FMX Insider No.14: Injuries

Welcome to our brand new weekly web-exclusive column, Transmoto‘s FMX Insider. Penned each week by South Australian rider, Ben Heidrich, the FMX Insider will present the story-behind-the-stories of the Aussie and international freestyle motocross scenes. 

Accidents and injuries – a rider’s least favourite subjects. Rolling the dice some say, whether you believe in luck or fate… If you ride, you’re probably going to become well acquainted with the injury and recovery process. Some riders do get lucky and make it a long time without having a serious crash, while others seem to jump from injury to injury. Cast, crutches or wheelchair, it’s all part of the game. To ride with confidence and go far in the sport, you have to accept the fact that you can fall and fall hard.

It’s never the pain that gets you down, it’s more the waiting period – watching your friends ride and wishing you could be out there with them. The doctors appointments and being told how long until you’re allowed to ride again – that’s never fun!

I’m sure we all have a friend and fellow rider that we’ve seen take a nasty spill and then spend time off the bike. Last year my good friend Zac ‘Jenno’ Jennison took one of the most gut wrenching slams I have ever seen (with my own eyes).

The Admissive FMX Team rider was given the opportunity to ride his first portable truck set-up at the Andy Hensel Fundraiser show in Port Pirie, SA. Jenno was riding along side some of Australia’s top riders and was keen to give it his all. “The fundraiser was an eye opener for me,” said Jenno. “The nerves kinda set in when everyone was gearing up for practice.”

Jenno is a confident rider, I wasn’t at all worried about his first jump as he usually rides very smooth. He took a bunch of speed runs then came cruising in towards the up ramp. “As I hit it I realised I gave it to much throttle… A portable ramp isn’t as big as you think when you’re floating over it,” Jenno continued. “I completely froze up in the air and rode it to the ground. It was all over in a split second… I felt bones break on impact.”

Jenno went long and landed completely to flat ground missing the truck all together. He broke both arms and both ankles on impact. “The Ambulance officers and riders rushed over to help me,” said Jenno. “The green stick was my best friend that day!”

Jenno spoke on how his recovery has been. “I spent a few months in hospital and had many operations,” he said. “They filled me up with rods and plates and then I had to use a wheelchair for a couple months. Im finally walking now, I have a little bit of a limp but that just adds character haha… I do physiotherapy at home everyday, that is helping me a lot, hopefully I can return to work in August…”

“You never think it will happen to you but when it does it kinda puts things into perspective. I’ve had a couple of big get offs now… The first one was a few years ago, I broke both my hand and my spine, that one put me off the bike for a while. These are life changing accidents because you realise you’re not invincible. You can’t work and you can’t do everyday activities without being in pain.”

“People say you’re crazy if you ride again after a big get off but if you love what you do then do what you gotta do to get it back. I’m going to ride again but recovery is going to take awhile…”

Jenno would like to thank his girlfriend, his best mates, Admissive clothing and his parents for their on-going support through this bumpy road to recovery!

Click here to watch footage of Zac’s crash…