My Way

Fearing the hard cold steel would end his seventeen-year-old son's dream of becoming a motocross world champion, Chopper told the doctor to take the piece of metal and shove it 'where the sun don't shine'. But the surgeon told Mark he could not take Chad out of the hospital unless he walked out. 'So I went down to the service station and got some gaffer tape,' Mark said. 'Then I snapped a couple of branches from a tree and used them to brace his leg. We got some crutches, and guess what - he walked out. No painkillers or nothing.' This is the incredible story of Chad Reed, the part-Aboriginal kid from Kurri Kurri, who would go on to conquer the world - the two-time supercross champion, who hangs out with Slash, Pink and 'Joey' from Friends. The Californian-based Australian, who makes more money than Ricky Ponting and Mark Webber combined. A household name in the US, Reed is idolised by generation next. They put posters of the high-flying star on the backs of cupboard doors but know little of what Reed has sacrificed to make it into their bedrooms. Eight years after conquering America, Reed tells all in his must-read autobiography. There are family bust-ups, wads of cash, celebrities and of course plenty of crippling injuries. This is the pain and triumph of Australia's most exciting but little-known sporting star.