don't think there are any doctors here?
This was on another site, I read it with slight skepticism, then I went back to the image I posted and remembered how many screws were drilled into the bone and how that slanted one stood out to me at the time. Again, not being a surgeon I defer entirely to people who actually operate on Humans to substantiate those earlier concerns.
And you're right, Marc was foolish to come back so early, and while its easy to say in hindsight it was a mistake the reality is that DORNA and the Medical Team should have had more stringent tests before they let him get on a bike, especially once we all saw those images he posted. I don't care how many pushups you're able to do it should be mandatory to sit out at least a few races if you have that much metal supporting your bone that you need to hang on and throttle/control a 300+hp bike.
Its really scary to think this really may have already ruined the career of what was on steady course to be it's most illustrious rider in all of GP History because of a rush to allow him to get back on the bike. I'm not writing Marc off, he is honestly the toughest SOB I have even seen ride on 2 wheels; when he crashes at 150mph runs to the pit and then sets pole and lap records... I seriously think all the hype behind him is not only warranted but that I want to see how far it will take him. In short: if anyone can recover it's him. But I seriously now have this sense of dread that this may have been more than his body can handle anymore and that he will never be the same.
I'm originally a 'cager' with a background in Time attack and GT motorsports, and I only got into motorcycles in my 30s and it was clear that bikers are a different breed entirely and are willing to endure way more pain and injuries just to get back on a bike and get some track time, even as privateers in nothing more than club racing series.
I got my endorsement from a school run by an ex AMA rider (and total Rossi fanboy that hated JLO) and a professional MX guy as my instructors, the AMA guy had his spine fused; he rode like that for a season before he had to call it quits as he was no longer competitive after that. The MX guy who was the most extreme in my opinion had actually gotten Lyme disease 5 years into his career after helping design the layout of a new track somewhere in the middle of nowehere in the E. Coast for his sponsor and had been riding for something like 12 years that way.
Suffice it to say you guys are a different breed to me, and I admire bikers a great deal for their level of commitment to jump back on what are essentially high speed death machines with no real hesitation, often haphazardly, especially after the damage I still deal with from a relatively low speed low-side from street riding that messed up 3 of my vertebrae.
But the thought that injury was possible at the highest level, with Dorna's Medical Team and HRC's golden goose makes me wonder if their will have to be a body to keep racers from self-sabotaging their careers moving forward--I'm convinced getting back on the bike was Marc's decision and no one else's. Like one that is mandated in their contract to ensure the proper period of time off for extensive surgery is successful. Cal's arm after his botched pump surgery looked horrible, the 2nd one was somehow worse, and the swelling on his forearm after he raced was cartoonish and yet he kept getting back on the bike to try and secure a ride only to finally admit that he had to retire and be a test rider position.
The younger generation that looks up to Marc is probably willing to bet it all just to have had the ability to ride against him in his prime, Jorge Martin's Moto 3 championship was another one that really made question if these guys are capable of seeing past the next checkered flag let alone think about the long term damage they are inflicting on themselves. Martin rode with a fractured arm and continued to do so even until he finished the season and won his Moto 3 title, only to spend 1 year in Moto2 and get moved up to GP. He could have easily had another crash that season and caused permanent damage to his arm, I think it was his Right side.
