“As I look back to that terrifying day when our home with several others burnt to the ground due to arson, I am filled with awe when see how far God has brought us in just 7 years.
Trapped with no way out but to climb straight up, we ran for our lives. For some reason God wanted us to go through the fire to serve His highest and best purpose, because after nearly 45 years of marriage, we lost everything we owned.
Thank God that nobody was killed, and to think that our precious grandchildren were just at our house the day before the fire engulfed the entire valley.” ——–quote from Melodi Shumate’s unpublished book entitled, Fire Escape.
Tilson’s custom CAGIVA wheelie dirtbike carried the weight of community support outreaches in many forms for over a decade, and if you can believe the pun, the ministry they worked with was called FIRE ESCAPE!!! Times of great testing later followed which seemed to consume everything, even the fire that “Almost killed us a 100 times“, Tilson said. It chased him and Melodi up and across canyons and plateaus for over 3 hours.
The good news is that after a lot of hard work, Tilson & Melodi recently reached the point of putting the finishing touches on their new home—a remodel they completed in a different part of California. Look, they turned a dump into a sanctuary with their bear hands!
LINKS WITHIN OUR SITE:
WORLD RECORD BREAKING STORY WITH PHOTOS (HOMEPAGE)
EVEL KNIEVEL | WHEELIE CHAMPION MIRACULOUS CONNECTIONS
“EUROPEAN” AMERICAN RIDER STYLE | VINTAGE MOTO-X PIC
CHASING THE PERFECT WHEELIE | CHASING PERFECT SURF
GEARING UP (CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO)
LOST MEDIA | PHOTOS FROM FANS TRICKLING IN
FUN FACTS | WHEELIE STORIES ALONG THE WAY
SHUMATES ESCAPE WILDFIRE IN 2018, HOME & STORAGE BURNT TO GROUND