News 26 Oct 2017

Internal injuries sideline Mellross for Virginia AUS Supercross

SX2 contender hopeful of Sydney AUS-X Open return.

Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

DPH Motorsport Yamaha’s Hayden Mellross will sit out Saturday night’s third round of the Australian Supercross Championship in Virginia, South Australia, as he continues to recover from internal injuries sustained at round two.

Mellross, who dominated the opening round, was leading the SX2 main event before a hay-bale fell into his pathway, resulting in a nasty crash that saw him bucked off his YZ250F.

The New South Welshman was initially diagnosed with a hematoma on the night, including a loss of bladder control from the incident, which has escalated to ongoing internal injuries that have forced the number 45 to be sidelined in effort to adequately recover.

“The result of the crash was diagnosed as a hematoma on the night, which wasn’t great because it’s right where my bladder, pelvis and all that is,” Mellross explained to MotoOnline.com.au. “We thought that if it was a hard enough hit to have a hematoma, there might be some other injuries to follow.

“I’ve spent the last two weeks getting tests done, and it turns out I have a lot of internal injuries that have been pretty serious. A lot of people don’t know, but when I hit the ground and crashed I lost my bladder control – it’s not a good feeling as soon as you can’t control anything to do with that.

“Over the past two weeks I’ve been trying to get it back, I have the control back, I just can’t go to the toilet and I have a few ongoing internal injuries. It’s all under control, the doctors and specialists I’ve been seeing have been taking good care of me and taking the right precautions. The bladder is really important, I’m only 22 years old, so I feel getting this under control right now is the most important things.

“I’m not going to race in Adelaide, my hopes were still up for the championship – I had no doubt in my mind that even with the DNF, I could still win the championship with the way I was riding. Getting my bladder and internal problems under control is key right now to have a long and successful career in this sport. I’m just going to take the right precautions necessary to heal up.”

The former points leader says he’s still hopeful of making a return to the championship at Sydney’s prestigious Monster Energy AUS-X Open followed by Jimboomba’s season-finale, although that will later be determined by the state of his health.

“I’m still hopeful to race Sydney and Jimboomba,” he continued. “Obviously it’s another two weeks away and a lot can happen in two weeks. Depending on how I go with the doctors, neurologists, urologists and everyone that’s helping me, as long as I can back to normal health and get an appropriate amount of time on the bike is the main thing. If I still feel good and in control, then I’ll definitely still pencil them in.”

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