Vann Martin Provides Injury Update Following Minneapolis Qualifying Crash
Vann Martin had a big crash in qualifying at the Minneapolis Supercross. In the first 450SX group B qualifying session, Martin crashed and suffered broken T6 & T7 vertebrae in his spine. He is still in the hospital at the moment following a second surgery this morning. The Texas native posted to Instagram an update on his situation and a video of his crash.
“Had a rough one today. Broken T6 & T7. I have all feeling, movement & strength but the doctors are worried because there is blood putting pressure on my spinal cord. I’m in ICU and they are monitoring it very well. I will keep y’all updated. Please say a prayer for me. Swipe to get more info.”
Martin says in his video:
“Hey everyone, had a really bad get off today. Was feeling really good in practice two. Was on the board, first time I’ve been on the board all year, which was awesome. Was feeling great and came up short in a rhythm, went over [the bars] scorpioned really hard. Broke my T6 and 7, I got a Chase fracture, is that what’s it’s called? Chance fracture in my T7, which is pretty bad. It’s not very good news right now. I have all feeling, I mean I have strength right now but there is pressure from some blood on spinal cord, so I’m definitely going to have surgery. I may have to have two if the bleeding doesn’t go down and take the pressure off. But I’ll keep you all updated. Say a prayer for me please.”
Following the first surgery on Monday, on Tuesday morning Martin posted several videos to his Instagram story saying he would need to undergo a second surgery to move some of the screws they put in during the first surgery. His wife Maranda posted several updates on her Instagram story, which you can view below. She is in Minnesota still but said due to COVID-19 restrictions, she is only allowed to visit from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Jamie “Darkside” Guida caught up with Martin in January for an interview, which you can read here.
Road 2 Recovery just sent out a press release with a fund that has now been set up to help Martin cover his hospital bills. View the full press release below.
Vann Martin Hospitalized Following a Severe Practice Crash in Minneapolis
Road 2 Recovery Opens Fundraising Campaign to Assist With Vann’s Medical Bills
ENCINITAS, California—Vann Martin suffered a substantial crash on Saturday, February 19, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis during the first qualifying practicing for round seven of the Monster Energy Supercross Championship. With two minutes left in that practice, Vann came up short on the long rhythm section, crashing hard into the face on the next section. Vann immediately felt an intense amount of pain in his back and could not walk off the track. The Alpinestars Mobile Medical team got him safely off the track and transported him via ambulance to Hennepin Healthcare hospital in Minneapolis.
After arriving at the hospital, surgeons determined that Vann would need surgery to repair the multiple fractures on his T6 and T7 vertebrae. T7 sustained most of the concerning damage with what his surgical team determined as a rare “Chance fracture”. A large hematoma developed on his spine from the trauma of the impact putting pressure on the spinal cord.
On Monday, February 21, Vann underwent his first of two spinal surgeries. The first was an eight-hour T3-T10 spinal fusion surgery to stabilize his vertebrae with rods and screws and remove the hematoma. After running a few X-rays and CT Scans post-surgery, Vann’s surgeons decided the placement of a few screws was incorrect. The second successful surgery was performed today, Tuesday, February 22, to address those concerns.
Currently, on bedrest, Vann has movement and feeling in all his extremities, and with months of extensive physical therapy, he is expected to have a full recovery. The goal is to get him back home to Houston to start his recovery journey once he’s cleared to fly. Doctors said this could be anywhere from three to seven days in the hospital before the approved clearance. The Road 2 Recovery Foundation has established a fundraising campaign to support Vann as his medical bills are expected to be substantial. As always, R2R is a nonprofit 501(c) (3), and your donation toward Vann’s fund is tax-deductible.
As more information on Vann’s recovery becomes available, we will update his R2R page. We encourage folks to leave positive messages of support on Vann’s R2R page for him to read.
