Roxanne bought her son Freddy a new bike from Wal-Mart in April of 2000, but they had to take it back because of a faulty chain. With a refund in hand later that year, Freddy found the bike he wanted for his 10th birthday present– a NEXT Ultra Shock. He knew the front wheel had a quick release, but didn’t know what that meant since he wasn’t given a manual.

Freddy only had the bike a week when the front tire dropped off as he was riding up a smoothly-paved street to a friend’s house. As the fork drove into the ground, he went over the handlebars.  With severe lacerations on his face and shoulders and his eyes swollen shut, Freddy’s mom took him to the ER, where they also found out he had a fractured nose.  

The next day, Freddy’s dad took the bike back to Wal-Mart and explained what had happened.  When he asked for money for the bike and medical bills, they told him he would have to file a report through their claims process.  Wal-Mart offered a refund, but they wanted to keep the bike.

When the family asked the claims investigators if there was a problem with this kind of bike, they said the bikes were fine. With that response, Freddy’s parents assumed it was an isolated incident, and didn’t want to make a big fuss. They settled their small claim with Wal-Mart for only medical costs— not knowing that other kids had been injured.

When Roxanne found out that there were other cases of kids having similar accidents on the NEXT Ultra Shock bikes, she was furious— especially when she understood the extent of the damage to others. It was heart wrenching for her to know she’d been lied to.

Roxanne wants to let people know about these bikes because she doesn’t want any more kids hurt.  She thinks that other parents are probably assuming —just like she did— that these accidents have been isolated incidents. It scares her to think that Christmas is coming and people might be buying similar bikes as presents for their kids.

Connie Gowan & Her 9-year-old son Sean

State: Louisiana

In December 2000, Connie Gowan bought her son Sean a NEXT Shock Zone bicycle from Wal-Mart after a salesperson recommended it for her 9-year-old. She didn’t even know the bike had a quick release, since she was not given instructions or an owner’s manual. She had never heard of a quick release until after her son’s accident.

On March 5th, 2001, Connie’s 24-year-old daughter went jogging and asked if Sean wanted to ride his bike while she jogged. They stopped to talk to a couple of family friends and, while the adults were talking, Sean rode his bike in a circle between two driveways. When Sean turned around, his front wheel came off his bike, causing the forks to jam into the pavement, which catapulted him over the handlebars, crashing him face first into the concrete.

Sean had horrifying injuries to his hands, arms, face and seven teeth. Several doctor visits and four root canals later, Sean is still faced with the possibility of T.M.J., and almost certainly the loss of his two permanent front teeth.

When Connie spoke to Wal-Mart about an accident claim, they just took her information over the telephone and told her it would be turned over to Dynacraft, their distributor. Dynacraft contacted Connie a few days later to send a claims adjuster to look at the bike. During many conversations about the accident, no one mentioned that this model bike was ever recalled or caused accidents that injured other children. In fact, after hearing of the quick release, Connie did some computer research and was shocked to find out about the recall. When she questioned the representative at Carl Warren, the company that Dynacraft uses for claims, he told her that the other claims involved different bikes and situations, and that her son’s accident was an isolated incident. When they gave her a third and final settlement offer to cover medical costs, Connie was told that she could either take it or they would let her take them to court and they would win, and she would get nothing. She settled the claim out of fear that she would lose everything and have no help paying for her son’s medical and dental bills.

Sean’s mom would never have settled if she had known the truth about the recall and the fact that many other injury claims had been filed with Dynacraft on this model bike, before her son’s accident.

Connie found out that Dynacraft and Wal-Mart had lied to her about the recall and the number of injured kids when she agreed to be a witness in an injury case for a young boy who suffered serious injury when his front wheel came off his bicycle. After the case, she joined a group suit against Dynacraft and Wal-Mart. In return, Dynacraft and Wal-Mart have slapped her with a counter lawsuit for breach of contract. Connie offered to return the settlement money and they responded by serving her with legal papers for their suit against her!

Connie would like to see Dynacraft and Wal-Mart’s corporate leaders take responsibility for providing safe products for our children, offer more quality American-made products, and notify the public if products are found to be dangerous. One child injured is too many!

Cindy May-Carman & Her 12-year-old son Ryan

State: California & Florida

Cindy May-Carman bought her son Ryan a NEXT Ultra Shock mountain bike at her local Wal-Mart when they were living in Florida. On March 24, 2003, Ryan rode his bike over a standard speed bump when the front tire suddenly fell off. The fork of the bike (which holds the tire) drove into the ground and Ryan flew over the handlebars.

Her son broke his two front permanent teeth and cut his lip from the inside, requiring multiple stitches. His arms had substantial abrasions from the pavement. Ryan has missed time at school, has had extensive medical and dental procedures, which have not yet been completed, and now has permanent scarring on his face.

Wal-Mart refused to replace the bike and Cindy was asked to fill out a claim form to get any compensation for her son’s medical injuries. Over the next several months, Cindy patiently and in good faith talked to various representatives sent by Wal-Mart. Cindy spoke with four separate organizations in the end but received nothing.

Unbeknownst to Cindy, the bike had been recalled in June of 2002, nine months earlier, because of a faulty welding on the forks. The Wal-Mart manager didn't mention this in his conversation with her, nor was she ever told that the bike had a “quick-release” wheel. Cindy later learned that other children had been injured on the same bicycle model.

Cindy believes that Wal-Mart has a responsibility to educate its employees about product recalls and for the company to be accountable for the products it sells to families. Ultimately Cindy doesn’t want another parent’s son or daughter to go through the physical and emotional pain that she and her son have endured. She believes that if she can help save one more child from injury, then her efforts to raise awareness about this issue will not have been in vain.

Virginia Kines & Her 13-year-old Son Darrell

State: Georgia

In June 2000, Virginia Kines bought a shiny yellow Next Shock bike at Wal-Mart as a present for her son Darrell’s 13^th birthday. About a month later, while riding with a friend, the front wheel came off and the fork jammed into the pavement, flipping Darrell headfirst several feet onto his head and face.

Virginia and Darrell took the bike back to Wal-Mart the next day. She told customer service about the wheel coming off, and her son’s condition was plain to see- his head and face were obviously severely hurt. She even brought the bicycle with the wheel off as evidence. Wal-Mart took the bike and told her she should call an 800 number to discuss medical expenses with Dynacraft, Wal-Mart’s supplier.

Believing that Dynacraft would accept responsibility and pay, she called the number, only to have Dynacraft summon its team of investigators to search for an excuse to avoid responsibility. Virginia, a single mom struggling to pay the bills, tried to answer the many probing questions directed at her, but in the end was told that Dynacraft would take no responsibility for the accident because Wal-Mart had destroyed the bike. 

In the meantime, Darrell’s grades declined to the point where he failed 9^th grade. He was becoming increasingly angry and frustrated. After getting into more and more trouble, he was eventually sent to an alternative school. Virginia couldn’t afford therapy for him, nor was she able to pay the medical bills.

She felt hopeless, until she got a call about another injured boy. For the first time, she realized that more young people had been injured riding the Next Shock bikes.  

Since the accident, Virginia’s had two heart attacks and a knee replacement. Worrying about her son with his post-accident issues has been difficult. She believes that parents and their children should be made aware of the problems with these bikes, and that ultimately the companies and manufacturers should be responsible for the products they distribute and sell.