I’m indebted to a good mate, Gary, who was an official at OP on Sunday, for this detailed comment on the accident and its aftermath.
It really does show you how we were kept “in the dark” about what was going on.
“Just as a FYI I was the second or third person on the scene (beaten by Kylie of medical and possibly one other medical) and I can categorically state that at no time had Tom lost conciousness and he was lucid the entire time, if being a smartarse at times.
The time I was with him (and I held his neck brace for most of it) I was talking to him and he never complained of back pain only the pain from his left leg and thumb. At no time did he mention any concerns about his back and at all times he had full body control and movement (we had to tell him a number of times to stop moving so much).
Only when he was moved to be placed on the spinal board after the arrival of all ambulances and Fire Rescue did he mention a sore back and that was more because one of the medics checked and poked a bruise (cause unclear).
The reason the Race Ambulance sped off the circuit and went the back way was for ease of getting the necessary gear and equipment closer and easier to obtain.
Throughout this, the difficult of getting him out was becoming more evident as to place him on a spinal board (precautionary only, as with many others as you would know) was the easy part. The problem was that the terrain had many holes and undulations which increased the risk of losing footing and dropping him, thus correctly the medics ruled that out and decided to get the cage that was used.”
When I contacted Gary and asked him for permission to use the information here, he was happy for me to do so and added,
“I do often feel that if the pits were told more information there would be less worry, but the converse occurred on the Saturday where a rider appeared ok but then complained of neck/back pain and was transported, albeit still relatively healthy. But, in the case of Sunday and given the comments of riders throughout the afternoon it would have been good/appreciated if a message could have gone out along the lines that Tom was ok, but it was just a b**ch of a spot to get him out of.”
Thanks for the “first hand” info, Gary.
For the record, the rider has a broken tibia and fibula, (the two main bones in the leg) as well as a broken thumb.
