We were lucky enough to get in touch with Jessy Nelson Tuesday, who is staying at Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown, NY. Jessy, who is with his parents and friends like Mario Panagiotopoulos from Red Bull, spoke to us on the phone, and is clearly in good spirits. He has a long fight on his hands but he still loves this sport and knows the industry has its arms around him as he begins the long fight to get back to health.
“Definitely have a long road to recovery and we just have to see how this all turns out,” he said. “I’m a huge fan of this sport and I love that I’ve been able to be part of it for so long, and I still want to be involved, if I’m racing again or whatever it may be.
"Right now I just have to concentrate on getting better. I’m so glad to have all of these fans and friends lifting me up like they have. It’s good to know people aren’t thinking I’m just some punk kid on a motorcycle, or someone who is out there just taking people out on the track! All those positive thoughts really help lift you up while this is going on.”
As for the latest, it’s really hard to pinpoint what his current health means, because it could very possibly change over time—spinal injuries and recoveries are hard to predict. Jessy still doesn’t have feeling or movement in his legs, but he’s starting to regain feeling through his chest and ribs, which is said to be a good sign. It’s very early in the process but things are improving.
What is known is that Jessy has fractured T4 and T5 vertebra, but his spinal cord in this area was stretched not cut or broken. From the MRI it appears the spinal cord is not damaged, but he has no feeling from his mid-lower chest down. At this time, when there is an injury like this, the spinal cord goes into shock and the tissue around the area is swollen, too, so there can be no real prognosis for quite some time. This is a point that Jessy and his group would like to make clear: early judgements on how this will turn out are not possible.
The T4 and T5 have to be stabilized to prevent further injury, so he will have surgery today (Wednesday) to fuse the T2-T7 together. The hope is that after five to seven days of recovery in New York, he should be able to make the trip back to California to start rehab.
Jessy is also thankful to have very loyal supporters in the industry. He’s actually been one of the most loyal riders we know, racing for the Troy Lee Designs team since his amateur days. He thanks all of the sponsors that have been behind him, including TLD, KTM, Red Bull, FMF, Alpinestars and also Honda, which backed the TLD squad through 2014. He’s also very thankful for Dr. John Bodnar and the whole Asterisk Mobile Medic team, and also to Wings for Life, which has given him some guidance. Also, a shoutout to privateer racer Cody Williams, who sacrificed his own race to help get Jessy free from his bike (we’ll have more on Williams here on Racer X Online this week).
Jessy doesn’t remember the crash because it happened so quickly, but he says he definitely knows he’s crashed much harder than this. He said that before he knew it, he was just trying to get back up and into the race. Right now his back and ribs are sore but that’s starting to get better, and he threw out special props to his new TLD SE4 helmet, which he believes protected him from a concussion.
For now, he will focus on rest and recovery. We’ll have further updates as Jessy and his family provide them. He made it clear he’s not hiding from anything. “I don’t mind being public about this whole process,” he says. “It’s just one of those things that happens in racing.”
We encourage everyone to keep the positive vibes coming. The Road 2 Recovery has set up a fund to help Jessy in this time. You can donate here.
