Enduro expert Adam Riemann shares his insight into the world of off-road, presented by Yamaha.
It’s never good to hear that one of your friends has been inured racing, so it was a real shock to find out that Ben Grabham had been airlifted to hospital after a top gear crash during the Cond 750, at Conobolin, NSW.
Having placed second on Saturday’s leg of the race to local favourite and log-time Aus Safari rival Todd Smith, Grabbo was on the hunt for the win in Sunday’s leg of the race.
In one of the bigger stages of Sunday’s leg, Grabbo eventually passed Todd while he was refuelling at a splash and dash and charged on as the lead rider.
About 50km later, Todd glanced to see Grabbo’s bike in a heap off the side of the track while he was pinned in top gear himself. He turned back to look for Ben and found him laying motionless some 50-meters ahead of where his bike had stopped.
Todd slowly woke Ben and helped coax him back to conciousness. When Ben woke, he was able to stand up but had a broken shoulder, a bone poking through his forearm and severe back pain.
Docters expect Grabham to make a full recovery and return at 100 percent.
By this stage Ben’s brother Damian had come through the field and stayed to look after Ben, allowing Todd to continue on along with other competitors who were being waved by.
With Ben stabilized and awaiting medical assistance, Damian walked back towards the start of where the crash occured and found a dead kangaroo only metres before the first marks the bike had left in the ground.
Given the section of track was smooth and extremely fast, Damian assessed that the Kangaroo jumped into the side of Ben’s KTM 500EXC and pitched it into an instant highside while he was doing approx 160-170kph.
It took some three hours before a 4WD ambulance could get to Ben and transfer him to a area clear enough for a flying doctor to airlift him to hospital. CT scans later revealed that Ben had also crushed three vertabrae in his spine and was immediately transfered to a spinal unit near Sydney.
I was with Toby Price at the time when we first heard Grabbo had a big one. We’re both very concerned for Ben and wish him a speedy recovery, but it was also interesting to note disappointment Toby felt when he realised Ben will not be fit to challenge him for a fight to the finish line in this year’s Finke Desert Race .
Specialists who have worked on Ben’s injuries in the past say he is very lucky, but given the way they’ve seen him heal himself in the past, are confident he’ll make a 100% recovery. We’re all relieved you’re gonna be ok mate.
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