Local biker Pat Wissman rides, cuts ponytail to help children in need

Cape Girardeau native Pat Wissman � whose biker friends know affectionately as �He-Man� � wears leather and rides a 2011 Harley-Davidson, but he�s got a soft spot to stand up for abused children.

Even though his outer appearance may suggest otherwise, Wissman describes himself as �one of the good guys.�

He�s one of roughly 25 men and women making up Southeast Missouri�s chapter of Bikers Against Child Abuse � a worldwide not-for-profit organization � and serves as a �primary contact� for children who have been affected by physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

Another attribute of Wissman is the length of his hair. It�s not the �stereotypical biker length� that it used to be before May 2, he said.

That�s when he decided to have his ponytail of 40 years cut off and donated to Wigs for Kids � a not-for-profit organization that donates wigs to children in need at no cost to them or their families.

Pat Wissman, a motorcyclist known as "He-Man" within Bikers Against Child Abuse, talks about his donation to Wigs for Kids on May 18 at his Cape Girardeau home.Fred Lynch

Wissman doesn�t know which child will receive his hair.

Wissman is retired now and devotes most of his time to BACA and going wherever the group�s schedules lead.

�We get a call, and we set up a time to go visit the child,� he said. �Everybody goes, all the bikers that can go. We even take the bikes to court, too.�

He said the furthest he�s ridden one way for a child is 150 miles, with past trips taking him through the Missouri Bootheel and to the Poplar Bluff, Missouri, area, as well as Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee.

Wissman said he has been familiar with the organization for nearly 10 years and is now an active member and a child advocate for BACA.

Pat Wissman, a member of Southeast Missouri's chapter of Bikers Against Child Abuse, prepares to get his hair cut off May 2 to donate it to Wigs for Kids.Submitted photo

His BACA duties include being part of 24-hour surveillance around houses of specific children possibly in danger.

�If they need us, they call us,� Wissman said. �Nobody�s gonna come around. You can�t get through us.�

He and the rest of his BACA �brothers and sisters� work with local law enforcement, he said, and BACA�s involvement �takes a lot of the burden off� of them.

Wissman said BACA helps abused children, even those who have lost their hair because of various circumstances.

�Donations help, but still you need hair,� he said.

Which is where Wigs for Kids came into the picture for Wissman.

His loyalty to BACA and getting to know patients at St. Jude Children�s Research Hospital and hearing stories about them experiencing hair loss is what led to donating his hair to Wigs for Kids.

�It brings a lot of the self-confidence back to a child and lets them be a child again,� Wissman said. �And that�s what we also do in BACA. We try to put the self-confidence back into the child.�

He said Wigs for Kids is in no way partnered with BACA; it�s just something he wanted to be part of.

His leather motorcycle vest features six patches on the front and two on the back. Each patch holds a meaning, such as earning one from attending an abused child�s courtroom proceedings or being part of a 24-hour surveillance duty, �when a child was in fear.�

The front of the vest shows a flag, name badge, a �level 2 patch,� Missouri state flag, BACA logo and a scale. The back features a large BACA logo and a much smaller patch along the bottom that reads: �No child deserves to live in fear.�

�To be honest, you don�t want a level 2 patch,� he said. �Because that�s a lot of fear for the child.�

Wissman said to acquire the patch �is nice,� but �I don�t really want it.�

�It means that child was in fear, but we were there to show up, support and protect that child. And that�s what we do,� he said. �We would take a bullet for a child. I�d step in front of that child in a minute.�

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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