Injured Rider Focus
Jason Davis
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While in Texas I crashed on a motocross track on a double jump setup. smashing my left leg into the peg. I
didn't have any insurance so we went to a 24hr emergency care. They
couldn't help me at all. So, I had to find someone in Houston that
could with no insurance. We found an ortho who could do the work. which
involved repairing 9 fractures in my lower tibia & both ankle bones
being broken off along with 3 ligaments being torn.
They installed 12 screws & a "L" shaped plate. I was stuck in Texas for 2 1/2 months until i could drive back to San Diego, Ca.I'm still in the recovery stages of trying to walk & can not fully work. Since my work involves standing up all day.
As
of right now I can't fully walk even with crutches. 4 yrs ago I injured
my other leg & have a rod in place of my right tibia. So full
weight on that leg wears after awhile. So, all in all I'm in
the middle of being 2 months back on rent/utilities & part time
work. Plus, paying for the $7115.00 in medical bills.
HELP JASON NOW
Mariah Starkey
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I then had to ride down in the patroller toboggan and i was unable to finish the comp. It has been a little over a month since I injured my knee and I still have a constant pain. When i went to the doctor the said i need to get an MRI an possibly surgery on my knee, but my dad was recently laid off from his job and things have been tough money wise. Snowboarding is my entire life, it is my passion and love, I just want to be able to ride again.
Jake Dewey
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We were sessioning a kicker off a little drop and we had a little friendly comp going on. My buddy tye landed some sick backflips, so i thought i would hit it up. As soon as i started my rotation i knew i had overshot my landing. I wasn’t too worried, i figured i would land on my butt and pop right back up. WRONG!
Since it was still early season, somehow i found a rock, stump, or something that made me stop a lot faster than expected. I slid a ways down the hill and laid there, trying to catch my breath. After about 10 minutes of not being able to catch my breath, i tried to stand up. I couldn’t. Tye went for help, and while he was gone I tried to walk up the hill. I made it about 30 feet up the hill in the time he was gone. I couldn’t breathe or walk anymore, about then, Tye popped over the ridge and told me he had called an ambulance.
My first reaction was telling Tye he was dumb because i didn’t have insurance, and couldn’t afford an ambulance. I laid down in the snow and waited. 3 and 1/2 hours later, after search and rescue “saved me”(when the EMT's got there, my oxygen saturation was down to 62%, normal is 90% and above), I was in St. Johns Hospital in Jackson Hole, talking with a surgeon. He told me I had shattered my T-12 vertebrae and was going to need emergency surgery. The surgery would cost 150-200 thousand dollars. That's a lot of money for a 21 year old guy with no insurance.
I ended up having 6 vertebrae fused together with a mix of titanium rods and screws, some cadaver bone, and some of my own bone from my hip. The surgery went fine, and I am recovering slowly. My lung is fine, and since they had to take a bone graft off my hip, all the nerves were severed near my sacrum, so i can’t even feel it. I am expected to make a full recovery. The only problem i have now is coming up with enough money to pay my bills so that sucks, but at least I only have to wear a back brace for 4 months instead of a wheel chair forever. I hopefully will be riding by this time next year. I thank everybody for all the support. I can’t wait to ride again!