Colorado’s captain is down, but not for the count.
Denver’s Matt Gnojek has raised nearly $30,000 for childhood cancer causes since 2016 by cruising the country on his Harley Davidson motorcycle dressed as a star-studded hero who delivers dollars and smiles wherever he goes.
But just like Captain America, Gnojek has faced his share of danger (and nasty villains!) over the years, going to and from hospitals, rallies, conventions and parades to raise money to support charities. charities that help families in need, as well as veterans and refugees.
On July 26, Gnojek was returning to Denver from a convention in San Diego in his full Colorado captain’s insignia — which often draws friendly car horns and curious waves of enthralled children in passing cars — when he sn is wiped out at 80 mph heading west on I-70 near Moab, Utah. Gnojek has no memory of the accident, but he knows one thing for sure: “It’s a miracle that I’m alive,” he said. “I’m the luckiest gunslinger I know.”
Captain Colordo paid a visit to these young fans recently.
There were no witnesses, but Gnojek thinks he must have cut off a tractor-trailer traveling in the same direction. He was found unconscious at the side of the road and airlifted to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, where he was treated for multiple head injuries.
“I broke the whole left side of my face,” Gnojek said. “My face looked like a puffy, angry water balloon mixed with a Gallagher watermelon.” (It’s not just the painkillers talking. He was referring to the famous prop comic known for smashing watermelons as part of his act.) Surgeons had to wait two weeks for the swelling to go down before to perform surgery to put the bones of his face back. in place. But, miraculously, there is no immediately known brain, neck or spinal cord injury. There is, however, nerve damage on his face.
Gnojek likes to say, “I truly believe that the power of a smile can go a long way in healing the human heart.” But because of that nerve damage, no one knows when he’ll be able to sport that signature Colorado captain’s smile again.
“I laugh and smile again on one side of my face,” he said. “And the other half is… well, come on.”
But this story is not a tragedy, Gnojek said. “It will be a success… because I will ride again. I wouldn’t be here if there was no more good work for me.
Friends and families who have been touched by Gnojek’s open heart consider him a hero among us. “Matt gives without thinking, he cares with all his heart and he feels with all his soul,” one wrote. But Gnojek considers himself more Fred Rogers than Steve Rogers.
“Mr. Fred Rogers said the best gift you can give someone is your open and honest self, so everything I do is grounded in promoting love, joy and excitement to give to each other,” he said.
Gnojek is part of a group called “Cosplayers with a Cause,” and he draws on his on-and-off experience as an actor in Denver’s theater community to create his comic book character, which he calls a line of Captain America.
To do the job he loves, Gnojek is bound to lead a gypsy life, working part-time at Starbucks on Larimer Square and as a mixologist at Green Russell – jobs that allow him to take up to two months off each summer to do his charity. work through the non-profit organization he started called Cap for Kids.
Matt Gnojek starred in a 2018 production of “Little Shop of Horrors” at the Bug Theater in Denver.
This summer, Gnojek had just begun a seven-state tour visiting hospitals and attending events in San Diego, Denver, Atlanta, Chicago, Sturgis, Seattle, Atlanta and others. He is particularly sorry that he will not be able to participate in next weekend’s Realities Ride and Rally in Loveland, which raises funds to help at-risk children who have been abused or neglected. Over the years, it has expanded its mission to include the protection and promotion of human and civil rights.
“My job isn’t just about captaining Colorado anymore,” Gnojek said. “It’s about building a community that is motivated by an outstretched hand to help, not a raised fist to clench.”
Matt Gnojek won a 2018 True West Award for his work on stage and in community service.
But it hasn’t been easy. In October 2017, Gnojek was hit by a blown tractor-trailer tire while returning home from his last charity drive, leaving him stranded in Peoria, Illinois with a broken ankle and subsequent surgery that left him stranded in Peoria, Illinois. prevented him from working, from walking. or ride for three months.
In 2020, the engine froze on Gnojek’s Harley, but that didn’t stop him from performing his planned Memorial Day “Parade for Heroes” on a motorcycle he rented with his own money. The Colorado captain, joined by supporters, drove through neighborhoods from Fort Collins to Castle Rock where children with cancer lived.
Not having a motorbike at the time, friends lent him a car to get to and from his part-time job. And yet, a creep broke into that vehicle and stole his Colorado captain’s jumpsuit, mask, shield, gloves, and boots. Three days before the latest accident, his mask was stolen – again – in San Diego. A kind fan read this on Facebook and drove 90 miles to replace Gnojek.
But this most recent crash leaves him near Place 1. His insurance paid $2,600 to restore his $17,000 motorcycle. But the superhero costume he was wearing at the time of the accident is now super burned, and he estimates it will cost around $900 to put another one back together.
A replica of the silicone helmet Matt Gnojek was wearing at the time of the crash.
Gnojek, in typical fashion, thinks his superhero costume saved his life – or at least from a much more serious rash. But he also learned the hard way that the Colorado Captain’s silicone helmet isn’t a real motorcycle helmet. “It’s a mask,” he said. And carrying it on the highway was a mistake.
“I will continue to do what I do for children,” he said. “But I’m not going to do long distances without a helmet anymore.”
First, it needs time to heal, recover, and rebuild. In the meantime, fellow cosplayers are stepping up to take on her role by visiting children in hospitals. He hopes his story will inspire others who are going through difficult times.
“I keep telling the kids that you can be the hero of your own story, and now I have to be the hero of mine, with the help of so many wonderful friends and loved ones,” he said. -he declares. “Life has this miraculous way of pushing you over the edge just to remind you how wonderful the gift of brotherhood can be.”
