If the term Familial Hypercholesterolemia, or FH, doesn’t sound familiar, Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Jianna Salinas can explain. Her friends Scott Radabaugh and his 15-year-old daughter Chloe, who like Salinas are from Northern California’s Bay Area, know all about it. 

FH is an inherited condition, one not exactly rare but definitely underdiagnosed, that results in high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C, “the bad cholesterol”) and increased risk of premature cardiovascular disease in men and women. 

Salinas has joined the Radabaugh family in raising awareness of the condition as they have bonded through motorcycle racing and their steeliness in overcoming adversity. For Jianna Salinas, the struggle has been to triumph over her spill from her bike during eliminations at Chicago, shake off criticism from people who know virtually nothing about her, and improve her riding in NHRA competition. For Chloe Radabaugh, the adversity could be life-threatening if untreated, and for her father it’s a daily task to maintain regained health after suffering a heart attack and undergoing quadruple bypass surgery at age 34.

His incident led to his children having their cholesterol levels tested, and that’s when Chloe learned hers was astronomically high. So while FH is relatively common, she was diagnosed later with the rarest and most dangerous form of the condition. The one-in-250 ratio doesn’t apply to her. Her condition - Homozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia (HoFH), the most serious and more rare form – affects about one in 300,000.

Chloe Radabaugh began treatment at age 5 and visits Oakland Children’s Hospital every 14 days to have cholesterol filtered from her blood through the process of Lipoprotein, or LDL Apheresis. Naturally, she has encountered emotional, as well as physical, struggles through it all. But what gets her through her taxing routine are encouragement from Salinas and from a custom build of a café racer motorcycle she and dad Scott completed. (A café racer takes its name from the 1960s British counterculture and is associated with pub-hoppers and others who used the bikes for quick, high-speed trips.)

Scott Radabaugh grew up around motorcycles, raced them for a time, and spends a lot of time tinkering with them. With his passion for bikes, he enlisted Chloe’s help with the bike – which he named “The Motorcycle that Saves Lives.” It displays hand-painted DNA strands, inspirational sayings, and the FH Foundation website. He said that after a car show where he exhibited the motorcycle, he received an email from someone who saw the motorcycle and was prompted to have his cholesterol tested and was diagnosed with FH.

Their project motorcycle has become a work of art, and the Radabaughs have it on tour to raise share news about FH. They took it to Sonoma Raceway last week, just after Jianna Salinas and Chloe Radabaugh met and exchanged greetings and gifts. The teenager learned about Salinas and her experiences on the Pro Stock Motorcycle after dad Scott watched FOX reporter Amanda Busick’s “Walk 1,000” interview at Las Vegas in 2019. He told his daughter, “See? If you stay in the fight, good things will happen.”

Salinas proved that. After her accident, she got back on the motorcycle as soon as it was repaired (much like her sister Jasmine Salinas did after crashing in her Top Alcohol Dragster this March at Gainesville) – and earned a victory that same year here at Pomona at the Finals . . . a victory that helped shape and preserve a sixth championship for Andrew Hines. Chloe Radabaugh indicated she has gained a lot of strength and resolve since watching that video and continuing to follow Salinas’ racing journey.

They met the Wednesday before the Sonoma race in San Francisco at Alice’s Restaurant, a famous meeting place for motorcycle riders and enthusiasts. There they listened to each other’s stories. Salinas gave her new friend the helmet that was scuffed up during the accident at Joliet, Ill., as a symbol of perseverance and courage. In return, Chloe Radabaugh gave Salinas a guardian bell that is meant to keep evil spirits and bad luck away from a rider’s motorcycle.

Salinas has displayed FH Foundation decals on the scoop of her Pro Stock Motorcycle in hopes of helping the Radabaughs’ mission.