That sucks badsanjuro said:His injuries include "a subluxation of cervical spine 1 and 2" and "three compression fractures of T6, T7 and T8 vertebrae". He is traction right now and a lot of pain apparently.
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I didn't see the the jump in question but I don't go for the "crappy jump" scenario. It is the racers/riders job to use their judgement to size up an obstacle and then deem how fast he or she can safely negotiate it. That is what practice runs are for. Norba is trying to make the course challenging, without a high level of challenge then it's hard to differentiate the more talented riders. Which after all is the point of racing in the first place, to identify the "winners".F.O.G said:I was with Heath in Mammoth, we all stayed together and I was there when he went down. I don't think Heath was trying to hard, I think Norba built a really crap jump which took MANY people out. Unfortunately Heath took the worst spill. The jump was a 3' kicker back into the half pipe which would send you flying down into a poorly placed 1' tall landing ramp with a sharp back side which you either cleared or got bucked by. Heath got bucked when he went off the kicker and was going down in an endo, when the front wheel contacted the ground it hit directly into the back side of the landing and flipped him directly into the ground head first. We are just glad that he switched his helmet to a full face before he left the condo. When we went to the hospital to see him there were a quite a few people there that were taken out by the crap jump. I know Norba wants to build bigger jumps but they need to build safer jumps that all classes can jump/roll that don't screw people up. A big table top in the same place with a sloped landing that you could go huge on and land 20' down the backside or 5' and not have to worry about under/over clearing.
Bingo..!!!punkassean said:I didn't see the the jump in question but I don't go for the "crappy jump" scenario. It is the racers/riders job to use their judgement to size up an obstacle and then deem how fast he or she can safely negotiate it. That is what practice runs are for. Norba is trying to make the course challenging, without a high level of challenge then it's hard to differentiate the more talented riders. Which after all is the point of racing in the first place, to identify the "winners".
If he is at a Kaiser hospital he likely has Kaiser insurance which *should* pay for all the med bills. (fingers crossed!)F.O.G said:Beavers,
He is at a Kaisers in Sac, I will get in touch with his wife and/or him to see if he wants the actual Hospitial named and room # given. He will be there for a bit but should be home fairly soon.
Good thing he had his fullface on, for the longest time he refused to wear one as well as more pads than some times kneeshins.F.O.G said:I was with Heath in Mammoth, we all stayed together and I was there when he went down. I don't think Heath was trying to hard, I think Norba built a really crap jump which took MANY people out. Unfortunately Heath took the worst spill. The jump was a 3' kicker back into the half pipe which would send you flying down into a poorly placed 1' tall landing ramp with a sharp back side which you either cleared or got bucked by. Heath got bucked when he went off the kicker and was going down in an endo, when the front wheel contacted the ground it hit directly into the back side of the landing and flipped him directly into the ground head first. We are just glad that he switched his helmet to a full face before he left the condo. When we went to the hospital to see him there were a quite a few people there that were taken out by the crap jump. I know Norba wants to build bigger jumps but they need to build safer jumps that all classes can jump/roll that don't screw people up. A big table top in the same place with a sloped landing that you could go huge on and land 20' down the backside or 5' and not have to worry about under/over clearing.
I heard from my boss (heaths former boss) that he did have insurance at the place he is currently working at.AnotherMike said:If he is at a Kaiser hospital he likely has Kaiser insurance which *should* pay for all the med bills. (fingers crossed!)
I hope he has a full and speedy recovery.
I have a question about NORBA courses (I don't race, so I don't know) : Does NORBA have seperate courses for beginner/sport and EX/semi/pro? It would seem to me that the race promotor should provide a challenging, yet safe race course. Keep in mind that safe does not mean easy.
Winger said:
I have seen courses' where they put in stupid jumps before. Yes it is your choice as a racer to go for it or not, but if the guy next to you is going to do it then you don't really have a choice do you? I mean if you want to win or place or just do the best you can and the top guys are doing it then you have to do it too. Or go home after getting eliminated in the first round if you even qualify.punkassean said:I didn't see the the jump in question but I don't go for the "crappy jump" scenario. It is the racers/riders job to use their judgement to size up an obstacle and then deem how fast he or she can safely negotiate it. That is what practice runs are for.
I'm gald to hear that Heath is doing well, and will make a full recovery--good stuff!trailhacker said:I have seen courses' where they put in stupid jumps before. Yes it is your choice as a racer to go for it or not, but if the guy next to you is going to do it then you don't really have a choice do you? I mean if you want to win or place or just do the best you can and the top guys are doing it then you have to do it too. Or go home after getting eliminated in the first round if you even qualify.
trailhacker said:I have seen courses' where they put in stupid jumps before. Yes it is your choice as a racer to go for it or not, but if the guy next to you is going to do it then you don't really have a choice do you? I mean if you want to win or place or just do the best you can and the top guys are doing it then you have to do it too. Or go home after getting eliminated in the first round if you even qualify.
That helmet is NASTY, I didn't think you could get blood stains on plastic but you sure can. Heal up man my prayers are defanitly with you.Heath Sherratt said:If you look at the helmet photos you can see all the blood on the mouth piece. That is due to the fact that it nearly ripped the lower half of my face off. The "jaw protector" was pushed back into my face by the impact and the plastic just caught hold of my lip and gravity did the rest. I only say this because I normally don't even wear full face helmets in 4X but I did that day. I wish it would have been a moto helmet now. I will invest the money now for sure.
I am really surprised at how common broken necks and backs really are. wow. I am glad you are well. See you at the otter pro'lly Cory. Hbibs said:glad to hear from ya! best wishes bro! sounds crazy!! I broke c-4,5,6 once..its no fun...
Hey Grasshopper! Thanks for the attention! How are things man? PM me with some details, it is great to hear from you. Tell Joshee I said Hi. HDan Weitsman said:'Sup Heath, this is Dan from PHC. I registered just so I could reply since Josh linked me to this thread. What a schitty crash! I can't believe that happened to you. But just think: once the recovery is over and you feel fresh again, you'll look back and say "hey, it wasn't that bad." I know one other racer who had a seriously debilitating crash a long time ago, the doctor said he might never ride a bike again, and that proved to be WRONG. So I guess if they tell you things like that, don't listen to them, listen to yourself. But I don't know what your prognosis is, so I don't want to jump ahead here. Anyway, get well soon bro!
Dan