Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2008 23:43:16 GMT
Taken from www.worldspeedway.com
One of the most alarming pieces of news came from Rye House Speedway in Hoddesdon this week when the staff were informed of an horrendous skiing accident to promoter, Len Silver (76) while giving a ski lesson to one of his Silver Ski chalet girls high in the French Alps at 7,000feet.
Following a high speed crash, Len was rushed to the hospital in Moutiers, driven by ex speedway World Champion, Michael Lee, Len,s constant Skiing companion.
There Silver was quickly given a scan on arrival and was devastated to be told that he had sustained a broken vertebrae just below skull level, an injury likely to cause paralysis and he was carefully strapped and immediately hospitalised and taken to the intensive care ward.
Len takes up the story...." I was leading the chalet girl fairly quickly down a simple nursery slope and it was snowing hard making vision difficult. A small pile of ice which was invisible in the new snow was directly in my path and I hit it with the tips of my skis causing me to fly forward head first into ice cold snow. My forehead hit the ground so hard that I blacked out and woke up to find myself prostrate in the snow and in great pain around my neck and back. After a few minutes I gathered my wits and was pleased to find that the chalet girl had used her mobile phone to ring for help.
Considering the pain I was thankful that help came very quickly in the form of Michael who half carried and half dragged me to the bottom of the piste where his four wheel drive VW was waiting to carry me to the medical centre. There the local Doctor Babolat, a fitness fanatic who lives in La Plagne only metres from my home, set up and took X Rays of my neck. He told me that the X rays did not show up the true picture and that I needed a scan in Moutiers Hospital.
Within minutes Michael had scrambled me into his car and sped down the winding mountain road much faster than I would have liked, but I felt too weak to complain. I cannot describe my thoughts when the scan showed up the break in the very top vertebrae just under my skull which is why the X rays did not show up the injury.
The Scan pictures were e mailed to the neurosurgeon in Grenoble who had to consider whether or not to operate and I spent a most uncomfortable and sleepless night flat on my back and strapped up like a Christmas turkey while he made up his mind. The next morning the message came through that I should be permanently strapped
until the bone healed which would take at least 8 weeks. I was then placed in a stiff neck collar and transferred into a small normal ward where I spent three uncomfortable days on my back having no sleep at nights.
By now I was thoroughly fed up and I told the French doctor that I had decided to go back to England to consult a specialist who I could understand fully. He was alarmed at the thought of me travelling but I insisted because it seemed to me to be the best course of action.
Meanwhile, news of my broken neck had spread on the grapevine and all sorts of friends and acquaintances started to arrive in the hospital to see me, but they did not stop me from calling on Michael Lee to come and collect me.
Back in La Plagne I again visited my friend Doctor Babolat who carefully studied the scan pictures. After about fifteen minutes he looked me straight in the eye. This broken vertebrae, he said, has been like it for years. This is obviously an old injury you have been living with since your motorcycle racing days ! I almost fell over with relief"
So, apart from some whip lash damage to the neck muscles which will be painful for a week or two, Len is none the worse for wear.
One of the most alarming pieces of news came from Rye House Speedway in Hoddesdon this week when the staff were informed of an horrendous skiing accident to promoter, Len Silver (76) while giving a ski lesson to one of his Silver Ski chalet girls high in the French Alps at 7,000feet.
Following a high speed crash, Len was rushed to the hospital in Moutiers, driven by ex speedway World Champion, Michael Lee, Len,s constant Skiing companion.
There Silver was quickly given a scan on arrival and was devastated to be told that he had sustained a broken vertebrae just below skull level, an injury likely to cause paralysis and he was carefully strapped and immediately hospitalised and taken to the intensive care ward.
Len takes up the story...." I was leading the chalet girl fairly quickly down a simple nursery slope and it was snowing hard making vision difficult. A small pile of ice which was invisible in the new snow was directly in my path and I hit it with the tips of my skis causing me to fly forward head first into ice cold snow. My forehead hit the ground so hard that I blacked out and woke up to find myself prostrate in the snow and in great pain around my neck and back. After a few minutes I gathered my wits and was pleased to find that the chalet girl had used her mobile phone to ring for help.
Considering the pain I was thankful that help came very quickly in the form of Michael who half carried and half dragged me to the bottom of the piste where his four wheel drive VW was waiting to carry me to the medical centre. There the local Doctor Babolat, a fitness fanatic who lives in La Plagne only metres from my home, set up and took X Rays of my neck. He told me that the X rays did not show up the true picture and that I needed a scan in Moutiers Hospital.
Within minutes Michael had scrambled me into his car and sped down the winding mountain road much faster than I would have liked, but I felt too weak to complain. I cannot describe my thoughts when the scan showed up the break in the very top vertebrae just under my skull which is why the X rays did not show up the injury.
The Scan pictures were e mailed to the neurosurgeon in Grenoble who had to consider whether or not to operate and I spent a most uncomfortable and sleepless night flat on my back and strapped up like a Christmas turkey while he made up his mind. The next morning the message came through that I should be permanently strapped
until the bone healed which would take at least 8 weeks. I was then placed in a stiff neck collar and transferred into a small normal ward where I spent three uncomfortable days on my back having no sleep at nights.
By now I was thoroughly fed up and I told the French doctor that I had decided to go back to England to consult a specialist who I could understand fully. He was alarmed at the thought of me travelling but I insisted because it seemed to me to be the best course of action.
Meanwhile, news of my broken neck had spread on the grapevine and all sorts of friends and acquaintances started to arrive in the hospital to see me, but they did not stop me from calling on Michael Lee to come and collect me.
Back in La Plagne I again visited my friend Doctor Babolat who carefully studied the scan pictures. After about fifteen minutes he looked me straight in the eye. This broken vertebrae, he said, has been like it for years. This is obviously an old injury you have been living with since your motorcycle racing days ! I almost fell over with relief"
So, apart from some whip lash damage to the neck muscles which will be painful for a week or two, Len is none the worse for wear.
