Summer of Slams
Sep 22 2007 / Los Angeles, CA
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Event: AST Dew Tour -- Panasonic Open
Injury: Broken Neck -- Paralyzed
Stephen Murray was in Baltimore in June to take part in the Panasonic Open, the first stop of the AST Dew Tour. The 27-year-old X Games gold medalist has long been considered one of the top riders in BMX Dirt, though in recent years the sport has gotten so competitive he's rarely made the podium. During the finals Murray attempted a double back flip -- a trick he has landed many times before, but one that he still would occasionally miss. During the maneuver Murray appeared to sense he was going to crash and bailed from the rotation. Unfortunately, he landed directly on his neck, crushing several vertebrae.
Murray was immediately transported to a local hospital and the prognosis was not good. Since then, he has undergone several surgeries and been transported to Craig Hospital in Denver, one of the top locations for treating spinal cord injuries in the world. Murray is currently paralyzed below the neck but is undergoing physical therapy in hopes of walking again.
Find out more about Murray's condition by visiting our Stephen Murray update page and visit www.stephenmurrayfamilyfund.com to donate to help Stephen and his family.
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Jeep King of the Mountain
Broken Back -- Paralyzed
Tara Llanes is one of the top female mountain bikers with a heap of honors including two national championships in 4x, gold, silver and bronze medals at the X Games and the 2006 US National Downhill Championship. She was in Beaver Creek, Colo. competing in the Jeep King of the Mountain event on Sept. 1 when she crashed during a race. She was airlifted to Denver where two surgeries were performed and she was diagnosed with a fracture to the C7 and L1 vertebra and damage to the spinal cord. She was paralyzed below the waist.
It's been almost three weeks since her accident but Llanes has already been moved to the Craig Hospital to undergo physical therapy, placing both her and Murray in the same location. A strange twist of fate as only weeks before her injury, Llanes was talking about Murray and how his injury affected her.
LLanes and her family are confident that she will be able to overcome her injury. "I can't lie and say this is an easy thing," she told Lat34.com, "but I am going to fight this thing and will walk again."
To get updates on her condition, check out our update page as well as Tara's MySpace page. If you would like to support Tara through donations of any type, visit the Tara Llanes Road to Recovery Web site.
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X Games 13
Multiple Injuries
The story of Jake Brown is now near legend thanks to the exposure he has received since taking his huge fall (see the video). Though he was helped off the ramp and appeared to be OK. Brown was pretty badly injured. He broke his arm, fractured a wrist, fractured a vertebrae, bruised his liver, suffered a contusion to his lung and got whiplash as well. Perhaps worst of all (for him), he was interviewed by Larry King.
In all seriousness, he's been unable to skate since the accident and may be back in time for the finale of the Dew Tour in Orlando next month. He is expected to recover fully from all his injuries and was lucky he wasn't killed or more badly injured. What may have helped was seeing footage of another skater's crash on the "Megaramp." That skater, Pat Duffy, broke his leg badly in his fall and was out of commission for months. Brown remembered what happened and positioned his body to spread out the impact. It worked but when you fall 45 feet, you're going to get hurt.
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AST Dew Tour -- Panasonic Open
Broken Bones in Foot/Leg
While athletes from all sports were reeling from Stephen Murray's injury, Blake "Bilko" Williams took to the FMX course on June 24 to compete in the FMX finals. Bilko had a strong first run and stumbled on his second, securing a second-place finish. After his second run, however, he decided to try one more trick for the fans. He crashed on the landing breaking several bones in his foot and leg.
Bilko was transported to a Baltimore-area hospital where he underwent the first of what is likely to be a series of surgeries. While his long-term prognosis is fine, he has still been unable to ride after three months, though he is getting closer to a return. Williams was one of the riders expected to really press Nate Adams as the best FMX rider at the Dew Tour and X Games, and he will miss all those events.
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X Games 13
Broken Collarbone
BMX rider Chad Kagy had a devastating injury in 2003 when he broke two vertebrae in his neck attempting a double back flip in BMX Park. He has recovered and become a master in BMX Vert in the last year, looking to compete on both the Dew Tour and in X Games in 2007. However, an accident during practice for the BMX Big Air contest (see the video) on the Megaramp put a dent in those plans.
After making a jump over the gap he was unable to stick his landing and lost control, landing awkwardly and breaking his collarbone in multiple places. A surgery put his collarbone back together with the help of seven screws but he missed all of the X Games and the Portland Dew Tour stop. He was back for the Salt Lake City stop on Sept. 20 but was not back to his old self and missed making the finals of BMX Vert.
- Greg Baerg
Photo Credits: Stephen Murray - cr. Murray Family; Tara Llanes - cr. Lllanes family; Jake Brown - cr. Eric Lars Bakke/ESPN Images/Shazamm; Blake Williams - cr. Bilko66.com; Chad Kagy - cr. ChadKagy.com
