Morrison’s recovery ‘ inspirational’
Speedskater back on oval after being seriously injured in motorcycle crash, writes Vicki Hall
The police sergeant at the scene of the motorcycle crash wondered out loud to reporters how the driver could have survived. The firefighters assumed they were cleaning up the wreckage from a traffic fatality.
But none of them knew at the time the patient in the back of the ambulance was a four- time Olympic medallist and two- time world champion in speedskating.
Denny Morrison broke his femur, punctured his lung, ruptured his kidneys and bruised his heart when his motorcycle crashed into a left- turning car on May 7 near the University of Calgary. He also suffered a concussion, tore a knee ligament and chipped his spine. The impact of the collision knocked the car over on its side.
Somehow, perhaps in part due to his incredible fitness level, Morrison survived. Five months after the fact, he’s back skating circles — quickly, by most people’s standards — at the Olympic Oval.
This is a guy who could barely stand four days after the crash. He needed to sit down to have a shower. He used a cane to limp from one place to another.
“To see Denny in a hospital bed was definitely tough,” fellow Olympian Gilmore Junio said Monday. “I think of the guy like Superman. He’s always coming back from crazy injuries. He’s always coming back from major defeats. To see Superman in his weakest state like that is definitely tough. I choked up at first. But he’s always had a really good outlook on it. I’m there to support him in any way I can in his recovery and finding his way back to Superman form.”
Always one to shoot high, Morrison, 30, initially set a goal of competing in the first World Cup of the season Nov. 13- 15 in Calgary. As the leaves fall from the trees and the days go by, the Fort St. John, B. C., native is still holding out hope for a return to competition on home ice.
Realistically, however, he might need to wait until December to compete in Europe. And even that might be overly optimistic.
Brian Rahill, the high performance director for Speed Skating Canada, said he would be thrilled to see his star athlete compete for the first time in February at the world single distance championships in Kolomna, Russia.
“To me, it’s inspirational,” Rahill said of watching Morrison train at the Oval. “If someone can come back from this, it’s Denny, but I don’t expect anything from him this year.”
Don’t go telling that to Morrison, who expects big things from himself daily. To chart his recovery from the crash, he sets attainable goals and celebrates crossing them off the list.
His first goal in hospital was to stand on his right leg ( which now includes a titanium rod.) He lasted all of a minute before the pain became too great and he fell asleep for three hours due to sheer exhaustion.
Then he set out to attend his brother’s wedding, one week to the day of the accident, in northern British Columbia. The doctor initially scoffed, but Morrison passed all the tests ( he admits to studying for the concussion exam based on material he found on the Internet) and made it for the big day.
In the beginning, he took 40 seconds to complete a 400- metre lap. Three weeks ago, he crossed the line in 26 seconds.
Pretty impressive, for most of us, but Morrison can normally whip around the track in less than 24 seconds.
“There’s no point in rushing back,” said Morrison, who won the 2014/ 15 World Cup overall title over 1,500 metres. “What will really make this a cool story is making it to the Pyeongchang Olympics in 2018 and recovering fully and having a really good race there.”
Morrison received a $ 155 ticket for running a yellow light in connection with the collision. The two occupants of the other vehicle were not hospitalized. The matter is still mired in insurance proceedings.
With his teammates readying themselves for the Canadian World Cup trials this weekend, Morrison could lapse into a fit of self- pity over what promises to be a long recovery with no guarantee of a happy ending. But he won’t.
“I’m lucky to be alive,” he said. “I’m lucky to have the team that I have to help me make this recovery. I’m lucky to have my friends, and family and the support I had in the hospital. There’s tons of things you have to feel lucky about. You just have to allow yourself to feel lucky about them and not feel like you’re a victim.”