Ken Roczen Back on the Bike
[Update: July 20]
According to multiple reports, Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen has returned to riding today, just six months after his devastating arm injury sustained at Anaheim 2.
Initial reports came for the Instagram accounts (on their Stories) of Christian Craig and Adam Cianciarulo. The Honda Powersports Twitter account then said Roczen had been cleared to ride:
Guess who was cleared by his doctor to get back on his CRF450R today? Nothing will stop @KenRoczen94 pic.twitter.com/PgZbaKw53M
— Honda Powersports (@HondaPowersprts) July 20, 2017
And then Ken himself chimed in.
Below is a full timeline of Ken's recovery.
[Update: June 21]
Nearly five months and 11 surgeries after his crash at Anaheim II, Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen is back on the bike—kind of. While Roczen isn’t back to full-time riding by any means, he did post an update on his Instagram account of him popping some wheelies on Christian Craig’s bike. Craig is currently filling-in for Roczen at Honda HRC in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross.
“heart is smiling. @honda_powersports_us I gotta stay away from the track. Makes time go by slower,” Roczen wrote on Instagram.
What does this all mean? Who knows, but it’s great to see Roczen back on the bike. Below is a timeline of Ken’s recovery.
[Update: April 24]
As we noted last week, Ken Roczen underwent an 11th—and final—surgery, this time on his elbow. The surgery was performed by Dr. Randall Viola of the Steadman Clinic—the same doctor that’s performed Ken’s other surgeries.
According to Honda, during the procedure Dr. Viola inserted a cadaver cartilage into Ken’s elbow. The operation is expected to give Roczen’s arm full range of motion. Dr. Viola also cleaned out scar tissue from the affected area. Per Honda, Roczen’s arm should be able to bear weight in six to eight weeks.
Roczen will soon travel to his home country of Germany on vacation, and will continue to do physical therapy during that trip.
“I’m really happy to have this last surgery out of the way,” Roczen said in a team statement. “They got the cadaver piece earlier than expected, which is awesome because that was the last piece of the puzzle. Now I can really focus on recovery without having to worry about any other surgery. Other than that, things are going well. I’m excited to be going to Germany for the first time in a few years to vacation with family and take my fiancée for her first time. I’ll still be doing physical therapy while there and then will be hitting it hard when we’re back.”
[Update: April 20]
Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen has undergone another surgery—his eleventh since his crash at Anaheim 2—this time on his elbow. Roczen released some very graphic photos of the surgery below. We recommend not eating beforehand. For now, details are very slim on his most recent surgery. We’ve reached out for more information and will update if we hear back.
Roczen wrote on separate Instagram posts:
“Elbow surgery took a bit longer than expected. Stoked we got it out of the way! Huuuge thank you to the doner! Very very thankful.”
“This arm will be raised the highest after my next win. #dontcallitacomeback”
[update: feb. 20]
Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen underwent an eighth surgery over the weekend to repair a compound fracture to his radius and a dislocated elbow and wrist, as well as tissue damage, sustained at Anaheim 2, according to a post on his Instagram page.
Roczen said the doctors told him it was “a very difficult and challenging surgery because everything was so damaged.”
Roczen said that he is scheduled to undergo a ninth surgery on Wednesday and that he hopes that will be it.
You can read his entire post below.
[update: Feb. 6]
Ken Roczen has already undergone multiple surgeries to repair a compound fracture to his radius and a dislocated elbow and wrist, as well as tissue damage, but according to a recent Instagram post, it could have been much worse for the two-time 450 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Champion.
“I got VERY lucky that I really just demolished my arm because at that speed and height it could have been very ugly,” Roczen wrote. “It was still scary coming out of the first surgery and Doc Viola said if it wouldn't have been done now I could have lost my arm.”
Roczen also said that he developed compartment syndrome, which usually results bleeding or swelling after an injury and impedes the flow of blood to and from the affected tissues.
Fortunately, Roczen did say, “It's good to hear that thing[s] are gonna be fine. Just gotta be patient.”
You can read his full post below.
You spend months preparing, training and lots of riding for racing and never even tip over really. Literally go without crashing for weeks and everything washes down the drain from just one little bitty mishap. To be honest, I dont see anything i did wrong. Not like the previous years where i go. "Man that was stupid" But riding/racing you have to act quick... very! And in the end you can't pause the world and think about what you are going to do for a second. You will always go with your instinkt and there is nothing wrong with that. That's part of learning and getting better. But like I said, I would love to look at the crash and say, ohhh that's what happened..! But I can't. Not sure if that makes it easier or harder. Anyway I felt more gathered and collected and focused than ever as you could tell in my riding (in my eyes) and then something this scary happens so quick. I got VERY lucky that I really just demolished my arm because at that speed and height it could have been very ugly. It was still scary coming out of the first surgery and Doc Viola said if it wouldn't have been done now I could have lost my arm. I started having compartment syndrome. Wich means my muscles and everything were so swollen from the impact that they stopped getting blood flow and slowly stop working. And once the muscle is dead there is no bringing it back. Anyway. Tough pill to swollen, but hey. Could have been worse. Felt like telling the story. It. But it's good to hear that thing are gonna be fine. Just gotta be patient.
[Update: Feb. 2]
According to a post on his Instagram page this morning, Ken Roczen has undergone a fifth surgery, with one more scheduled for Friday. He will then be able to return home, before a final surgery.
You can read the entire post below.
[Update: Jan. 27 - Graphic]
According to his Instagram account, Ken Roczen underwent a third surgery today. He shared a photo below.
Ken has been doing an excellent job (maybe too good of job, judging by his graphic post this morning) of keeping his fans in the loop by posting daily updates via his Instagram account. Today, we got more details from Honda.
Following his crash on Saturday, where he sustained a compound fracture to his radius and a dislocated elbow and wrist, as well as tissue damage, Ken was flown to Vail, Colorado, where he would be under the care of Dr. Randall Viola at The Steadman Clinic. Dr. Viola, who specializes in hard, wrist and elbow injuries, and is a team physician for the Men’s U.S. Alpine Ski Team, and a medical consultant for the Denver Broncos, performed an initial two-hour surgery on Sunday evening.
According to Honda, this was to “clean the bone and surrounding area in order to reduce the risk of infection. To help reduce swelling, the seven incisions were left open until Dr. Viola closed four of them during an operation on Wednesday.”
Per Honda, a third surgery is scheduled for later today to further clean the wounds and close some of the incisions. Roczen’s agent, Steve Astephen, told Honda that they hope to have all the procedures completed by Friday, February 3. After that, the plan is for Ken to return home to Florida.
“This obviously isn't the way I was hoping the supercross season would go, but I’ve accepted the challenge and am putting all of my effort into getting healthy again,” said Roczen in a statement. “I want to thank everyone at The Steadman Clinic, and specifically Dr. Viola and ‘Team Viola’ for all the care. It’s great knowing I have the best people possible helping me through this. The support from my fans and the industry on social media has been incredible too. I especially want to thank my team at Honda, which has truly become like a family, and of course my other partners who have been behind me 100 percent. I look forward to getting back to racing as soon as possible.”
[Update: Jan. 25]
According to a recent Instagram post by Roczen, he still has about four more surgeries to go to repair injuries sustained in Anaheim last Saturday night. This hasn’t held Roczen back, as he’s already up and getting some activity in.
[Update: Jan. 26]
Ken Roczen announced on Instagram that he hopes to begin "fixing my arm piece by piece next week." He wrote that four of seven incisions were close today. You can read his full statement below.
[Update: Jan. 23]
Ken Roczen’s injuries sustained Saturday night are worse than initially thought. According to a post on his Instagram account today, Roczen wrote that he sustained a dislocated wrist, dislocated elbow, and a compound fracture to his radius in his crash at Anaheim on Saturday night. Early reports indicated that Roczen sustained a compound fracture to the radius, but the wrist and elbow injuries will further complicate matters.
Roczen, winner of the first two rounds of the championship, wrote that he is “gonna need few surgeries to get all this dialed.”
Roczen's crash created a somber atmosphere post race, with many riders concerned for his well being. Not only was his crash quite scary, but Ken was down for a few laps and the entire field had to ride past him, watching the red flags. Ryan Dungey might benefit from Roczen's injury on the track, as he won his first race of 2017 Saturday night and took over the points lead, but made a point to express his concern for Roczen in the post-race press conference.
“You hate to see stuff like that happen tonight. I don’t sit here like, wow …[now I’m the points leader], I’m more like, I just hope Ken’s okay. I don’t wish that upon nobody. Especially the sport, we need him. We need a guy like that. So it’s unfortunate at times, but let’s hope he’s okay too. It’s not like he’s down and out. Hopefully he’s okay too.”
We’ll provide more updates on Roczen’s recovery as they are made available.
