B U U L T J E N S B U U L T J E N S G A B O V E I T A L L N G A B O V E I T A L L

By Dr. John DeGarmo Foster Focus Contributor

His story is not one of being in foster care, it is a story of inspiration

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Buultjens grew up in a home filled with violence and abuse. “My life is a study in survival. When I was three years old, I remember running to see my dad –excited to see him – and he just threw me into a fire,” Buultjens recalls. I still can remember feeling my flesh on my foot burning, remember the smell. When I was growing up, there was always a constant fear at my home ”

Even the holidays were a time of abuse and trauma for John Buultjens, offering little escape for him as a child. “When I was seven years old in 1979, I had an experience at Christmas time that changed my life. I saw my dad beating my mum and I ran in with a kitchen knife to defend her,” said Buultjens He goes on to say, “I was so angry. I was even ready to kill him. Instead, I ended up getting knocked out cold by my dad That was the end up of my time in that house.”

After years of suffering domestic abuse and violence in his own home, John ended up in the Scottish foster care system. John spent three years in the system, and was eventually adopted by Marianna Buultjens a Scottish native and her husband, Eldridge Buultjens, who had immigrated from Sri Lanka. At first, Buultjens was ashamed of his adoptive father, due to racial feelings from his upbringing he struggled with as a youth “This was a man who did so much for me, and showed me for the first time in my life what love meant,” John admits “I was ashamed because he looked different to me.”

Perhaps one of the most life altering experiences John had as a youth was watching a movie.

“I was 10 years old when I saw the movie that changed my life Steven Speilberg’s “E T , the Extraterrestrial ” When I saw those bikes fly, something in me was moved,” Buultjens said “The freedom that it could give you stuck with me for the rest of my life. Even at that age, a bike represented the freedom I craved You might not be able to fly with ET, but you could go anywhere, anytime you liked Now, even almost forty years later, I still feel that way. I still get that feeling of freedom when I ride ”

Shortly afterwards, Buultjens received his very own bike from Eldridge It was a BMX, or Bicycle Motor Cross bike “The bike became my life. I rode it nonstop,” Buultjens admits “Any chance I got as a teenager, I was riding this bike and dedicating myself to learning every single thing I could. It became almost an extension of myself It gave me friends, a community and a feeling of self-belief I had never had before, and I owe it to Eldridge, who I consider to be my real and true father.”

Buultjens was soon obsessed with pushing himself to the limits with his BMX bike The young teenage boy was creating his own bike stunts, which soon led him to competing in the local BMX circuit in his area

“I continued to push myself to a level in competition where I didn’t have to second guess myself when doing my jumps and various stunts,” Buultjens said “I kept on riding, kept on doing stunts, kept on pushing myself I tried to channel this mindset into my normal life I knew there were dangers, but I knew that, if I was prepared, I could always thrive.”

While in his 20’s Buultjens moved to Australia to begin a new life there and focus on BMK competition “I got hurt a lot while riding, as I kept pushing myself,” Buultjens admits. “There was always a serious risk I had over serious

20 concussions and fractured my skull badly Yet, I didn’t let that stop me I kept riding To me, riding allowed me to be in the moment, to escape my brutal past The bike represented freedom, freedom from my past ”

Along with riding and competition, Buultjens also grew to love bike maintenance.

“I soon discovered that I loved to pull the bikes apart and put them back together,” he says

He even developed the talent of creating new bike designs As his reputation as a BMK rider and designer grew and increased, he was offered the job of as global brand manager for Haro Bikes in San Diego, California, half a world away from Australia and Scotland Bob Haro, founder of Haro Bikes, was the main stunt rider for Buultjens’ favorite movie, E T

“Me, this little boy, who grew up watching this amazing movie in a theatre in Glasgow, Scotland, dreaming of what a bike can do, it was amazing when Haro Bikes contacted me,” Buultjens said “My love of riding a BMX bike eventually took me from a council estate in Scotland to California I never expected it.”

In 2014, John’s life took another turn. Hollywood producer Ali Afshar called Haro Bikes HQ and asked for John, hoping to purchase one of his bikes Another year went by, and Afshar called John again, wishing to purchase another bike. Soon afterwards, Buultjens and Afshar were having lunch, talking about their appreciation of bikes The lunch conversation soon turned to John’s past and his life story growing up as a child. Afshar was impressed by John’s story, and 18 months later, his story was made into a film, “The Ride ”

“Seeing yourself portrayed by other people in a movie about your- self is surreal,” Buultjens said.

When Chris Bridges, also known as the Ludacris, popular rap artist and musician, read the script, he became very interested in John’s story and wanted to be a part of the film. Bridges was cast in the role of Buultjens’ adoptive father Buultjens himself had a role in the movie about his life, playing the part of his abusive biological father To John, it was perhaps the most difficult time of his life, playing the vicious person who abused him as a child It was also a healing part of his life, at the same time, so he could find peace.

“When I played the part of my biological dad, I felt as if I became that person,” Buultjens recalls “I like to think I’m a positive person who sees the best in people, but playing that man and channeling that amount of rage and violence especially when you think it was channeled at me as a young child growing up in terror that wasn’t easy When we finished filming the scenes, I was absolutely exhausted not physically, but mentally I actually blacked out during that part of the filming ”

Now that “The Ride” is set to hit movie screens across the globe, Buultjens is excited and anxious to share his story, one that he hopes will inspire others

“What I hope people will get from our film is to leave the past in the past,” said Buultjens “Even yesterday was the past. Let it go, as all you are doing is destroying your future See that being here right now is the perfect place to be and you are perfect the way you are.”

Indeed, Buultjens hopes the message goes even deeper than that with The Ride He went on to say that “we have so much racial tension right now and it’s 2020. The Ride will show that we can all change and live the most amazing life we want to live And, to all those Foster and Adoption kids out there, you are the chosen ones!”