Talented off-road racer Rory Mead of New Zealand faces a long and difficult recovery following his solo crash at yesterday’s FMF Steele Creek GNCC in North Carolina.
New Zealand rider Rory Mead suffered critical injuries in a solo crash while competing in the XC2 class at the FMF Steele Creek GNCC in Morganton, North Carolina, yesterday. Mead was airlifted to a hospital in Johnson City, Tennessee, where, according to team manager and former GNCC Champion Shane Watts, he was diagnosed with severe fractures to the C5 and C6 vertebrae in his neck.
“Currently he has no feel from the waist down,” Watts posted on his Facebook page. “He is undergoing a two-hour surgery right now to stabilize and repair the vertebrae. Several large chunks of bone are pressing into the spinal column at the moment, but it is uncertain the amount or level of damage that has been done to the spinal cord. The next update will come tomorrow following the next MRI test. This looks like it will be a long and challenging road for Rory with his recovery, but we are hopeful that tomorrow’s evaluation will be more on the positive side than the negative. Thanks for your thoughts. Shane Watts.”
Watts later posted more once the Mead’s surgery concluded.
“3:30am and finally time to go to bed,” Watts said. “Rory’s surgery was successful in reconstructing the demolished vertebrae, and no further signs of additional spinal cord damage were seen. He is in good spirits and keen to heal up. Now starts the progress of moving forward to regaining feeling and motion in his lower half.”
The GNCC racing community is asking that all motorcycle race fans keep Mead in their thoughts and/or prayers as he recovers.
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