Racer Melissa Paris had surgery at the hands of noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. Arthur Ting Monday afternoon at Ting’s clinic in Fremont, California. In a 45-minute procedure, Ting inserted a 9mm titanium rod and four screws into Paris’ fractured right tibia, while her fractured fibula was left to heal naturally. “The bones were broken at a 45 degree angle, so even after they [medical staff at Danville Regional Medical Center, in Danville, Virginia] pulled it straight the bones were sliding against each other,” said Paris. “So Ting went in and put a rod in the tibia, a rod and four screws. And he said the fibula will heal itself because if the tibia is straightened it will pull the fibula straight.” Paris suffered the injury in a multi-bike, chain-reaction crash on the first lap of the AMA Pro Daytona Sportbike race Sunday, August 16 at VIR. “All these bikes were sliding across the racetrack,” said Paris, who races a Markbilt Yamaha YZF-R6. “I thought I was going to be able to split two of them, then I realized I was headed right for this pile of bikes that had Brent Lyskawa underneath them. And I really didn’t want to hit Brent. “So I got on the binders as hard as I could. I got it stopped. I would’ve maybe bumped into it and fell over, but somebody behind me just plowed straight into my leg. I was still straight up and down and they ran straight into my leg. I just flung myself off of the bike at that point. I knew right away, as soon as he hit that it was broken.” Other riders returning from the scene first mentioned that Paris was screaming in pain, but rather than the type of screaming some might expect from a female Paris was hurling obscenities and swearing like a seasoned sailor, which turned into a humorous part of an otherwise tense story. “Josh [Hayes, Paris’ husband] was saying that people were coming up to him and saying, ‘My, your wife has some colorful language,'” laughed Paris. “I was screaming lots of obscenities. It just hurt so bad. This sounds so stupid, but I was trying so hard not to cry.” Soon after Paris and Hayes reunited in the infield medical care tent, the profanity eased and the two immediately started making plans to get Paris to see Dr. Ting so she could make her next USGPRU race September 12-13 at Mid-Ohio. Paris currently sits six points behind Adam Roberts in the USGPRU Eastern Regional and National 250cc Championships. “The doctor at the racetrack was like, (in a stern tone) ‘You’re not going to be on a bike for eight to 12 weeks and you should just get racing right out of your head.’ He was reading me the riot act,” said Paris. “What happened was he overhead me and Josh when I said to Josh, ‘I have to race in three weeks.’ He heard that and he just freaked out. He heard us say that we had a doctor back in California, and he’s like, ‘You’re going to have to charter a lear jet or something. You can’t fly on a commercial airplane.’ “Luckily, I didn’t talk back. I just looked at Josh and gritted my teeth, because I knew arguing with him wasn’t going to do any good. So we just kept our mouths shut, but then after they put me in the ambulance he pulled Josh aside and was like, ‘You need to talk some sense into your wife. I can tell she thinks she is a master of her own destiny or whatever, but you need to talk some sense into her.’ That was kind of funny. “I was kind of freaked out to hear he said that, but when I got in the ambulance I found out that he wasn’t even an actual doctor and was only a physician’s assistant. “To go from that to Dr. Ting, who was like, ‘OK, here’s the game plan. We’re going to do whatever we can to get you safely back at it.’ He was a lot more optimistic and willing to work with me and stuff.” Paris said she and Hayes flew from Raleigh, North Carolina Monday morning, arrived in San Jose, California at 2:00 p.m. local time and was done with her surgery by 4:00 p.m. “I definitely feel really, really grateful,” to be able to see Dr. Ting, said Paris, “because after hearing other people’s stories and even seeing the hospital that I was in the other night I feel really blessed to have the means to be able to get it taken care of by somebody who actually understands what we do.”