News | Man Down – Greg Callaghan is out of action
It would not be over-exaggerating to say that Irish racer Greg Callaghan has been on a meteoric rise this season. Recently joining the Cube Action Team we all knew he had potential, but nobody expected him to have such a dominant presence on the EWS rankings. He took a solid 11th in New Zealand, then shook the media taking the win in Ireland, following up with a 3rd in Scotland. Currently sitting in 2nd overall Greg looked fired up for the next round in Samoens, France, but then disaster… The luck of the Irish ran out and he binned it – hard!
We caught up with Greg at the European Enduro Series Champs to find out what he had done, and how long he will be out of action.
So Greg, what the hell happened?
I was just out riding in Leogang, I had done one long run down the mountain and was starting to feel really comfortable, it was my first time riding in the Alps this season so I was taking it easy and easing into it, nothing wild or sketchy. On the second run I came into a corner a little hot and the front wheel tucked over a berm. I high-sided onto the top of the berm then bounced and rolled. It all happened really quick and though I had got away with it!
Did you know straight away that you had broke your hand?
No not really, I jumped up and thought “wow that was big”, I saw that I had cut my leg and then as soon as I moved my hand I could feel the bones crunching about, and I was like “that’s probably not good” but it didn’t hurt too much. I rolled down the fire road braking with both hands, and my left had started to get really sore so I thought I better get some attention.
Katy (Katy winton is Greg’s partner) called me an ambulance and I was taken to hospital. As soon as the X-ray popped up on the screen I could see that the bones were broken.
What have you done?
I have broke the two middle bones on the back of my hand, in the metacarpus, and have a good sized hole in my leg too. The hospital stitched up my leg and put a hard cast straight on my hand, next week I should get an air cast which will be great.
So whats the recovery time?
I have two weeks in the leg cast for the stitches to heal, and five to six weeks off the bike due to the hand, it’s four weeks to Samoens so it would be right on the limit. I am going to try some new laser treatment in Scotch Corner that claims to knit the bones together faster and if all conditions are right it will half or better the recovery time. We will see, I’m not keeping my hopes up and in my mind I currently think Samoens is out of the question. I just want to come back for the US round and Whistler and be back to full strength. I am lucky really I guess as I have had 4-5 years without any injury.
ENDURO Magazine would like to wish Greg a safe recovery and will keep you updated as to his progress.
Words and photos : Trev Worsey
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