March 9, 2008
I’m sorry to inform you all, that I had a bad crash on my downhill bike at the end of February and that I have severely broken my left foot. Unfortunately this injury will keep me off my bike for the next few months.
My accident happened in my hometown of Laguna Beach. I had just returned home from Europe the night before and I was doing some downhill training runs for the legendary RADS Telonix Leaping Lizard downhill race. I was just warming up (not going at full speed – at least I thought i wasn’t), but my flu congestion and head-cold, combined with my jet-lag, and the Malaria Medicine (I had taken 2 hours before) caused to imbalance my equilibrium and sense of speed.
Luckily for me many friends, one of whom is a doctor, were on site to rescue me. They actually carried me up the hill and then drove me to the hospital ER.
Unfortunately the x-rays revealed a comminuted (many pieces) fracture of the tibia at the ankle joint line. I had the first surgery last Thursday, they put an external fixator, which is like an erector set scaffold (see pic). This will hold the pieces together until the swelling goes down. After about a week I’ll go back in for more surgery to insert plates and screws. I will be flat on my back with my foot elevated for a solid 4 weeks with these 2 surgeries. Once the skin is healed and sutures are out I’ll be able to get around on crutches. It will be a few month until I can ride again, hopefully by summer.
