'Motorcyclists are a family': Benefit ride raises money for paralyzed NC trooper

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MATTHEWS, N.C. — Two months after a state trooper was paralyzed in a crash in Charlotte, motorcycle riders are helping him recover.

Bikers gathered at the zMAX Dragway in Concord Sunday morning, and then police escorted them to Matthews.

"Motorcyclists are a family," rider Kim McCrary said. "You may be a stranger one minute and you are my best friend, and we take care of each other."

The ride was all for Trooper Christopher Wooten, who was chasing a suspect on his motorcycle when a car hit him in July.

(Christopher Wooten)

Bikers set up Sunday morning's benefit ride because they said they share a type of brotherhood with Wooten.

"A lot of riders are former police or military, so they understand the feeling of losing somebody and I just think that this is just a small thing in the big picture. I mean, he is gonna need assistance for quite a while," rider and organizer Cathy Cohn said. "You take a risk being in law enforcement, but being on two wheels makes it 10 times harder."

All the money from Sunday's ride is going straight to Wooten and his family.