Katherine Prumm Suffers Back Injury
by Nick Harris
Katherine Prumm – Double Women’s World Cup winner, will undergo surgery in the coming days after a practice crash in her native New Zealand left the 20 year old with several broken vertebrae. The YZ250F rider, who led the 2008 FIM Women’s World Championship before her season was curtailed by a broken collarbone, over-jumped a triple step-down and in the ensuing tumble caused damage to her spine with the T6, T9 and T12 most affected.
Prumm who was training in preparation for attempts at the 2009 title as well as national success both in New Zealand and Australia was naturally shell-shocked with the injury set-back. Until the exact date and nature of surgery is known the duration and form of rehabilitation is difficult to determine but one thing is certain…
We wish you the speediest of recoveries Katherine, being at the height of your game on the verge of a world championship and having it challenged like this has to be heart wrenching. The more important thing is that you’re still with us, for that we’re all thankful.
From Katherine:
‘Motocross is a fantastic sport and I hope that girls can see that it is well supported and encouraged. I would urge anyone to take the plunge give it a go,’ she added. ‘I think international women’s motocross has grown a huge amount in 2008. The numbers of riders wanting to race is increasing and the girls are also taking the championship more seriously and working really hard during the season on fitness and conditioning. I think the manufacturers are starting to see that the women’s market is competitive and a positive direction for them to look in. I would still like to see longer races but I am really happy with the development of more GPs and higher entries.’
update: Surgery went well and Katherine is now facing six months of rehabilitation and three months wearing a specially designed back brace. She had this to say after surgery – “‘Somebody was watching over me, I was really lucky not to be paralyzed and I am looking forward to getting fit and strong and to being back where I want to be”
As for her prospects of returning to her sport – “I’m just fully focused on my recovery. There’s no pressure on me to do anything at this stage.” Good stuff Katherine.
source: nzherald.co.nz, photo credit: Yamaha Racing
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