I am terribly and undescribeably sad.  Most of you have seen, met or know very well our dear friend Josh Waggoner.  Yesterday afternoon at about 2:30pm Josh fell while street skating.  His best friend, Wayne Engeron, was with him.  The fall was to his ribs first and then Josh hit his head.  He was immediately knocked unconcious.  We got the phone call from Richard Williams at about 3:30pm and gathered our kids to head to the hospital for what we thought was a concussion.  Upon arriving to the hospital we found out from Josh’s mom, Vicki, the severity of the situation was far worse.  I stayed at the hospital with about 100 of Josh’s closest friends and family.  We were allowed to visit him 3 at a time.  The night dragged on.  Spirits began to rise as we all told each other this could not be Josh’s time. 

At about 1:00am Josh’s family, Wayne and Josh’s girlfriend were called back to meet with his doctor.  There was a devastating silence in the waiting room.  Finally, about 10 minutes later a hospital patient representative came into the room and told us the most unfortunate news we never wanted to hear.  Josh is not going to make it.  His brain was damaged beyond repair.  He continues to be on life support while the family makes preparations for organ donation. 

Never in a million years did I want to have to write something like this.  My heart aches.  My eyes sting.  My mind cannot seem to wrap around the magnitude of losing such a sweet and loving young person.

We love you Josh! 

Erin Hyser

On Behalf of the Skatepile Family

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How did you start rollerblading?
I used to rollerskate with my sister at skate rinks when I was 5 
years old and I loved it even though I was the consistently the worst 
skater there every week.  My brother and mom would skateboard at Kona 
Skatepark in Jacksonville, Florida during that time and I always 
watched the rollerbladers instead of them.  So one day I asked my dad 
to let me step it up and let me rollerblade there.  I fell in love 
instantly and have skated since I was 8 years old.
Who has the best royal in the business?
I’d say now it’s a toss up between Chris Smith and Shima.  But Arlo’s 
1996 royal is the best of all time.
Why is ATL the best place in the world?
Because you guys have the best skaters in the scene right now and 
everyone is still having fun and keeping it real there.  You can’t 
find that anywhere in extreme sports now-a-days.
What was the last thing you ate?
A dragon roll from Sushi Boom in San Francisco.
Why does Arlo wear pink jeans with zebra print v-neck tshirts?
Because he can.  Arlo is a legend with one of the most unique and 
intelligent personalities I’ve ever met.  He can wear whatever the 
hell he wants and pull it off. And that outfit is just plain sexy.
Do you care about the condition of our planet?
I wish I cared enough to do something about it.  But I do care about 
our planet, it’s environment, and our generations to come’s futures. 
I just don’t do a ton about it unfortunately.
Do you recycle?
I don’t have a choice but to recycle living in California.  I haven’t 
seen a regular trash can in at least 6 months.  I recycle religiously.  
  You’re probably drinking out of the remnants of one of my recycled  
beer cans right now.
Do you do any other sports?
Yes I do.  I run track and field and cross-country on a Division I 
NCAA College team, the University of San Francisco.  I hope to go to 
the 2012 Olympics in my event the 3000 meter steeple chase. I also 
play basketball and snowboard when I have free time.  But I’m always  
up for any sport but skateboarding.
Would you still drive a car if all the sidewalks were made like a 
trampoline?
Yes I would.  But I would drive hella less than I do now.  I wouldn’t 
wear heels anymore though.
How many push-ups can you do?
I do about 80 a day with track training.  But I can probably do a 
little more.  Arm strength isn’t my strongest suit.
What is the longest stair ride you have ever done?
24 stairs when I was 16 in Fiziks frames flat-rockered.
Can you do an old fashion front flip?
God no…I wish. I can back-flip, which isn’t nearly as cool.
Do you call skating backward fakie or just backward?
That isn’t important at all…but I probably say fakie to rollerbladers 
and backward to non-skaters.