New proud GoPro owner, yeah!

[Gerlinde]

I'm so excited, some very nice person gave me his GoPro Hero3 silver edition!

It's a long story and I won't bore you with all the details..., but here is the short version:
About 7 or 8 years ago my son started building a custom buggy. He is an off-road enthusiast and enjoyed rock crawling in the Sierras around Lake Tahoe in northern California. Here is a picture of him with his car:

IMG_0310 (800x450).jpg

Now comes the part I'm having a hard time writing about. My son was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of 24. Most people have attacks and then recover. Not so my son. He had a lot of disabilities right from the get go and he went from a skateboarding, snowboarding do-it-all guy to a stumbling, vision impaired disabled person in a matter of 2 years.
Nevertheless, he always lived an independent life with the help of his friends. But the last 2 years have been really hard on him and he is now at the point where he has even problems getting around the house. He is currently living with us and it is unclear if he will be able to go back home and live on his own. This is of course taking a toll on me too and you may have noticed that I have not been posting a lot lately.

But here comes the cool part. His best friend and room mate is quite a talented person. He modified my son's car into a race car. They formed a team, called MS Racing, with the goal to support their friend and raising awareness about people with multiple sclerosis (MS), KEEPING THE DREAM ALIVE for my son. They had their first race this year in February at the King Of The Hammers. Also they did not finish the race due to an engine fire, they made quite an impression and are already preparing for the next race in May.

GoPro is one of their sponsors and they received a couple of brand new GoPro Her3+s after the race. Now we are getting to the point , my son's friend gave me his GoPro. He was having problems with it and so has not used it much. ( I think is was mostly operator failure )

I did a firmware update and am able to control it with my iPhone/iPad via the GoPro app. I have to get a better sd card, the one I have is only a class 4. But the camera seems to work as far as I can tell. So now I have an almost new GoPro Hero3 silver edition in a waterproof housing for the newer Hero3+.

My son's team has a Facebook page (MS RACING) and they are currently working on their own website MS4x4racing.com.

[momoffduty]

Wow, Gerlinde! Your son is very talented to build the custom car. So very sorry on his diagnosis. I can't imagine the struggles he is going thru from a skate boarding, snowboarding, active person to MS. Prayers for you and family.

On the upnote, good to see that he has a wonderful friend & friends to race his car. Will you be posting any video of upcoming races?

Congrats on the new to you GoPro. Class 4 card is a little slow. You may want to get a class 10 Extreme or Extreme Plus 32G. Read elsewhere to stay away from the Ultra cards.

[_Paz_]

Gerlinde,

So very sorry to hear about your son. I was mistakenly diagnosed with MS. It turned out my nerve damage was caused by chemo. Anyway, I have a great many of the symptoms and although I'm not nearly as bad off as you son sounds, I understand how devastating it can be. It's so much worse that your son is so young. Just not fair. Not fair at all. My best hopes and good wishes for you, him and your family.

Good luck with the GP. So many cool things are being done with them.

And you have been missed.

hugs,

Paz

[Peru]

I'm so sorry about your son. It must be very difficult for your family, but it sounds like you are handling the situation as well as you can.
It's good to see you back here at Muvipix.

[Steve Grisetti]

What a great story, Gerlinde! It's amazing to me how people make the most of tough situations.

[Dave McElderry]

Thanks for sharing that story Gerlinde. Paz said it....afflictions like this are never fair, but it's especially tough seeing them in young people. He's fortunate to have such supportive people around him.

[Ron Hunter]

Thank you for sharing your story Gerlinde. I too am sorry to hear that your son has MS, and at such a young age. It must be extremely difficult on you and your family.

The older I get the more convinced I am that no one has a perfect life. It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, everyone has a challenge in their life. I'll never forget the day the pediatrician told me and my wife that our middle son has autism. We just held each other in the parking lot and cried. At first we felt isolated, but we eventually found others in a similar situation and that helped us cope. Are you and your family plugged into a MS support group in your area?

[Gerlinde]

Thank you all for the caring comments, I'm really touched! We are on this roller coaster ride now for almost 12 years and you would think we should be used to all the ups and downs. But enough with all the bleakness, life must go on!
Ron, I am so sorry to hear about your middle son. Autism is another one of those things you wish would just go away. I have been trying to get my son to get involved with a support group. But he always told me I'm his support group and that is all he has to say about that.

You may want to get a class 10 Extreme or Extreme Plus 32G. Read elsewhere to stay away from the Ultra cards

I found somewhere on the GoPro site, that the Ultra card would work for the Hero3 and you need the Extreme Plus card only for the newer Hero3+ models?

[momoffduty]

I found somewhere on the GoPro site, that the Ultra card would work for the Hero3 and you need the Extreme Plus card only for the newer Hero3+ models?

I read on the GoPro forum problems with the Ultra. Here are the list of recommended cards:
http://gopro.com/support/articles/softw ... te-release

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

Time differences mean that I am a little late to this thread.

I just wanted to say that, after reading your post, Gerlinde, how impressed I was with the way that your son, with your support and the support of his friends, is making the best of the hand that fate has dealt him. I hope that MS Racing have success next time.

[sidd finch]

I for one am happy you still have your son with you and the ability to remain on the journey together. Sometimes adversity turns the grape juice into wine and your taste for life becomes more that just plain grape juice.

Nice score on the GoPro. Those little cameras are the coolest of cool to me. I am sure you will have loads of fun capturing cool moments. I have been using mine all the time. They are so easy light and small, and...the picture quality is so good, I take mine with me all the time.


Sidd

[Gerlinde]

Thanks for the link Cheryl.

John and Sidd, I appreciate your good wishes and comments.

I hope I can get a micro sd card soon to get started with some testing of my new camera. The bottle brush tree in my backyard is starting to bloom and the humming birds are going nuts to protect their territory.

[sidd finch]

HUMMINGBIRDS.......

Man o man I have been trying to get some of our hummingbirds on film but these birds are to smart for me. I get lots of footage of the tree but no birds. Until I put the camera away of course.

We do have a tree close to the hose that has a bird nest. I am awaiting to hear the peeps of the new birds so I can get some footage.

Sidd

[Gerlinde]

Man o man I have been trying to get some of our hummingbirds on film but these birds are to smart for me. I get lots of footage of the tree but no birds. Until I put the camera away of course.

I did not say it will be easy!

It would be great if the Gopro could be motion activated. How about that Sidd, any ideas?

[momoffduty]

Hummingbirds would be cool Gerlinde! Motion control would be good. You could use the GoPro app for your phone, but would have to have the wireless on and that drains power. Maybe turn the cam on and let the battery drain to see what bird action you get.