The second thing you’ll notice is that he somehow has a way of making everyone around him believe that whatever impossible thing they’re facing, they can overcome it too.

That’s because Robert has spent the last twenty years proving that impossible is often just another starting line.

In 2005, Robert’s life changed in an instant.

While cutting the massive grass yard on his grandparents’ farm, the tractor he was operating rolled over him. The blades of the bush hog took both of his legs. Three months in the hospital followed. The pain was unimaginable. The future was uncertain.

For most people, that would be the moment their world stopped. For Robert, it became the beginning of a new one. “I could get my head around something physical,” he says. “I just decided I was going to work.”

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The therapists at the hospital quickly learned that Robert wasn’t interested in limits. He attacked rehabilitation with the same determination that had carried him through the Navy years before. By the time he received his prosthetic legs, he shocked even his prosthetist.

“Mr. Bailey, bilaterals don’t do that,” his prosthetist stammered after watching Robert stand up and walk almost immediately. Robert smiled and walked out of inpatient rehab a couple days later after doctors told him he should just focus on standing for a few weeks. That stubborn streak would become one of his greatest strengths.

The physical recovery was only half the battle. The emotional recovery nearly broke him. Depression settled in. Anxiety became constant. Robert, who had always loved cycling, suddenly found himself wondering what life would look like without the freedom he’d always known.

Then something remarkable happened. A bicycle gave him his life back.

Cycling became therapy. Medicine. Freedom.

“If I didn’t have a trike,” Robert says, “I wouldn’t be here.”

Robert discovered RAGBRAI—the legendary week-long bicycle ride across the state of Iowa consisting of twenty-five thousand cyclists, hundreds of miles, rolling hills, and small towns. And possibly most important of all, RAGBRAI connected Robert to a true community - complete strangers who somehow become family.

The first year was brutal.

“I remember looking at a hill that just kept climbing and thinking, ‘What in the world am I doing here?‘”

Every ride quieted the anxiety that threatened to consume him. Every mile reminded him that his body was still capable of extraordinary things.

He lost nearly 100 pounds. His diabetes came under control. Soon his doctors had almost nothing left to tell him except one simple piece of advice: “Drink more water.”

Robert had found his independence, his passion, and his purpose. 

Every difficult climb was met with something even greater - Hope.

Doctors asked to photograph him so they could show future amputee patients what was possible. Parents stopped him so their children could meet someone who looked like them.

One man sprinted up a hill carrying his phone. “I have six amputees back home who told me they could never do this,” he said. “Can I take your picture so I can show them they’re wrong?”

Robert never says no.

It’s all because Robert understands something most people don’t. Sometimes hope looks exactly like another person who has survived.

Today, Robert volunteers as a peer visitor for new amputees whenever hospitals allow it.

He walks into hospital rooms wearing shorts, his prosthetic legs proudly visible. The fear on patients’ faces is something he knows all too well. “I had someone do this for me,” he says.

So he sits beside them. Answers every question. Shows them how prosthetic legs work.

Talks about life after limb loss. Talks about bicycles. Talks about possibility. And before he leaves, something remarkable happens. The fear begins to disappear.

Because suddenly the future standing in front of them doesn’t look hopeless anymore.

It looks like Robert.

For as strong as Robert is, however, he’s the first one to tell you he could never have got to where he is alone. Veterans stepped in to help him when he was facing his new reality. Organizations like the Challenged Athletes Foundation provided him with adaptive racing bikes. 

And now, Chive Charities is happy to step in and join Robert’s team as he races through life. Thanks to our generous donors, Robert received funding for new drivetrain and adaptive equipment that keeps his custom trike safe, reliable, and ready for the hundreds of miles he rides each year. Those upgrades mean he can continue doing the one thing that has saved his life over and over again. “Non of this stuff is cheap,” Robert told us, “so this is absolutely huge. If I ride a hundred miles, it allows me to carry everything I need and it gives me options I didn’t have before.”

Every mile he rides is another reminder that hope isn’t something you find.Sometimes it’s something a community builds together.

Ask Robert what he’s most proud of, and he won’t mention the miles he’s ridden. He won’t mention the weight he’s lost or the impossible odds he’s overcome. Instead, he’ll tell you about the little boy sitting in a wheelchair on the side of the road during RAGBRAI. He’ll stop. Hand him a cycling cap and share his story. He’ll plant a seed.

Because Robert knows something every member of the Chive Charities family understands:

Hope has a ripple effect.

One act of kindness becomes another. One bicycle ride inspires another. One story changes another life. And somewhere out there, someone who believes they can’t keep going is waiting to meet someone like Robert. Waiting for the ripples from the Chive Charities community to reach them.

You can help those ripples reach our next inspiring recipient by donating RIGHT HERE.