From a press release issued by Tony Bell in response to an inquiry made on behalf of a reader:

I would like to update the progress on Vicky’s rehab from the motocross injury of May 1st 2003.

The fractured shoulder has healed quite well but surgery to repair ligament damage and tears to the rotor cuff will have to take place some time in the near future. The severity of the damage to the left hip resulted in nine screws and two plates being used to hold the socket together. Vicky was unable to walk for three months after surgery. She started to use crutches August 1st but the shoulder injury limited what she could do and a wheelchair was the only way to get around. Five months after the start of rehab she has a 20% range of motion moving the leg backwards, about 25% movement laterally and 10% rotation. The doctors have told her she will never regain a full range of motion but she continues rehab each week and visits the gym twice a week.

Knowing Vicky very well I knew that not being able to ride a dirt bike again would leave a big gap in her life as she has ridden dirt bikes and raced bikes since the age of nine. On December 1st she rode a Honda CRF250 around the Vet track at Elsinore. She has to stand on a bike stand to get on the bike and if it stalled when riding she would not be able to get it started so the idle has to be set quite high. She claims she is riding, “not to fall off” but is managing to clear most of the jumps and tabletops at the track. Although in pain she is doing what she loves especially when riding with our eldest son Christopher and we’re looking forward to having our youngest son James on a CRF50 with training wheels as soon as he’s out of diapers!

Tony Bell
[email protected]
Lake Forest, California