REMY DEFIES ODDS TO RIDE AGAIN
GOLD Coast mountain bike prodigy Remy Morton’s twowheeled exploits have earned him mythical status in the mountain biking world but nothing about Morton is make believe.
It’s somewhat of a miracle Morton, 22, is riding mountain bikes.
In 2017, a then 19-year-old Morton had been riding gigantic dirt jumps in Belgium between rounds of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, living the dream lifestyle of an up-and-coming semiprofessional rider.
And then, he came crashing down to earth.
Morton had an accident which doctors said was consistent with someone who had fallen off a three-storey building.
He hit the ground at a speed of 75km/h.
Immediately after the impact, Morton stood up and told everyone he was fine.
Then his hip dislocated and he collapsed.
That’s when his breathing became laboured and his friends realised he wouldn’t be getting up.
THE INJURY
THE crash left Morton with all sorts of problems.
He had a multitude of broken bones and a gruesome list of other complications – his lungs had completely separated from his rib cage and needed to be flushed regularly to keep them clear of infection.
This went on for four weeks while the doctors kept Morton in a coma until he was ready to come out.
“It’s really weird because I have seen the video of it but I can’t remember doing it,” Morton said.
“I remember taking off on the jump and that’s it. I continued living in a dream and I thought I did all this stuff in the six weeks of sleeping that merged into reality when I woke up from the coma.”
Morton’s parents, Lisa and Jim Morton, were two days into a month-long holiday at Perisher in the NSW Snowy Mountains when the accident happened. They got the first available flight to Europe to be by their son’s side.
FIGHTING BACK
IF there is one trait to describe Morton – aside from his skills on a bike, it’s his freakish ability to get back up.
Morton lost 20kg during the course of his four-week coma.
As for his prognosis, the doctors said it would be impossible for him to ever ride again and he would be lucky to be walking.
Not one to be told he can’t do something – on the first day he was able to sit upright in hospital, Morton gave walking a nudge and with the help of nurses, he walked 15 to 18 metres.
After he arrived back on the Gold Coast, Morton started working with a physiotherapist in Brisbane.
“The first day I got home I walked to the shed, grabbed my bike and pedalled up the road,” Morton said.
“I set myself goals and that was one of them.
“I definitely shouldn’t have but it was hard mentally being in hospital for so long in the intensive care ward.
“There were people screaming and dying the whole time I was there.”
He then began riding his bike up and down the beach at Surfers Paradise just nine weeks after his injury.
By 11 weeks post-accident,
IT WAS HARD MENTALLY BEING IN HOSPITAL FOR SO LONG IN THE INTENSIVE CARE WARD. THERE WERE PEOPLE SCREAMING AND DYING THE WHOLE TIME I WAS THERE.
when he could drive again, Morton visited the Boomerang Farm bike park on the Gold Coast.
He took his bike, just in case, and took the shuttle up to the top.
Without thinking, he dropped in behind his friend who was on a bike.
“It didn’t even click until I ran the first run,” Morton said.
“I hit this roller and then I was on the lip of a gap jump – I was like, ‘holy s***, what am I doing?’ I had to hit the jump because I couldn’t stop – but it was fine. It was all good.”
Emboldened by his first run, Morton completed five more laps and sent his dad a video.
His mum pressed.
Morton was still on blood thinners for the blood clots in his legs and even a small crash wasn’t im
could have been disastrous for his health.
Morton’s accident pened in July 2017.
By December that year, he was racing again, five months after a horror crash that almost killed him and one that doctors thought would leave him unable to walk for the rest of his life. hap
A RETURN TO REMEMBER
LAST year Morton did the
unthinkable and returned to the same Belgium track he suffered his injury.
Not only that, he helped organisers make the jumps even bigger.
Morton went on to be crowned the king of the event.
Remarkably, he produced the biggest air (24m) on the jump he crashed on and recorded the fastest speed (75.5km/h) going into it.
“I’m not in a good mood if
I’m not going fast,” Morton said.
Morton’s father was a spectator in the crowd at that competition in Belgium.
“It was pretty special having him there,” Morton said.
“My whole family were emotional about me doing it.”
The Red Bull athlete has produced a new film called Sound of Speed that will be unveiled on Monday.