The Colorado Captain is down, but not for the count.
Denver’s Matt Gnojek has raised nearly $30,000 for pediatric cancer causes since 2016 by riding around the country on his Harley Davidson motorcycle dressed as a star-spangled hero delivering dollars and smiles wherever he goes.
But just like Captain America, Gnojek has faced down his share of danger (and dastardly villains!) over the years riding to and from hospitals, rallies, conventions and parades raising money to support 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 regalia – which often draws friendly car honks and curious waves from enthralled children in passing cars – when he wiped out at 80 mph heading west on I-70 near Moab, Utah. Gnojek has no memory of the crash, but he knows one thing for sure: “It’s a miracle that I am alive,” he said. “I am the luckiest son of a gun I know.”
There were no witnesses, but Gnojek thinks he must have clipped a semi-truck traveling in the same direction. He was found unconscious by the side of the road and airlifted by helicopter to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, where he was treated for multiple head injuries.
Matt Gnojek won a 2018 True West Award for his work on stage and in service to the community.
“I broke the whole left side of my face,” Gnojek said. “My face looked like a swollen, angry water balloon mixed with a Gallagher watermelon.” (That’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 performing surgery to put the bones in his face back in place. But, miraculously, there is no immediately known brain, neck or spinal trauma. There is, however, nerve damage to his face.
Gnojek is fond of saying, “I really believe the power of a smile can go a long way toward healing the human heart.” But because of that nerve damage, no one knows when he will be able to flash that trademark Colorado Captain smile again.
“I am laughing and smiling again out of one side of my face,” he said. “And the other half is … well, coming along.”
But this story is not a tragedy, Gnojek said. “This is going to be a success story … because I will ride again. I wouldn’t still be here if there weren’t more good work for me to do.”
Friends and families who have been touched by Gnojek’s open heart think of him as a hero in our midst. “Matt gives without thought, 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 anyone is your open and honest self, so everything I do is founded on promoting the love and joy and excitement of giving to one another,” he said.
Gnojek draws on his intermittent experience as an actor in the Denver theater community to create his comic-book persona, which he calls a replica version of Captain America.
The Colordo Captain recently visited with these young fans.
To do the work he loves, Gnojek necessarily lives a gypsy life, working part-time at the Starbucks on Larimer Square and as a mixologist at the Green Russell – jobs that allow him to take up to two months off each summer to do his charity work through a nonprofit called Cap for Kids.
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 wrecked not to be able to participate in next weekend’s Realities Ride and Rally in Loveland, which raises money to help at-risk children who have been abused or neglected. Over the years, he has expanded his mission to include the protection and promotion of human and civil rights.
“My work is not just about the Colorado Captain anymore,” Gnojek said. “It’s about building a community that is motivated by an outstretched hand to help and not an upraised fist to shake.”
But it hasn’t been easy. In October 2018, Gnojek was hit by a blown semi-truck tire as he was riding home from his latest charity ride, leaving him stranded in Peoria, Ill., with a broken ankle and a subsequent surgery that left him unable to work, walk or ride for three months.
In 2020, the engine froze on Gnojek’s Harley, but that didn’t stop him from carrying off 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 were known to live.
With no motorcycle of his own at the time, friends lent him a car to get to and from his part-time jobs. And yet, some creep broke into that vehicle and stole his Colorado Captain suit, mask, shield, gloves and boots. Three days before the most recent crash, his mask was stolen – again – in San Diego. A kindly charity cosplayer who was in town offered Gnojek a replacement, which allowed him to make his appearance with local children. “He and I are men of a similar mind, that a small kindness served with a smile can move mountains,” he said.
But this most recent crash leaves him close to Square 1. His insurance has paid $2,600 toward restoring his $17,000 motorcycle. But the superhero suit he wore at the time of the accident is now super burnt, and he estimates it will cost about $900 to piece another one together.
A replica of the silicone helmet Matt Gnojek was wearing at the time of the accident.
Gnojek, in typical fashion, believes his superhero suit saved his life – or at least from far more serious road rash. But he also learned the hard way that the Colorado Captain’s silicone helmet is not an actual motorcycle helmet. “It’s a mask,” he said. And wearing it on the highway was a mistake.
“I am going to keep doing what I am doing for children,” he said. “But I am not going to do any more long-distance driving without a helmet.”
First, he needs time to heal, recoup and rebuild. In the meantime, cosplayer pals are stepping up to assume his role visiting kids in hospitals. He hopes his story will inspire others going through tough times.
“I keep telling children 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. “Life has this miraculous way of pushing you to the brink just to remind you how very marvelous the gift of fellowship can be.”