A decade after a tragic car accident, this father gets to experience his love of cars again, thanks to his daughter.
Eric Kammerer is a car guy who was born in Carlisle, PA, and started attending the Carlisle auto events in the 1980s. He attended the events and continued pursing his love of cars his whole life, until a bad car accident left him in a hospital bed for nearly a year. Now, thanks to his daughter, he was able to attend the Carlisle fall event, once again.
Even when Eric moved away to go to college, he continued to return to Carlisle every year to admire the cars the show attracted. He even built a 1969 Chevy Camaro vert from no more than a shell.
Nearly a decade ago, a bad car accident would knock Eric off the path of being able to attend car shows and participate as an enthusiast. The accident would cause damage to his leg, and he was basically bound to a hospital bed for a year after.
"I would go all the way to the fence at Gate 1, because that's just my ritual, and by like the second or third row I was having to take a break," Eric said. "I couldn't bring myself to get one of those little canes that has the seat built in, so I just kind of stopped.”
His 16-year-old daughter, Lauren, decided it was time her dad get back to what he loves, and arranged to bring him back to the recent Carlisle show that takes place in fall. Lauren is a gearhead herself who always thought it looked like fun when her father was working on his car - Lauren herself is now in the process of restoring her own Camaro as well.
Eric was thrilled to get to return to being on the ground with his fellow enthusiasts after all this time, and was even more so excited to get to do so with his daughter.
