Okay so I am a huge roller derby fan, something you probably wouldn’t have figured by reading the dish, but…I love this sport and last month I was at a bout (the term for a game in derby) where a skater was injured so badly that I had to leave the stands and catch my breath. Since then I feel more comfortable sharing the information since Tequila has been interviewed by the Sun Times and the Windy City Rollers have put up a charitable trust for her recovery. All the skaters are volunteers and some of them practice 5 nights a week! It seems barbaric but it’s not really, it’s actually a very interesting sport especially when you are watching the more skilled skaters. Tequila’s injury was unusual and really caught us all off guard. She didn’t have insurance at the time of the accident so if you’re looking to donate money somewhere, this place is as good as any, maybe even better.
Okay so I am a huge roller derby fan, something you probably wouldn’t have figured by reading the dish, but…I love this sport and last month I was at a bout (the term for a game in derby) where a skater was injured so badly that I had to leave the stands and catch my breath. Since then I feel more comfortable sharing the information since Tequila has been interviewed by the Sun Times and the Windy City Rollers have put up a charitable trust for her recovery. All the skaters are volunteers and some of them practice 5 nights a week! It seems barbaric but it’s not really, it’s actually a very interesting sport especially when you are watching the more skilled skaters. Tequila’s injury was unusual and really caught us all off guard. She didn’t have insurance at the time of the accident so if you’re looking to donate money somewhere, this place is as good as any, maybe even better.
North Community Bank
c/o The Tahirah Johnson Trust
Attn: Amber Barnhill
1555 N. Damen
Chicago, IL 60622
This from the Chicago SunTimes
‘I will walk again’ after roller derby fall
‘ANOMALY’ | Lawyer by day, skater by night doesn’t blame sport for injury
September 10, 2007
By day, Tahirah Johnson practiced law.
After hours, she became “Tequila Mockingbird,” a skater in a Cicero-based women’s roller derby league.
But Johnson might never skate again. Indeed, after being injured in a roller derby bout last month, it remains uncertain whether she will walk again.
Tahirah Johnson, a k a “Tequila Mockingbird,” calls her injury an “anomaly in the sport.”
(Courtesy)
“It’s kind of a strange accident,” said Johnson, 39. “It’s kind of like I just walked across the street and got hit by a truck.”Much about the league is tongue-in-cheek. The Windy City Rollers’ Web site has an “injuries page” with photos of the cuts, bruises and bone-breaks suffered by women with names like “Anne Putation.”
But there is nothing funny about what happened to Johnson on Aug. 25, when she fell in front of another player, who skated over her at the collarbone. Johnson lay on the track, unable to move her arms or legs.
“I just felt the life drain out of me,” Johnson said.
Now being treated at Schwab Rehabilitation Center on the South Side, Johnson has an injury to her C4 vertebra. She has partial use of just one arm and no use of her legs. But she has feeling in her limbs.
Dr. Leonard Cerullo of the Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch (who is not treating her), said that is reason to be “cautiously optimistic” about her recovery.
“I’m hoping I don’t spend too much time in a wheelchair, and from there a walker, and hopefully from there a cane,” Johnson said. “I will walk again.”
Professional roller derby had its heyday in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s — its popularity memorialized in the 1972 Raquel Welch film “Kansas City Bomber.” Some dismissed it as theater and not a true sport. Fights broke out, predictably. By the mid-1970s, organized roller derby was dead.
Johnson says roller derby’s current, all-female revival is a real sport with rules, and that nothing is staged. A cable TV show chronicling the revival, “Rollergirls,” aired last season on A&E.
Teams compete to get their “jammer” — one of the five team members — past as many opposing team members on a roller rink as possible.
The revival began in 2001 with a league in Austin, Texas. In 2004, Elizabeth “Juanna Rumbel” Gomez and Kelly “Sister Sledgehammer” Simmons founded the Windy City Rollers, a league of four teams. “Bouts” take place at Cicero Stadium.
Johnson grew up in Uptown and attended Mather High School on the North Side. After graduating from John Marshall Law School, she practiced criminal defense and divorce law before going to work as a contract attorney.
Always physically active — her other interests include weightlifting, boxing and break-dancing — she got into roller derby three years ago after answering an ad at a Wicker Park nightclub.
Even after her accident, she wouldn’t warn other women away from roller derby. Her injury was an “anomaly in the sport,” she said.
Besides, “The type of girl who’s going to do roller derby isn’t going to listen to any advice.”
This from the windy city rollers message board…
Team Fury’s Tequila Mockingbird suffered a catastrophic spinal injury in the August bout, and is currently in an inpatient rehab facility where she is kicking ass from her hospital bed. She has no primary insurance.
There have been a ton of well-wishers writing to ask where donations can be made. Here’s the first part of that info.
Checks can be mailed to a charitable trust that has been established for Tequila:
North Community Bank
c/o The Tahirah Johnson Trust
Attn: Amber Barnhill
1555 N. Damen
Chicago, IL 60622
Donations will be tax-deductible.
Stay tuned for info about a paypal account, which is being set up as we speak.
THANKS SO MUCH!
Hi Sue!
I just came across this post that you put out awhile back. Because of your interest in this story, I thought you’d might want to know that this Saturday, Oct. 27, some of the girls and I are going to try to raise money for Tequila. If you send me an email, I’ll email you the details. In the meantime, I encourage anyone who reads your blog to put Tequila in their prayers. Here’s a copy of a letter I’ve sent to everyone I know. Maybe you and your readers could do the same. Thanks for the support!
Juanna Rumbel, #87 The Fury
“On August 25, 2007, a very passionate roller derby
skater named Tequila Mockingbird had a severe accident
during a game. Tequila, one of the original league
members of the Windy City Rollers is still
hospitalized over six weeks later and will remain so
for weeks to come. Tequila, whose real name is Tahirah
Johnson, has no movement in her legs or right arm. She
is able to move her left arm and has limited feeling
in that hand.
I met Tequila when I started the league over three
years ago. I never knew much about her at the time. I
knew she had the best attendance with the WCR’s first
round of girls. I knew that if you walked down the
street, you were almost guaranteed to see her cruising
by on her bicycle. I knew that she outran me at boot
camps and that whenever I laced up my skates, she’d be
right beside me.
Lately, I’ve been sitting with Tequila watching her
learn to eat again, seeing her exhaustion after a
three-hour PT sessions and all the while, listening as
she makes jokes about how walking has always been so
overrated. But, that’s the beauty of Tequila. She’s
always pushed the boundaries, in herself and with
others. She always says what she wants to say without
a censor, and without apologies. She’s simply an
amazing woman that I am lucky to know.
On October 27th at the Five Star Lounge, The Fury will
be there to help raise money for Tequila. This money
will go toward her medical bills, her loss of income,
and hopefully, leave something for when she’s finally
able to return home. Obviously, we are seeking funds
foremost, but honestly, just by passing on this email
and promoting this event, you will be contributing
more than you know.
One of the basic philosophies that my partner and I
had when we started this league was that with
compassion, faith, and a sense of community anything
can happen. We believed that there was time and a
place for everything. And now, I ask that you
recognize that this is one of those times. Show your
compassion, remind her that she has people to support
her and let’s give her the faith she needs to get
through the years ahead.
Thank you!
Juanna Rumbel, a.k.a. Elizabeth Gomez, #87 of The
Fury, and FRIEND to Tahirah Johnson
P.S. If you can’t come to the party, please donate to
TheTahirahJohnsonTrust@gmail. com Checks can also be
mailed to: North Community Bank c/o The Tahirah
Johnson Trust Attn: Amber Barnhill 1555 N. Damen
Chicago, IL 60622 **Donations will be tax-deductible.”
Wow! She is an inspiration! The fact that she doesn’t blame the sport, wouldn’t warn anyone away from playing and is determined to walk again!
Those are the kinds of wonderful, special women you get to meet and hang out with in roller derby!
I love it!
Jondi Soper aka Capt. Jane T Hurt (name pending approval)