Photo by: Chase Yocom
Jimmy Alberston—who crashed at the 2017 Daytona SX and sustained a serious back injury—has made the very tough decision to get his fractured vertebrae’s fused. Today, Jimmy sent out an update on his decision and his very scary upcoming operation.
We wish Jimmy the best and will be keeping him in our thoughts. We also want to say that we are very thankful to have an organization like Road 2 Recovery in this sport to help out riders in the toughest of situations. Check out Jimmy’s open letter to his fans and friends below.
Update from Top Jimmy:
As you all know from the last update, I was looking into other options instead of fusing five vertebrae. After getting three opinions, it confirmed that I had no other choice besides fusing due to the ligament damage along with the severity of the fractures.
My chosen option would be with Dr. Melamed of Disc MD Group in Los Angeles. Dr. Melamed had also agreed to the fusion. He is genuinely concerned not only about my present condition, but also my future condition. He explained to me that I have a 30 degree kyphosis (hunch back in laymen’s terms) in the thoracic part of my spine. He went on to explain that by having the rods and fusion without the spinal alignment done will have a terrible effect on me in my quest to get back to living pain free. There are not many surgeons who are willing to do this surgery, because it does involve breaking the spine to correct it. That being said, the possibility of being in better spine health than even before the injury excites me.
It is 5am PST currently and I’m on a plane. I’ve had a dozen operations done over the years, but this is the first time that I’ve been scared/nervous about going under, but I know deep down, that this is the right decision.
Road 2 Recovery has been a lifeline for us. Mike and Anita have been there every step of the way. Being able to fly to California and stay in a high end medical facility for a week is something that would have swallowed us in debt. They’re truly looking out for my best interest and we can’t thank them enough, as well as Archview MX Park for holding a benefit to raise money for R2R on my behalf. Thanks to all for all the well wishes and donations! I also want to thank all my sponsors for standing behind me during these tough times..None of this would have been possible without the help from my good friend Jeremy Malott. Normally I would have had to sit on a waiting list for months to have the correct surgery, but after Dr. Melamed saw my scans, he knew it was urgent, and fit me in to his busy schedule. Jeremy and I haven’t really known each other long at all, but have had some awesome times the past year. I look forward to making more memories after all this!
I will be going in for surgery with my lovely wife Georgia by my side on Wednesday morning, and we will try to keep everyone updated as much as we can.Many thanks,
Top Jimmy
