Lloyd And Leisa Bell At The 2007 Lakefest Event
	Photo By RAP :: Race Action Photography

Lloyd Bell while In the Emergency Room asks...Did anyone get my Time Slip?

Finally, Several Months after the crash, Lloyd is finally feeling optimistic about his health.

Lloyd while in the emergency room and all the way home, according to Leisa, kept asking. Did they get my motor?

It has been 5 months since the accident where Lloyd Bell crashed in his TAF 003 Top Dog at the IHBA World Finals.
After evaluating and studying what took place it still is not totally clear what caused the boat to crash.
According to Lloyd, it could of been one of several reasons. One could have been driver error, pushing the down plate
at too high of speed, another reason could have been the new prop they were trying for the first time, there could of
been a roller, or some rough water, a cross wind condition that caused the lift off.

After several prior attempts to get the boat down the course, this particular run the boat seemed happy and was clocked
at 145mph at half track. Lloyd claims he was not trying to run a super fast pass, but the boat liked the set up and went
crashing through the finish line timer at 161mph after scrubbing off some time in flight and a previous touch down.

Regardless of the reason we know the boat was destroyed, but fortunately Lloyd is ok and recuperating.
Lloyds wife and partner, Leisa, has been holding everything together for months, helping Lloyd with medical care,
taking care of the house, the kids, their business management and operations while he was healing.

Lloyd said that the down peddle crushed his Tibia into 12-15 pieces and the doctors had to insert 2 steel plates
with 8 screws to hold everything in place while it heals. He also received a bone graph with artificial bone, which has been taking
a long time to heal. There is still a little numbness in his back near the belt line, but for the most part all the feeling
has returned.
In January, infection struck Lloyd and he had to return to the hospital to have them irrigate his leg, the doctors
also started him on 2 bags of IV a day for 8 weeks. Lloyd will be on 2 oral antibiotics a day until the hardware comes out,
which is planned for sometime in September-October this year.
Lloyd has some scars, some bruises, and is walking with a cane right now, but his spirits are high and he is a true racer at heart.
He will be the Crew Chief of the TAH 008 Mischief Maker Team for 2007 helping out his friend, Jeff Gregory this year, and then
in the winter, Lloyd and Leisa will evaluate if they want to campaign their own boat in 2008.
Racing is in their blood, they both love it, Lloyd and Leisa met at the races and both of their families have a history of
racing. The TAH boat Jeff Gregory is driving came from Lloyds father-in-law.
Lloyd still has 3 motors and another boat that is a Mako in his possession. He was driving it in the Blown Gas class for 5 years before he got the new TAF boat.

RAP- At what moment did you realize that the boat was going to crash?

Lloyd- As soon as it left the lake, I remember thinking, oh no, this is going to hurt. The first hit was not as severe but the
2nd hit knocked the air out me, and I didn't remember anything after that until rescue started talking to me.

RAP- Since the accident, at what point did you start feeling better and back to somewhat normal?

Lloyd- At the 1st of March this year. The IV was a drag, and I had been strapped to the house for months, I felt unsure if the
infection would go away. Now I can drive and get around with a cane atleast.

Lloyd and Leisa were at Lakefest as casual observers, and to also test run their new motor home. They came to see all their friends
and extended race family. Lloyd looks good and was making the rounds with Leisa, it was off to bed early when possible, conserving his energy, enjoying the racing action, and the friendship circles for the entire day and evening.

They want to thank all the people that have helped, and been supportive to them, since the accident took place.
Special thanks to the Gregory team & crew, Mark Porter, Richard Townsend & crew for the clean up at the World Finals.