British Superbike Champion Shane “Shakey” Byrne reports that he has escaped paralysis despite massive injuries suffered during testing on May 17th. Early reports of surgery to stabilize “spinal fractures” without clarification raised the specter of possible spinal cord damage and paralysis. But Byrne has undergone successful surgery and to the amazement of even his doctors, is not paralyzed.

In a series of posts he made earlier today on Facebook, Byrne wrote, “Update time.. apologies for putting this out so late but here’s where I’m at.. I have 2 bruised lungs, all of my ribs fractured, 4 broken vertebrae, a broken neck in 2 places, broken septum, collarbone, multiple other back fractures, fortunately no paralysis which was a big…bonus as paralysis was a major issue and concern…the 1 question from my surgeon after seeing my x-rays was how on earth are you not paralyzed! His operation to fix the back and neck ran obvious risks of paralysis potentially coming back in the mix, fortunately the op…went very well, I’m now pretty sore and beaten up but a rehab and recovery program always starts the instant a crash ends, it’s a long road ahead but for once I got a great start and can’t thank all of you for your confirmation support throughout these difficult time…”