P118
CN
III LOWSIDE
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
A
s an 11-year-old Aussie,
you can't imagine how
jealous my mates were
that I was actually going to the
country Shaquille O'Neal was
from.
Being a basketball-mad kid,
seeing the U.S. up close put me
in very select company. But I
almost didn't make the flight out
of Sydney.
This part I remember well.
Dad killing time in the garage,
mom packing, me bored out of
my mind. One obsession I had
back then was the arcade game
Street Fighter—$2 a go. Steep, I
must say.
After pinching the coin from
dad, I bolted up the wooden
stairs beside the house, hell
bent on one last game before
the flight. I tripped. Fell. Split
my head open about one and
a half inches across above my
eyebrows. Rushed to Royal
North Shore Hospital. Mom
driving. Dad in the back holding
FAST FREDDIE, 24 YEARS ON
Twenty-four years after meeting
in the medical center at Laguna
Seca, Rennie (right), and Freddie
(second from right) meet again.
