Roadracing World called Richie Morris, (involved with Scott Russell, Dean Mizdal and John Pearons in a starting-grid crash during the first restart of the Daytona 200) at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach to see how he was doing.
Morris said, “I just left the doctor. We’re trying to figure out the game plan. Tomorrow we’re gonna do skin grafting. We’re talking to Dr. Ting and other doctors as to who is going to do the actual surgery once we get the skin graft done. Right now there’s not enough skin to do anything with. They’ve already performed four surgeries on my wrist. It’s a mess. They’re fighting to save it as a useable wrist. Basically right now, they’ve taken the bones that were supposed to have been in the forearm section that were down in the finger section and have got them all back in the forearm section and vice versa. And a lot of the other bones were scattered on about because they were just shattered. They’ve pretty much bundled everything together in the right places with bags of wire, plates, and pins. Tomorrow they’re just going to make sure that we have enough skin.
“That’s when they’re gonna further repair everything. They’ll get nerves lined up with the right fingers and get everything straightened to where it will work. If they can just get it me on the track on the 25th (of April), I’ll come back for more surgery if I have to.
“They think it’s a miracle that I’ve maintained movement in my fingers. So we’ve got that much going for us. All my wrist is right now after you peel the bandages off of it, there’s the external (fixator) device and just raw nerves and ligaments and a few things gathered together by wires and pins. It kind of looks like Robocop. All in all, I think we’re gonna be alright.
“I got burned pretty bad, too. Thank God for Max McAllister. If you ever write anything, say a little that-a-boy for Max. I was laying there in all the kind of pain that you are in after an incident like that. All I remember is Max saying, ‘Richie, what can I do?’ I said, ‘Number one, do not let anybody touch my left arm. It’s broken bad. Number two, get my leathers off of my private parts and get some water down there. I’ve got Nutec spilled down my pants.’ He got that handled somehow. However he did it, I don’t know how, but the pain was unbearable. The burns aren’t a major deal now, thanks to Max.
“Mike Smith just left the room. He brought the tape to my room just now, and we were watching it. It could’ve been worse. That gas could’ve ignited. Some did on Dean’s (Mizdal) bike. We watched the tape at the nurse’s station. They thought it was pretty hairy. They had never seen anything like that. I haven’t got to visit Scott (Russell) yet. He’s been in and out of ICU. We’ve just sent each other messages. I haven’t felt well enough to go down there, and he hasn’t felt well either.
“If we can have a successful surgery on my wrist, my goal right now is to still ride (Formula USA at) Willow. I’m not saying that I’m going to miss Willow yet. I don’t know what kind of shape I’ll be in, but I want to win that (Buell Lightning) points Championship for Hal’s this year. I owe it to those guys to be out there.”
Richie Morris and his wife Lisa also thanked everyone who had taken the time to call or send flowers or cards with words of encouragement.