From bleeding brains to broken femurs, there have been some pretty nasty injuries to athletes trying to take their sport to the next level. Here's a look at some of the nastiest bumps, bruises and broken bones, as described by the extreme athletes themselves.
Brian Howard is a Skateboarder Who Can No Longer Do Long Division
"I ripped my head real bad one time when I was trying to slide a rail. I had a blood clot in my brain. I couldn't skate for about a month because I was dizzy. I had to wait for the blood clot to dissolve and go away before I could get back on my board again."
Dave Mirra is a BMX Rider Who Doesn't Like the Fair
"My spleen injury was the worst. I did a look back on my bike at a state fair in Dallas. I got caught up in my shirt, slammed to the ground, got knocked out. When I woke up, I was in an ambulance and they were hauling my butt to the hospital."
Carey Hart is a Motocross Rider Who's Lucky to be Alive
"I had a pretty gruesome injury when I was 15 and racing supercross. I was out doing some laps while they were doing minor track work. I came over this tabletop jump just as a tractor was swinging through the backside of it to drop off a load of dirt, and I hit the tractor doing 70 miles an hour. I broke both my femurs in six places - one a compound fracture - broke my shin, broke my wrist, almost bled to death. That was a good one."
And the Winner is.....
The last word goes to BMX master Mat Hoffman who's had 16 major surgeries in his 16 years of professional vert competitions and exhibitions. Hoffman's worst injury occurred in 1993 after he cleared 23 feet of air off a 21-foot ramp and ruptured his spleen on his landing. There was so much internal bleeding, Hoffman was given 20 minutes to live and even flatlined (that's when the heart monitor stops beeping cuz your heart stops beating) but was revived. "Head injuries are the worst, because you just can't assess them when you're unconscious," Hoffman says. "I've been in a mild coma for seven hours. I've had times when I've lost my sense of balance for a month and couldn't get it back. That gets really frustrating because you don't really know if it's healing or not."
Once when I was riding dirt bike jumps in the woods on my street, I was going on a tabletop that had a narrow piece of wood in the middle. I went up slowly and I was on the top and tried to stop but my foot slipped off and me and my bike tumbled over and my head hit a brick. Luckily it wasn't bleeding or I didn't get a concussion - but if I did two friends were with me.
Kidz Submit By:
Nickname: Volcom07180
Age: 12
I was going real fast on my bike when I came up to a bump which I thought I could jump over. All of a sudden I went over the top of the handle bars. I had blood running down my face because I had hit it on the concrete. I sprained my ankle and I got glass in my hand. They had to get the glass out with a needle and I had to have an injection. Ever since I've had a phobia of blood, needles and injections. I didn't try it again.
Kidz Submit By:
Nickname: DrEaMa
Age: 14
My friends and I went on a mountain bike trip to Chatanooga last summer. We had been biking all day and on the way back to the truck we decided to have our own little downhill time trials thing. So I'm going down the mountain about 31 mph, and I passed out right before a jump. I guess I was dehydrated or something but I did somersaults down the jump and hit my head on a rock, and it cracked my helmet wide open. Turns out I had a minor concussion, but I was ok. If it wasn't for that helmet I would probably be dead so if your going to ride hardcore at all, wear a helmet.
Kidz Submit By:
Nickname: skaterxhm
Age: 17
What's the worst injury you've ever had? about your worst accident or injury.
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- Freaky Sports Injuries
- The Pain Formula
- Athlete Fears and Phobias
- More Extreme Sports
