B0000M
12th January 2009, 14:36
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4815913a1823.html
'Scary' Mary breaks both legs in motocross crash"
Top New Zealand freestyle motocross rider 'Scary' Mary Perkins is facing the likely end of her career after breaking both legs and dislocating an ankle in a crash last month.
The 26-year-old, the Guiness World Record holder for the largest jump by a woman and voted the world's best female freestyle motocross rider, was told she had an 80 percent chance of losing her left leg after she dropped six metres off the side of a ramp on December 14.
That didn't eventuate and Perkins from Te Puke is taking the accident in her stride, although she is unsure if a rod inserted in her leg will ever be removed.
She was hoping to be discharged from hospital next week but faces at least three months of recovery in a wheelchair.
She told the Bay of Plenty Times that she had a clear memory of the accident, which took place on her property beside State Highway 2 between Papamoa and Te Puke.
Shortly before 7pm she had tried a ramp jump on the motocross track, when she tried to lower her speed and her brakes locked.
She flew over the ramp and came over the side, dropping six metres to land on her feet.
She was taken to Tauranga Hospital by St John ambulance and had two hours of surgery on her ankle that night.
She had another three hours of surgery on Christmas Eve, leaving her with a rod in her right leg, a metal plate in her left ankle and a cast on her left leg.
-NZPA
'Scary' Mary breaks both legs in motocross crash"
Top New Zealand freestyle motocross rider 'Scary' Mary Perkins is facing the likely end of her career after breaking both legs and dislocating an ankle in a crash last month.
The 26-year-old, the Guiness World Record holder for the largest jump by a woman and voted the world's best female freestyle motocross rider, was told she had an 80 percent chance of losing her left leg after she dropped six metres off the side of a ramp on December 14.
That didn't eventuate and Perkins from Te Puke is taking the accident in her stride, although she is unsure if a rod inserted in her leg will ever be removed.
She was hoping to be discharged from hospital next week but faces at least three months of recovery in a wheelchair.
She told the Bay of Plenty Times that she had a clear memory of the accident, which took place on her property beside State Highway 2 between Papamoa and Te Puke.
Shortly before 7pm she had tried a ramp jump on the motocross track, when she tried to lower her speed and her brakes locked.
She flew over the ramp and came over the side, dropping six metres to land on her feet.
She was taken to Tauranga Hospital by St John ambulance and had two hours of surgery on her ankle that night.
She had another three hours of surgery on Christmas Eve, leaving her with a rod in her right leg, a metal plate in her left ankle and a cast on her left leg.
-NZPA