The biker stopped his bike when he noticed something that no one else had seen in six days.
Taylor “Ghost” Morrison, 64, was riding alone in the Colorado Rockies when he shouldn’t have been on that gravel road.
He had gotten lost looking for the motorway since his GPS had stopped working.
That wrong turn would save 8-year-old Tina David’s life, six days after the whole state had ceased looking for her.
The purple backpack was hard to spot because it was 40 feet below the road in the ravine. Every group that was looking for something has passed by this spot. All of the helicopters had flown over.
But Ghost saw something that no one else did: small handprints on the dusty rock face that led down when a Harley raced by at 30 mph and the early sun hit it just right.
He had been riding for 43 years, through Vietnam, his divorce, and the death of his son. But he wasn’t ready for what he would find at the bottom of the gorge.
Tina was alive but unconscious, and she was lying next to her mother’s body, which had died protecting her from the hit.
The story had been all over the news. Linda David and her daughter Tina went missing as they were looking at colleges where Linda might teach.
They found their car on the main highway, but there was no sign of a struggle or where they had gone. They felt it was a kidnapping, so the FBI got involved. Everyone thought the worst.
The search teams had searched an area of almost 500 square miles. Volunteers had walked every trail. After six days, the official search was called off. The news had moved on to other tragic things.
Ghost, on the other hand, didn’t notice the news. He had just done his yearly solo ride, which he did every year on the anniversary of his son Danny’s death in Afghanistan.
Danny, who was 19 and a Marine, died after an IED went off while he was helping to get people out of a school. Ghost rode to remember, to grieve, and to be close to his son.
The handprints on the rock were small and forlorn. Ghost could see where someone had tried to climb up, failed, and then tried again.
Every step he took down hurt his knees, which were 64 years old. But Danny could have been telling him to come forward with those handprints.
Tina was wearing her mother’s jacket, which made her look like a tent.
She had been eating the snacks and drinking water from their car, something her mother had taught her to share before she died.
Linda’s body told the truth: she had been harmed in the crash, gotten Tina to safety, and used all of her strength to keep her daughter warm.
As Ghost felt Tina’s pulse, he remarked, “Hey, little one.” It was weak yet steady. “I’m going to get you out of here.”
Tina’s eyes opened and closed. “Are you… “Are you a police officer?”
“Not now, honey.” “I’m just a biker who got lost.”
“Mommy told us to look for someone who looks like a daddy if we get lost.” You look like the dad of someone.
Ghost’s throat got tight. “Yes.” Yes, I was the dad of someone.
The hike back up almost killed him. Tina was probably just 50 pounds, but at his age, carrying her over a 40-foot ravine should have been difficult. Still, Ghost did it, one handhold at a time. Tina held on to his back like Danny used to do when he gave her piggyback rides.
Tina kept saying, “My mum is asleep.” “She has been sleeping for a long time.” She encouraged me to be strong and that someone will come. She said that angels would send someone.
“Your mommy was right,” Ghost murmured as he pulled them both onto the road.
Tina needed medical help right away, but his bike didn’t have cell service. She was thirsty, maybe even cold, and her arm was probably broken, but she hadn’t spoken anything about it. Ghost got her on the bike and covered her with his leather jacket.
“Have you ever ridden a motorbike?”
Tina shook her head slowly.
“Now you are,” And we’re going to move extremely rapidly to help you. “Okay, you hold on tight to me.”
“Like hugging?”
“Like hugging.”
Ghost has never been more careful when driving. He thought of the costly cargo that was holding onto his waist at every bend. He could feel her grip increasing tighter every time he sped up. She was humming a tune that her mum must have sang to her.
Twenty miles away is the nearest town. The petrol station worker dropped the phone when Ghost pulled Tina inside.
“Ghost said, “Call 911.” “This is Tina David.” The girl who is not here. “She is still alive.”
“But… but they stopped looking,” the attendant said quietly.
“Well, I didn’t,” Ghost said with a shrug. “Go ahead and call now.”
After that, nothing went right. Police, emergency medical technicians, and FBI agents. Everyone wanted to know how, where, and why it happened. Ghost gave them a map, told them about Linda’s body, and then watched as they flew Tina to the Denver Children’s Hospital.
One FBI agent said, “You’re a hero.”
Ghost shook his head. “I’m just a guy who messed up at the right time.”
But the story got out of hand. Biker Finds Girl Who Was Missing When No One Else Could. News crews were all around Ghost’s small flat in Denver. His phone rang all the time. The Savage Sons MC, the club he had quit after Danny died, came to help and keep him safe.
Tank, his old president, said simply, “Brother, you need us.” “You saved that child.” We can help you deal with this circus.
No one could have predicted what happened at the hospital. Tina wouldn’t get go of Ghost’s leather jacket. The staff weren’t able to take it away from her. She kept saying, “It smells like the angel who saved me.”
Ghost was told to come by Dr. Patricia Reeves, a child psychologist. “She got hurt.” You are the one who keeps her safe. She needs to know that you are real.
Ghost had stayed away from them since Danny died in the hospital. But he went to Tina.
In the hospital bed, which was full with devices and tubes, she looked so small. When she saw him, she smiled for the first time since he saved her.
“You came back!”
“Didn’t I say I would?”
“Mommy is really gone, isn’t she?” Tina asked in a soft voice.
Ghost sat next to her bed and grasped her tiny hand in his large one. “Yes, my love. Yes.
“She saved me.” She used her body to protect me when we crashed. The deer caused the car to go off the road. Mommy became hurt after we stopped falling, but I was fine. She let me go. She gave me everything I needed to drink and eat. “She sang to me until she couldn’t anymore.”
Ghost’s eyes were burning. “Your mum was a hero.”
“Like you?”
“No, little one. “Your mum saved you,” she said. “I just found you.”
Susan David, Tina’s grandmother, came from San Francisco that night. She was a little woman, maybe 75, and she looked at Ghost with sad and thankful eyes.
“People say you went down a ravine and brought her back up.”
“Ma’am, I—”
“She died alone, but she knew Tina would be found.” She had faith. “That faith answered you.”
Susan pulled out a photo. Linda was wearing clothes from the military. “She was in the Army.” A doctor who works in Iraq. She always said that the ones that looked tough were usually the nicest. She would have been happy that you were the one who found Tina.
As Tina got healthier over the next few weeks, Ghost was always there for her. He read to her, and as he read children’s books, his voice become softer. He taught her how to play cards. He was there for her nightmares, her mother’s funeral, and her physical therapy.
Tina asked Ghost to give a speech at Linda’s funeral. He stood on stage, a ferocious old biker in his only suit, and said:
“I didn’t know Dr. Linda David. But I know what she did. Even though she was hurt and dying, she saved her child in the end. She moved her body so that it would get hit. She gave Tina her clothes, food, water, and last breath of warmth. That’s not the only way a mother loves. That is what a warrior gives up.
Tina made it obvious that she wanted to ride Ghost’s bike to the graveyard. The Savage Sons MC, which comprised 47 bikers, kept one small girl safe on her last trip with her mum. The picture of a small girl in a pink dress riding a Harley with big bikers behind her after a funeral went viral.
But the transformation really happened six months later. Tina was living with her grandma and getting treatment. She was getting better little by little. She wanted to chat to Ghost about something important.
“I want to learn how to ride,” she remarked.
Susan said, “You’re eight.”
“Dirt bikes,” Tina said with certainty. “Ghost said he’d teach me when I’m older.” But I want to start right away. “Mommy would want me to be strong.”
Susan saw the ghost. “There is a program for junior motocross.” Very safe. “A lot of supervision.”
“Why?” Tina asked Susan.
Everyone’s heart broke when Tina said, “I feel close to Mommy when I’m on Ghost’s bike.” Like she’s still taking care of me. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to find another missing child someday. “Like Ghost found me.”
They started with a little dirt bike that Tina could barely touch the ground with. Ghost would come every Saturday to teach her about balance, control, and how to treat the machine with care. The Savage Sons all worked together to establish the safest place for her to learn.
“Why are you doing this?” Susan asked Ghost one day. “You don’t have to pay us back.”
Ghost saw Tina walk through a small obstacle course with a very serious look on her face. “My son Danny died trying to save kids in Afghanistan. Kids he didn’t know and kids he wasn’t in charge of. He did it because it was the right thing to do. Danny would help Tina learn and be there for her.
Susan whispered, “You’re giving her back her strength.”
“No, ma’am.” She’s giving me back my motivation for living.
It’s been three years. Tina is now 11 years old and a competent junior motocross racer with a lot of trophies. But the most significant point is that she now backs changes to search and rescue. This tiny girl with a big voice always wears Ghost’s leather jacket, which is too big for her. She speaks at meetings.
She says to other people, “Six days.” “I lived for six days because my mother died to save me and because a motorcyclist made a mistake. How many other kids are out there, wishing that someone would make the right incorrect turn?
The same picture always ends her talk: Her at age 8, next to Ghost and his Harley, both of which were dirty from the ravine. He is looking at her like she is the most important thing in the world while she wears his jacket.
The David-Morrison Search Protocol is presently used in six states. It is named after Linda and Ghost. It tells search teams to send motorbike riders to hard-to-reach regions because sometimes all you need is someone who can see handprints on a rock while going slowly.
Ghost legally adopted Tina last year with Susan’s permission. There were two hundred motorcycles at the event. His narrative made them all join search and rescue teams.
“You saved me,” Tina told the judge in her adoption statement.
“No, kid,” Ghost responded. “We helped each other.”
Every Sunday now, Ghost and Tina ride bikes together. He rides his Harley, and she rides her junior bike. They gently make their way up the mountain, always on the lookout for signals that other people could miss. They have found three lost hikers and one kid who ran away in the last year.
The Savage Sons made Tina a patch that says “Junior Member – Angel Spotter.” She wears it now. “Ghost taught me that angels can wear leather and ride Harleys,” she says. And sometimes, going the wrong way is the best thing to do.
Linda David’s tomb gets new flowers every week. Different bikers, both men and women who have never met her but know what it is to love and give up, always bring them to her.
And what about the Ghost? He now has a picture in his wallet. Not only Danny, but also Tina. He calls them his two kids. One taught him about giving up things, and the other taught him that God sometimes gives you a second chance to be a father.
Even if it starts with someone else’s darkest day going the wrong way.