MotoAmerica Superbike racer Kyle Wyman crashed during the
start of EBC Brakes Superbike Race One Saturday, July 13 at WeatherTech Raceway
Laguna Seca and suffered a fractured scaphoid bone in his left hand, but the
privateer rider/team owner has undergone successful surgery on the injury and
may be back in action as soon as the next MotoAmerica round, August 10-11 at
Sonoma Raceway.
The scaphoid bone, often broken by riders who crash and land
with outstretched hands, is notoriously resistant to healing because of a
limited blood supply where it is located, so Wyman immediately sought medical
care from orthopedic surgeon Dr. Maury K. Harwood in San Jose, California.
“I got in with Dr. Harwood yesterday [Monday, July 15],”
Wyman told Roadracingworld.com. “It was a pretty quick, one-hour procedure.
There were two pieces that were non-displaced. It was cracked all the way
through, but it hadn’t moved at all. They put in one screw that kind of has a
tapering thread that squeezes everything together. With it screwed together you
can’t even see the fracture line anymore because the pieces fit together so
perfectly. None of the blood vessels were damaged.
“[Dr. Harwood] said, ‘If you had to race next week, I would
let you,’ which is crazy. I’m going to take it easy for a couple of weeks, but him
saying that makes me feel a lot better. Going into surgery I was kind of
freaking out. I was pretty bummed about this, that it was going to be a saga
like it’s been for a lot of racers. But Dr. Harwood said it was basically the
best case scenario for a scaphoid. So I feel really good about that.
“He said, ‘If you were a normal person I would say don’t do
anything for 10 weeks. But it’s not really susceptible to re-injury. It’s just
a matter of managing pain.’ So I’ve got to make a plan on how to manage that.
“Sonoma is going to be a total play-it-by-ear deal, and
hopefully I can be strong at Pittsburgh, where we tested earlier; and New Jersey,
my backyard; and Barber.
“I just want to give a shout out to Dr. Harwood and everyone
at South Valley Ortho. They are the best in the biz. This is my seventh surgery
with him and my 18th in my life.”