Brantley Willbanks of Scottsbluff suffered serious injuries in a motorcycle accident late last year, and his left leg had to be amputated while being in a nearly three-month long coma. But while Willbanks felt sad, depressed and angry for a while after losing his leg, he eventually changed his attitude – and his outlook on life – after realizing how lucky he is to still be alive. He says he feels happy to be living ‘a normal life again’ after getting a prosthetic leg and also having a chance to return to work as a mechanic at J&K Masonry in Bayard. He’s also excited for the future, especially since he and his wife are expecting their first baby this year.
JEFF FIELDER Editor
SCOTTSBLUFF – After replacing the stator on his Kawasaki Ninja, Brantley Willbanks hopped on his motorcycle to take it for a test drive.
He headed out of his driveway, located in east Scottsbluff, and began riding down 10th Avenue. He traveled about a block before turning around to go back home.
He reached a stop sign near his house, looked both ways before crossing the street, and then gently hit the throttle.
He barely moved a few feet before he noticed out of the corner of his eye a vehicle barreling straight at him. Neither driver saw each other due to parked cars on the side of the street, Willbanks said.
Willbanks had no time to react before the vehicle, which he estimates was traveling about 25 miles per hour, crashed into him, sending him flying high into the air.
“The people who saw it said I looked like a helicopter, spinning around in the air,” Willbanks said.
He landed hard on the ground about 80 feet from where the crash occurred. He stopped rolling just a few feet from where his wife, Angel, and mom, Tonya Agan, had been watching him ride.
“I thought for sure he was gone,” Angel said.
