Billy Nichols Survives Horrible Accident

It is with deep regret that I bring you the following news about a close friend and one of the most beloved icons in the barefoot world.  I have had several sleepless nights trying to figure out the best way to deliver the news about a tragic accident that Billy Nichols was involved in the day after Thanksgiving.  

For those of you who haven't had the opportunity to meet Billy Nichols, or know of him, he is most famous for setting the World Barefoot Endurance Record of over 2-1/2 hours nearly 20 years ago when he was 14.  Today, Billy is in his early 40s and is one of the most active and most beloved footers in the sport.  His family owns a Malibu Boat and Watersports Pro shop in Ocala, Florida, a town they have lived in his entire live.  Billy is one of only 4 people that have attended every Barefoot Nationals there has ever been.  He is a member of the famous "Barefoot Breakfast Boys" endurance barefoot racing team and competes in the Dam-to-Dam race every year.  He competes in Figure-8 tournaments each year, and has been a staple member of the US Senior Barefoot Team for many years.  He's one of the few barefooters that have excelled in every aspect of the sport and has become one of the most well liked footers around.

I can't say enough about Billy Nichol's character and kindness he has shown to me personally ever since I met him 4 years ago. He has always been there to help when I needed him.  A lot of the top footers in the sport can seem un-approachable and stand-offish.  Billy, on the other hand, has a natural ability of lighting up the room and making everyone feel at ease when they are talking with him.  He's been a good friend and will remain a good friend for many years to come.

What happened to Billy Nichols on the morning of November 26, 2004 can only be described as one of the most horrific, scary, and life changing events that can happen to a human being.  

While driving between family homes around 6:30 am, Billy's Ford F250 truck veered off the road to the right, and when the front right tire caught the ditch, it turned sharp and threw the truck into a hard left turn which shot it across the road into oncoming traffic.  A Ford Tempo, carrying a mother (Nancy Cummings 55), and her daughter (Holly Cummings 25) collided into the passenger side door of Billy's truck.  The impact was so great, coupled with the difference in height of the car and truck, it caused the truck to roll over on top of the Ford Tempo crushing the car and killing both women.

The police on the scene, and District Attorney, gave Billy a sobriety test at the scene of the accident and determined that he was not intoxicated.  The stories in the local newspaper initially reported the event as an accident.  But during last weekends Ocala Barefoot Endurance Race, two State Highway Patrol cars showed up at the awards ceremony looking for Billy.  They had taken blood from Billy at the scene and the results had come back showing Billy had a 0.104 blood alcohol level at the time of the accident, even though the field sobriety test showed him to be sober.  Billy volunteered to turn himself in and cooperated with the police in every way.  He was later released on over $10,000 bond.

I'm writing this so everyone will hopefully be a lot more aware of their actions over the coming holidays.  I know a lot of skiers that like to party hard and I know Billy would not wish his circumstances to befall any of his friends.  Having even a casual drink, then driving even a short distance can have results that can change your life and the lives of those around you in the blink of an eye.  Billy's tragedy is an example of the worst that can happen to even the best person.  Billy is strong in heart and character and he'll need every bit of it to get him through the rough days coming his way.  He must endure months of court trials, public embarrassment, and large legal fees to assure that the blood results were indeed his.   So please keep Billy Nichols in your prayers this holiday season.  He needs the support of family and friends now more than ever. I only hope he knows how much we all care for him.  Also, please keep the family that lost their loved ones in the accident in your thoughts and prayers as well.  Their loss will be felt for the rest of their lives as well.

Chuck Gleason
President and Owner
BarefootCentral.com

Do you have a comment or opinion you would like us to reply to?  Here's your opportunity.  Send an email containing your comments to the Webmaster, cg@barefootcentral.com.  We appreciate all the feedback our readers give us.  Without it, we wouldn't know whether we were creating the type of content you are looking for.  

Comments from readers on this topic

Chuck, I hope that you were serious when you asked for feedback from your website's visitors so that you can offer information that visitors are interested in, because I have a response to your "information" regarding Billy Nichols.
 
My husband, David Harper, called me today to tell me about the e-mail he received from a friend that was sent to a number of her friends. His friend had read on Barefoot Central's website about an accident Billy Nichols had. I believe she knew that David has known Billy for many years and thought that he might be interested in the article posted on the website. Not that David or his friend did anything wrong by sharing concern of another friend. However, this is how it starts and it grows and grows and before you know it who knows what the true story is. But talking among friends is at least understandable but posting such information on a website is reprehensible and self serving.
 
Unfortunately, I cannot say as you can that Billy Nichols is a "good friend". However, I would be afraid to have friends like you who feel some since of satisfaction by being the "the one" to tell "everyone" about such a tragedy involving a "good friend". Frankly, I don't think that it is any of our business! And furthermore I think you are wrong for having posted this "information" on your website.
 
What happened to Billy, his family and the other family involved in the accident on the morning after Thanksgiving is a tragedy. However what you have done by posting this "information" on your website is mean spirited and irresponsible. I feel certain that Billy and his family would not consider posting his recent problems on your website to be a "friendly gesture". If you consider Billy to be a "good friend", I would not want to be one of your enemies. Friends are supposed to support one another not spread gossip about each other. 
 
However accurate you believe your information to be, I assure you some of your information is wrong, regardless of how reliable you think your sources are. I don't think you were there when the accident took place. I guess you were there or someone was to see your "good friend" being sought out by the police. However, I am sure that you were not there when Billy was released on what you report to be "more than $10,000 bail". And I am sure you have not been there to share in the grief Billy and his family, I am sure, have experienced throughout this ordeal.
 
There is absolutely no justifiable reason for you to use your website to inform people of other's problems. In the future, I would hope that you would "report" the lighter side of barefooting and not use the unfortunate tragedies of others to try to increase the number of visitors to your website by spreading rumors. Is this the "Barefoot Enquirer?"
 
If Chuck should actually post this on his website, I would ask those of you that read this if there is a moment or event in your life that you may not be particularly proud of or even down right ashamed of? Now, would you want Chuck to post that "information" on barefootcentral.com for the barefooting community and other communities to see. What purpose would that serve? What purpose did posting Billy's problems serve? It sure seems to have served the purposes of Chuck Gleason and Barefoot Central.
 
I would ask that the rumor mill be stopped and we all concentrate on our own familes and the good that can come from this holiday season.
 
 Since we have now all been informed of Billy's recent problems, I ask that you keep Billy and his family in your prayers and not in your gossip.
 
 JoAnn Harper  "one and only one-time visitor to Barefoot Central"
 jharper@bellsouth.net

JoAnn:

I received your email and have taken notes of your points. You are claiming that the information that I posted was only rumor and gossip. On the contrary, We reviewed the write-up with Billy Nichols. That is something that most news stations or magazines don't even take the time to do. They only concentrate on the facts and don't necessarily take into account anyone's feelings.

Please understand, we are an on-line magazine to the Barefoot world. That includes reporting the news that is both good and bad, just like in any other sport. If you want to attribute that to the likes of the Enquirer, that's your choice. And you can choose not to read it.

The fact that Billy is such a large figure in this sport warrants the article. We felt it necessary because like you explained, the rumors had already started flying weeks ago when the accident happened. And as you state, rumors can get out of hand very quickly when people don't know the facts. Barefooting is such a small sport that the rumor mills kick into high gear very quickly and mis-information in situations like this usually turn towards the worst assumptions. What we did was provide the straight up facts so everyone gets the same message, thus reducing the rumors based on hear-say.

Based on the tone of your email, I don't know if anything I explain to you will alter the opinion you've formed of us, or me. But the main reason for releasing the article, wasn't to be self serving. It was to state the facts, and hopefully keep others from having a similar accident occur to them. There have been 3 other DUIs in the barefoot world in the last year that we did not report on because I was asked not to to avoid embarrassing the skiers. So please don't accuse me of being insensitive to people's feelings. If Billy's story prevents just one person from drinking and driving over the next couple of weeks, that's a good thing. 

It is very difficult writing articles such as that when the article is about a close friend. Our goal though is to remain professional and objective about the information we report, whether it be about what you consider the ligther side of the sport or the unfortunate side. I made a point to review the positive things about Billy Nichols before we talked about the accident.  What we didn't do that upset many people was ask for the prayers of the 2 ladies that died in the accident.

I'll post your thoughts next week.  I do appreciate you taking the time to write. 

Chuck

Chuck,

While I believe I understand your focus on a fellow footer, whom I truly wish the best in a tough situation, I think the same statement you made about Billy, "What happened to Billy Nichols on the morning of November 26, 2004 can only be described as one of the most horrific, scary, and life changing events that can happen to a human being," would apply doubly to the two innocent ladies who lost their lives. Talk about horrific, scary, and "Life changing," Then you go on to comment, "Billy's tragedy is an example of the worst that can happen to even the best person." How about the tragedy of the two women, who devoted their lives to helping others as nurses, as an example of the worst that can happen to even the best person. The worst is those two women lost their lives. Billy is certainly hurt emotionally, but he is, after all, still alive and walked away physically unhurt.

Don't get me wrong, I can't imagine the pain and guilt Billy will undoubtedly feel. I wish him the best and pray for a way through this for him that will not destroy his life. But at the same time, I pray for the families who have to deal with their loss, their anger and bitterness, and the major change their lives will now be forced to endure. There are multiple victims here, including Billy. Let's offer condolences and prayers for ALL concerned. 

I do applaud your purpose as stated to remind all of us of our responsibilities when we drink or when we are with our friends who are drinking.

Regards,

Dan Cummings