Motorcyclists help couple injured in weekend accident

EVANSVILLE, Indiana (WFIE) – Evansville’s motorcycle community comes together to support two bikers seriously injured in an accident over the weekend.

If you were on the west side of Evansville early Tuesday night, you couldn’t miss the sight and sound of hundreds of motorcycles.

They gathered to support Robbie and Sheila Scales, a couple still hospitalized following their accident in Chandler on Sunday.

When news of a motorcycle accident spreads, bikers call all their friends to make sure everyone is okay.

This is what Albert Betzner did when he heard that his family members had been injured in the accident.

“A driver and a passenger collided with the car, which had broken down on the road. Coincidentally, that driver and passenger were my brother and sister-in-law,” he says.

Robbie and Sheila Scales both suffered broken bones and several other serious injuries. Robbie has a ruptured aorta. Sheila has a brain hemorrhage and a fractured vertebra.

“I couldn’t sleep that night. Robbie and Sheila are not only family to us, they also broke my heart,” says Jolly Steadman, a biker friend of the couple.

The couple’s cycling colleagues can’t wait to see them back on the road soon.

Hundreds of them came to Rick’s 718 in Evansville to rev their engines and raise some money for the Scales.

Robbie’s brother Betzner says he rode with the bikers on charity rides for years, but never enjoyed this generosity himself.

“This is the first time my family has been affected by this and it is as overwhelming as the accident itself,” explains Betzner.

“I mean, that’s what family is all about,” Steadman tells us. “We’re all there for each other, no matter what.”

The entire Scales biker family comes together to make noise for Robbie and Sheila.

“We are a biker family, we are a biker community and Rick’s 718 is a base for many of us. We will always show up at Rick’s 718 and show off,” says family friend Karol McLeod.

Organizers of Tuesday night’s fundraiser expect to raise thousands of dollars for the family.

The family also has a GoFundMe to defer some of the future costs of medical bills and physical therapy.

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