Nicky Hayden was more than just a talent lost. He was measured as highly for his kindness, positivity and dedication just as highly as the skills on a motorcycle that yielded the 2006 MotoGP World Championship.
Mercifully his legacy does live on though in the many charitable endeavours committed to his name in the years after his death following a biking accident in Italy on 22 May 2017.
The latest such project is Nicky Hayden Apartments, which opened last year Owensboro, Kentucky - which provides affordable housing to those transitioning from homelessness - but was brought to our attention by it being made ‘officially’ with the signage at the front of the block.
The sign is up at the Nicky Hayden apartments!
The NH apartments offer affordable housing to those transitioning from homelessness to permanent living. #rideonkentuckykid #legacy#motogp pic.twitter.com/Qmj19CZVXP— roger hayden (@rogerhayden95) May 14, 2021
Coming up to four years since Hayden died after being struck by a car while he was training, this Twitter post brought a little smile to our faces - and a misty-eyed too - proving that not only does the Kentucky Kid’s legacy lives on, but is actively doing good for a community and state he was always proud of representing.
Owensboro, the town in which Hayden grew up in, now has an annual Nicky Hayden day on June 9 in a nod to his number ‘69’ plate that was retired in the wake of his passing.
There is also a bronze sculpture commissioned by the Hayden family - of which his brothers Roger and Tommy are still heavily involved in racing - that was revealed the same year, together with his induction into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
Ride on Kentucky Kid indeed!
