|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
| in relation to the suicide jump on 05.05.19. |
|
12.03.15,
heraldtribune.com, Biker, surfer lived - and rode - fast. Michael Corbino's friends remember a charismatic adventurer who didn't know a stranger Knees inches from the ground, two professional motorcyclists burned around a turn on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the most challenging racetrack in the country. The first rider suddenly shot up into a standing position, his bike bucking like a bronco as he stabilized the swerving tires. Michael Corbino's extreme save propelled him to the finish line. He took third place in the 2012 Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix. Until he died in a motorcycle accident along the Sarasota Bayfront early Sunday morning, Corbino, 27, lived and rode fast. "He had what I call the X Factor," said Keaton Hendrickson, Corbino's close friend and motorcycle mechanic. "It's unknown how far he could go if he put his mind to something." Corbino first got on a motorcycle at age 4. He could barely reach the pedals, but watching his father, Michael Corbino Sr., race recreationally inspired his love of bikes. Corbino was a natural. He raced professionally from 2006 to 2013. "People take years to get the level of extreme that he did," Hendrickson said. "It's something I always admired. He had a full commitment attitude toward things." The two met at a 2011 race in Daytona. When Corbino vanished after the finish, Hendrickson and his friends found the clean-cut, collar-shirted 25-year-old in a "derelict biker bar," chatting with the locals as if he'd been raised with them. "That was one thing about him that always blew my mind," Hendrickson said. "No matter where we traveled, he would make friends with all sorts of people. Even if they were people you could be scared of, he'd be friends with them." Perhaps Corbino's most unlikely friends were the members of the Honaunau Headhunters, a motorcycle club in Hawaii. The indigenous members rarely let "haoles" - white folks - into their club. But they "patched" Corbino and his father in as members, showing them the island's secret spots and local barbecues. One club member took Corbino, Hendrickson and a friend on a pig hunt through a mountainous Hawaiian forest. The three joked about doing a wild boar hunt, but when it came time to kill the pig, neither Hendrickson nor Corbino could make the fatal heart-stab. They both had a soft spot for animals, and the creature's pained wails before their friend finished it off sickened them until all they could do to cope was laugh about the absurdity later. "All the craziest things I've ever done in my life, the most extreme, sketchy, cool, fun, amazing things, I did with Mike," Hendrickson said. "I'm pretty sure 80 percent of the time I spent with Michael, we were laughing." Friends said Corbino had an insatiable desire to "feed his soul" and "a light" that drew people to him. He took frequent surf trips to Hawaii and Costa Rica, road-tripped to and from California with his van, dirt bike and Harley and even took a solo surf trip to catch Bali's famously big waves. He moved fast and frequently, but never forgot the friends he met along the way, stirring them to adventure even when he could not participate. "If Mike met you, he would make you feel close to him," said Kiernan Kaliher, a friend and fellow surfer. "There's not a bad bone in his body." Corbino fell in love with his girlfriend, Shannon McGrath, when they were 15-year-olds on a class trip in Costa Rica. But they never said that to each other until they started dating again this year in Los Angeles. McGrath's apartment always had fresh flowers thanks to Corbino. When the flowers died, McGrath received a new bouquet in the mail. She woke up to fresh coffee each morning before work and often came home to meals when Corbino was living with her. "He would put everyone before himself," she said. "He was so full of life and smiling all the time, and had such a positive outlook on life. He taught me to find happiness in little things." Corbino and McGrath planned to move back to Sarasota together to start a life and a family. He told her he would look for a house for them when he returned home for Thanksgiving last week. "I'm really happy I got to share true love with him before his life was over," McGrath said. The night of his death, Corbino had a passenger, a 22-year-old friend he had known for about a year. Jasmine Fraser begged him for a ride that night. At the end of an evening of bar-hopping, Corbino handed her his own helmet and obliged. He was always safe when riding, Hendrickson said, especially when he had a passenger. The accident is still under investigation. A Sarasota Police Department report said Corbino lost control and hit a curb. Fraser is in a medically induced coma at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, in critical condition. Corbino wasn't wearing his helmet when he died, but he was wearing a shirt famous among his friends. It had a bald eagle, an American flag and a Harley biker gang printed on the front. Across the top were poorly translated words he and his friends first joked about, but then lived by; "Let's Freedom," his shirt said. "I guarantee until he hit the curb, he was smiling," said longtime friend Stephen Carrera. "He's more than a personality, more than a soul. He's a legend. His aura and his soul will never die." There will be a memorial service for Corbino at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens Friday at 4 p.m. CORRECTION: Jasmine Fraser is in a medically induced coma. A previous version of this story misidentified her. |
| 01.08.16, roadracingworld.com, Michael Corbino: Police Report Says Popular Former Pro Racer Was Under The Influence At Time Of Fatal Street Crash |
|
Popular former AMA Pro racer Michael Corbino had a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC)
of 0.264, over three times Florida's legal limit of 0.08 BAC, and was under the
influence of "Cannabinoids" at the time of his fatal crash November 29, 2015, in
Sarasota, Florida, according to blood and urine tests administered by the
Medical Examiner and included in the official crash report just released by the
Sarasota Police Department. The report stated that Corbino was riding a 2015 Ducati with a passenger and was headed northbound on Bay Front Dr. early on a Sunday morning. According to the report, the road was lit, skies were clear, and the road was flat and dry. The report stated that Corbino was negotiating a right-hand curve on the four-lane road, which is divided by a center median that contains vegetation. His speed could not be determined. According to the report, Corbino failed to negotiate the curve, hit the median curb and then struck a tree in the median. The motorcycle was found 33 feet from the impact site.There were no witnesses to the crash, which was reported to police at 2:58 a.m. In the report, a police investigator wrote, "Writer concludes due to his level of impairment, Corbino was unable to negotiate the curve at the location of the crash." The report said that a damaged helmet with an unbuckled strap was found lying in the roadway near the impact site, and it could not be determined if Corbino or his passenger, Jasmine Fraser, had been wearing the helmet. Corbino suffered numerous injuries and his cause of death was ruled by the Medical Examiner as a fractured skull due to blunt impact to the head during the crash. Fraser's injuries were not detailed in the report. According to a press release issued by the Sarasota Police Department shortly after the accident, Fraser was transported to a hospital with "life-threatening" injuries. According to friends of Corbino, Fraser is recovering from her injuries. |
|
site map •
contact •
top of page
►feel suicidal? |
|
|
