30 BROKEN BONES ... AND STILL COUNTING
THE rest of us have stopped counting, but Australian motorcycle champion Toby Price is keeping track — he knows he has just broken his 30th bone.
Price, who was forced out of the gruelling Dakar Rally on Wednesday after a dreadful fall in a driver riverbed in the Saudi Arabian desert, will need surgery on a shattered collarbone.
Price posted a photo of himself on Twitter from his hospital bed giving a
thumbs up, alongside an update on his medical condition.
“Finally broken my 30th bone!” he said. “I don’t remember much but I’ve got a pretty sore collarbone, shoulder and hand and will need surgery for that.”
He said he was disappointed not to make the finish and felt as if he had let down his KTM team and his sponsors. And he thanked fellow riders Ricky
Brabec and Sam Sunderland for coming to his rescue.
“Thank you @Sundersam and @rickyB357 for stopping to help me. I was off with the fairies but I heard you took good care of me,” he said.
On Thursday, Price was joined in hospital by motorcycle category leader Jose Ignacio Cornejo, who was forced to retire after a heavy fall.
The 26-year-old Honda rider, nicknamed “Nacho”, fell 252km into the 10th stage and although he completed the stage, he agreed to retire for fear of having concussion.
American Brabec took the stage and is now second overall, 51 seconds behind Argentinian Kevin Benavides.
French driver Stephane Peterhansel appears to have all but wrapped up the car title.
Additional reporting: AFP