The Bam Bridges Story

At just three years old, Brandon “Bam” Bridges threw his leg over a Chinese 50cc two-stroke for the first time — and never looked back.

Born and raised in Riverside, Bam grew up on dirt. By his early teens, he was climbing the ranks in the local Swap Moto race series, proving he had the speed and the grit to reach the next level. Weekends were for gates dropping, engines screaming, and chasing podiums.

The future looked wide open.

But life had other plans.

On December 1, 2017, at the AZ Open, the stage was set. Bam was riding confidently. The conditions weren’t ideal — rutted, slick, unpredictable — but in motocross, everyone lines up on the same dirt. You push through.

Mid-race, Bam hit a step-up triple. He cased it.

In a split second, everything changed.

He was thrown over the bars, scorpioning into the next turn. The crash was violent. When the dust settled, 16-year-old Bam was paralyzed from the chest down.

Three months in the hospital followed. At first, there was hope — hope to walk again, hope that feeling would return. But as weeks passed, that hope slowly gave way to reality.

Life would never be the same.

“I spent two years in a really dark place,” Bam says. “Questioning everything. Wondering how to move on.”

For someone who had only ever identified as a racer, who was he now?

Eventually, Bam knew something had to change. He picked up a camera and found himself back at the track — this time on the sidelines at Glen Helen Raceway. Photography became therapy. It reconnected him to the sport he loved. It scratched the itch.

But watching wasn’t enough.

Scrolling Instagram one day, Bam discovered adaptive rider Will Posey. And just like that, the wheels started turning again.

If someone else could get back on the bike… why couldn’t he?

With the support of his dad, Carlos “Los” Bridges, the mission began. In the height of the COVID pandemic, they walked into Langston Motorsports and negotiated for a 2021 KX250. They didn’t just buy a bike — they bought possibility.

They took it home and went to work.

What followed was trial and error. Fabrication. Problem-solving. Determination. They Frankenstein’d the bike together piece by piece until it worked — until Bam could ride again.

And in 2021, he did.

Since then, the camera has been set down. Bam is back where he belongs — on the track. Racing motos every weekend. Charging the Talladega and ripping the hills at Glen Helen Raceway.

Not defined by tragedy.
Defined by resilience.

Bam’s story isn’t about what he lost.

It’s about what he refused to give up.

Bam can only get a new wheel chair every 5 years and the one he has is pretty beat. If you’d like to support Bam there is a new GoFundMe set up by Lori Wilson of Glen Helen Raceway.

Our friends at Road 2 Recovery where able to negotiate the price down for him. If you would like to help support Bam’s new wheelchair, please consider donating to his GoFundMe and becoming part of his journey.