Despite how tempting the thought is to keep the moonshine traditions alive, not everyone’s idea of a legal or even safe profession is. As seen on Discovery’s show “Moonshiners,” those who work in this industry face all sorts of problems, including evading authorities while producing, transporting, and selling their valuable liquor in Kentucky, South Carolina, Virginia, and other states. .
Knowing how dangerous their profession is, it’s surprising that some of the worst times faced by the “Moonshiners” cast members have nothing to do with spawning ghosts. Such is the case with Josh Owens, who recently endured the life-threatening consequences of a cycling accident he suffered in early 2023.
How is Josh’s health today and had he been in similar situations before? Stay here to find out all about him!
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How is Josh after his accident?
Josh Owens loves speed and motorsports and enjoys riding his bike, whether alone or competing. Nevertheless, his cycling hobby is even more dangerous than making liquor, which landed him in a hospital bed more than once.
One such unfortunate event happened in early March 2023 at Florida Daytona International Speedway where Josh crashed his motorcycle during a race. While it’s unclear what exactly caused the wreckage, Josh was seriously injured with broken legs, back, arms and neck.
While many ill-intentioned rumors about Josh’s death spread on the internet immediately after the accident, his family was quick to use his Instagram account to inform his “Moonshiners” fans that Josh was alive, but admitted that his recovery would take some time. Later Josh’s friend Ray Llanes started one funding campaign to cover health costs as Josh has no health insurance and is unable to work in the meantime.
In late March, Josh himself posted some Instagram videos from his hospital stay showing off a bit of his serious-looking leg injuries and opened up about the accident by affirmative “I’m still here and I’ll stay here until God brings me home.”
It’s unclear if Josh will be healthy enough to film an upcoming “Moonshiners” season, but we can’t help but wish him a speedy and safe recovery.
Has he had any other accidents?
Josh Owens’ 2023 accident was horrendous, but it wasn’t the first time he had gone through hard times with his health. Coincidentally, Josh had already crashed in 2018 when a problem with the tire on his 1919 Harley Davidson crashed into a wall in Florida.
This was a great time, raced on a 1919 Harley
Posted by Official Moonshiner Josh Owens on Friday, March 24, 2017
At the time, he was preparing for an exhibition race at New Smyrna Speedway, but the accident left him in a very battered condition. Josh was transported to Halifax Health Medical Center, but his lack of health insurance resulted in an early release, or at least that’s what he said in an interview with The Charlotte Observer. On the other hand, the medical center denied Josh’s claims and affirmed that it is not for them to deny someone’s attention for financial reasons.
As for the injuries Josh suffered, he tore off his rotator and broke most of his ribs, a collarbone and a shoulder blade, on top of a punctured lung. Reportedly, the left side of his body was “paralyzed” and he was going through “excruciating pain” after his accident.
Nevertheless, the pain and grief weren’t enough to keep Josh away from his passion for making liquor, and he went back to “Moonshiners” once he recovered.
What happened to Josh’s finger?
Those who know about the last seasons of “Moonshiners” surely noticed that Josh Owen’s index finger was amputated. The incident where his limb ended up in that unfortunate shape happened in 2016, when Josh himself posted explicit photos of his left hand’s mutilated index finger on his Facebook page and said he didn’t know if he had lost the grade yet.
Just a few days later, Josh notified his followers and let them know that he had indeed lost his fingers. explosion of a grinding wheel.
Although Josh’s finger wasn’t in the best shape at first, it handled the situation well for a few years. However, when he crashed his bike in Florida in 2018, he reportedly lost another part of his already mutilated index finger.
Was Josh involved in a fire?
Unfortunately, it seems Josh Owens is prone to accidents, both behind the wheel and when he’s making liquor.
As happened in the 11th season of “Moonshiners”, Josh along with veteran moonshiners Tickle, Henry and Kenny traveled south to learn how to extract maple sap for use in their drink. While the technique of extracting the sap from the trees themselves wasn’t as difficult as they thought, the process of turning the liquid into syrup wasn’t easy.
It took them hours to complete the process, but they were only disappointed when the moonshine didn’t have the maple flavor they wanted. They went home at night, leaving everything in Josh’s hands, not knowing what ugly turn the situation would take.
Just as Josh entered the house to eat, the back house where he had cooked the moonshine suddenly caught fire. In his desperation, Josh tried to fight the fire with a garden hose, but the water ran out before he could do much about it.
On Henry’s advice, Josh took as much of the booze as he could and drove away from the fire in his pickup truck just as the fire department sirens could be heard in the distance. Fortunately, despite how scary the situation seemed, no one was injured.
The incident of illegal operations
While the profession of moonshine is dangerous due to its illegal implications, Josh managed to deal with the dangers most of the time, though it was quite difficult.
As happened in “MoonshinersIn the 11th season, Josh rented an empty basement from a man named Chris to set up his liquor business there. Despite his initial plans, Josh’s lack of experience setting up an in-house moonshine operation led him to call Henry and Kenny, who were more than happy to lend a helping hand.
Just as the team had set up all the equipment and was almost ready to start moonshine, a man of unknown name entered the place and asked what was going on. It turns out that Chris not only did not own the property, but also did not have permission to rent the property. On that occasion, the owner of the property was none the wiser about their liquor business and graciously gave them time to retrieve their belongings without calling the police. Nevertheless, that was a close call for Josh and his fellow moonshiners.
Is “Moonshiners” real?
While it’s common for reality shows to be questioned about their legitimacy, the debate over whether “Moonshiners” is real or not is even more intense, especially given the illicit undertones involved in making liquor.
Coincidentally in 2011 the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control of Virginia claimed that “Moonshiners” didn’t show actual illegal booze-making activity on TV, claiming that they would have already taken action against the show if what happened there was actual illegal moonshining. Nevertheless, an employee of the show’s production company, Magilla Entertainment, refuted the authorities’ early statements, claiming that “Moonshiners” was an accurate portrayal of “the secret lives of those who make moonshine,” as reported by Fox news. In any case, the alleged perpetrators must be caught ‘in the act’.
It’s up to the audience to believe whether the show is being performed or not, but one thing that is certain about “Moonshiners” is that it features people who are deeply involved in the liquor industry in real life. That passion for what they do has inevitably warmed audiences to the cast, even to the point of supporting them through grim situations like Josh’s repeated bike accidents and other depressing situations he’s been through.
All in all, “Moonshiners” still has a lot to offer its audience and hopefully Josh Owens recovers well enough from his injuries to still be a part of it.
