a war and three serious bouts with cancer, but for Vietnam veteran Bruce Eklom a dream motorcycling trip across the US has ended in tragedy.
Mr Eklom, of Cow Bay north of Port Douglas, has been left a possible paraplegic after a horror accident on a Californian highway.
The 62-year-old was touring with a group of Australian and American veterans, travelling from Los Angeles to the Vietnam Veterans Wall of Remembrance in Washington, when disaster struck five days ago.
He and his companions, who also included Roger Wickham, the father of swimming legend Tracey Wickham, planned to make the month-long ride across the US to join thousands of other veterans for the annual US Memorial Day parade on May 26.
On day two of the trip, Mr Eklom’s neck was broken when he lost control of the bike after taking a tight corner at 70km/h on Tuesday.
The Cairns Post understands the injury happened when the rented Harley-Davidson ridden by Mr Eklom fell on him.
Ljuba Svecova, Mr Eklom’s fiancee, made a mercy dash from the couple’s Daintree-area home to be by his side in intensive care when he wakes up.
"Bruce is such a good driver I cannot believe it has happened," she said. "This was his dream trip that he had been planning for years.
"My heart hurts so much seeing him lying there with all these tubes in him."
Ms Svecova said they had only moved to their dream home in December but the seriousness of Mr Eklom’s injuries meant the couple would have to return to the Gold Coast to access medical care.
Peter Board, who fought along side Mr Eklom in Vietnam, said his mate of 40 years was a fighter but loved ones were concerned he may not walk away unscathed.
"It looks as though he will be a paraplegic but we are all hoping for a miracle," he said.
"They want to see if he can breathe on his own when they wake him up and see if he can move his upper body but sadly it does appear that he has lost the use of his legs.
"We all have our fingers crossed but I don’t think he will walk away from this one."
Mr Board said his mate had survived three bouts of cancer, had been married three times and fought with courage in Vietnam and no matter what life threw at him, he always lived on the edge.
His approach to life was giving friends and loved ones hope.
"In Vietnam, we all survived on camaraderie and mateship and Bruce was in the thick of it," he said.
"He was a great soldier and a great man, who even his ex-wives continued to like. They loved him but just couldn’t live with him."
