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Update 25/11/2008
I was not expecting to be able to do another update so soon but things have progressed very fast over the last few weeks. Last Wednesday I was told that I was passed fit to start riding again if I wanted to. I had already started building the bikes up with the view to start riding again in the new year. With the news that I could ride again and a few weeks of gym under my belt which had gone really well I decided to go and practice at Rye House last Saturday.
The day went really well, I was a little rusty to start with but that was only to be expected. After a few rides I was feeling better and more confident. I cant explain in words how good it was to get back on a bike again and to ride the way I did towards the end of the day. I was also really pleased how the bike that we had rebuilt was going so all in all a very good day. The plan is to do the next two or three weeks of practice left at Rye House then have a break over the Christmas period and organise everything for the new year when I plan to go practice getting ready for the 2009 season and whatever that has in store for me.
I will try and update the site after each time I get the chance to practice to let anyone that’s interested how things are going
Shane
Update 27/10/2008
On Friday the 24th I had a check up with the consultant who did the operations on my leg. He was really pleased with the X-rays and has given me the all clear and I can start training to get fit properly now. Friday was my 15th birthday so that was a nice present for me. They have also said they will take all the screws and metalwork out next winter which was good news as well. They have said there is no problem riding with the plate and screws in and I can start riding in a few weeks if I choose that I want to.
The main aim is to get fully fit first before thinking about riding and we have the big task of building yet another bike up and repairing the damage. This year has been a tough one in more ways than one not just on me but my bikes have taking a battering and I have wrecked two bikes, one in each accident and both times all that we have salvaged is the engine and clutch and a few bits and pieces. So as you can imagine it has been an expensive year for us.
I am so looking forward to next year and now I can get in the gym and train properly it feels like I am making progress and getting nearer to getting back to doing what I enjoy most, riding my bikes.
Shane.
Update 21/10/2008
First of all I would like to apologize for not updating my site for a while, to say this year has been a disaster for me would be an understatement. Since I last posted an update I have recovered from the broken femur and spent hours and hours in the gym getting fit. In July I had an operation to remove all the metalwork in my leg. Then six weeks later I was given the all clear to start riding again. Things where going well with my riding but I was finding it hard playing catch up with everyone as they had been riding all year.
I was having good meetings and bad meetings but it was only to be expected after the injuries I have had. I started to get rides where ever I could in academy matches and second halves. I was invited to ride at Ipswich on the 14th of August in a junior four team tournament. I did not start the meeting that well but got better as the night went on. Unfortunately I had a big accident that night and went through the fence which resulted in me breaking my tibia and fibula near the ankle on my right leg, the same leg as I broke before.
I was taken to Ipswich hospital and the was transferred to Tunbridge wells hospital the next day where over a period of five days I had three operations to plate and screw the bones back into place. I would like to thank everyone there as the way they have put everything back together has been a success. Ten weeks on from the operations I am out of plaster and I am getting about quite well. It is expected I will get the all clear soon and will be able to step up my fitness work ready for next year. I am able to cycle and row in the gym already and cant wait to be able to do more and get fit.
As for next season all I can say to all the doubters out there that have said I would never ride again is YOU COULD NOT BE MORE WRONG. I plan to get fit and then start practicing early next year, I will take it steady and when I think I am ready I will start racing again but not until I think I am ready. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at Lakeside speedway especially Jon Cook and Stuart Douglas who have helped me all year to stay positive and look forward to the future. I promise I will update here more often to let everyone now how I am getting on.
Looking forward to 2009
Shane
Injury update 7/4/2008
I thought I would update everyone on how things are going with my injuries. Last Monday I went for a check up with the consultant and had X-rays on the leg. They are really pleased with the way the bone is healing and the way the knee movement is coming along. I am having to work very hard with the physio on the Knee and leg and I will be having a coarse of hydrotherapy. I have lost a lot of muscle and it is affecting my progress as it hindering the way I walk. I am allowed to put all my weight on my leg and I am down to one crutch to help me get about.
It looks like it will be later in the year when I will be able to have the metal work out and then it will be a case of getting fit then I will be able to get on a bike. I really cant wait for the day to come when I can get on a bike again as I am finding it a bit hard watching but before you know it I will be back.
Below are some of the X-rays taken just after the operation, If you are not squeamish take a look if you are then close your eyes . The last picture was taken last week and you can see how much the bone has started to knit together.
Press article in the Evening Argos
Injured Shane still has a speedway dream
By Brian Owen
Shane Hazelden probably expected to get some lighthearted stick at school this week. The 14-year-old hot prospect returned to classes two months after breaking his right femur in a practice session. He hobbled through the gates at Beacon Community College in Crowborough on crutches and told mates he had a metal rod holding his right leg in place.
But the young rider, who has already enjoyed a heat win at the Millennium Stadium and finished sixth in the British Under-15 Championship, insists injury will not detract him from his ambition of one day becoming world champion.
Hazelden went flying in a low-key practice session at Sittingbourne as he suffered teething problems with the 500 cc bike, having previously mainly ridden 250s. He had to be rushed back into hospital for a blood transfusion. That is all part of the hard upbringing for a youngster in one of the toughest sports around.
Hazelden, back at Arlington to watch training last Sunday, said: "I was practicing for the first time for six weeks and it was going well.” Then all of a sudden coming out of the fourth bend the bike lifted. I got it down but it was too late. The foot rest dug into the fence, it flipped me over the bike and all I remember is seeing sky. I knew straight away I'd broken my leg. It was pain I'd never had before. They gave me gas and it seemed all right after that but I was in hospital for about eight days. Once I got home I felt really weak and I had no power. I couldn't get up”.
"We called 999 and they found out I had lost a lot of blood. I had to have a blood transfusion. They put about a litre of blood into me which started at midnight and ended next afternoon at 2 o'clock."
So far this term, Hazelden has had work sent home from his school. That was until last Monday when he was back in class among his football-mad mates.
He said: "The kids tend to take the Mickey a lot of the time because they don't really understand speedway but, to be honest, I don't really care. This year I was planning on being in an academy team and getting race-fit but it didn't go to plan. I've had about two months off already. Maybe another three months and I'll be able to have my rod out and be training for the end of this season or for next season. I've had work sent home but when I go to the track all I want to do is ride."
Eagles are keen to develop more local young riders, making their way up through the engine sizes. Hazelden has done a lot of racing at 250 cc level, including his Millennium Stadium win ahead of last year's British Grand Prix. But he now knows what the bigger machines are all about. He said: "It's completely different. It has got more power and, as I've found out, it is not as forgiving as the 250. Even when you are practicing it's a big risk because you're trying to go quicker. The reason I crashed was I haven't got much experience. As I get quicker and older and have more time on a bike I'll be ready. The only ambition I have is to be the best rider ever known. I want to be eight-time world champion. I want to be the best."
Which is great. But don't his mum and dad, Sue and Garry, worry a bit? Sue admitted: "The mother's side of me wants him to take up something like snooker or darts. But neither of us would ever stop him doing something he loves so much and something he is gifted at."
Press article in the Kent and Sussex Courier
08 February 2008
On December 30, 2007, Shane Hazelden's life was turned upside down. The speedway starlet was practicing in Sittingbourne when he lost control of his bike coming out of a corner and at 60mph crashed through the safety barrier. The 14-year-old shattered his right femur and dislocated his knee.
He was rushed to Medway hospital where his leg was pinned but amazingly he was released two days later. However, on his return to Crowborough, Shane's condition quickly went downhill due to the huge amount of blood he had lost in the accident. He was taken to the Kent and Sussex hospital where he underwent an emergency blood transfusion.
A month later Shane is home and on the road to recovery but the events at Sittingbourne will live long in the memory for both himself and his family.
"In just five seconds his life was turned upside down," Garry, his father, said. "I've been in sport a long, long time but it's a completely different thing seeing your own son cartwheeling down a track.
"He could now miss a whole year of racing. His bone is shattered so it all depends how well it heels. But he has been read the riot act. There will be no motorbikes until it is fully heeled. That's gutting after the year he had and the career he has in front of him."
In 2007 Shane, one of the top junior speedway riders in the country, was invited to race at the prestigious Cardiff Grand Prix, where he put on a stunning show. After that he went on to compete in the British under 15 championship finishing sixth overall, beating many top juniors on his 250 cc machine while his rivals were on more powerful 500 cc bikes.
He was training hard in preparation for a massive 2008 when disaster struck. Yet, despite the severe injuries, Shane is refusing to let it put him off and vowed to return to racing sooner rather than later.
"I was lying there and I knew I had broken my leg," he said. "I was on the gas to take away the pain and I kept saying to my parents 'this ain't going to stop me from riding'. They kept saying 'are you sure you want to be doing this?'. About the fifth time I snapped and said 'I am carrying on'.
"The way I look at it, whatever fate does it does. You just have to go along with it. You can't change what has happened in the past."
In fact there may even be some positives to take out of his accident.
Shane has been invited up to Lakeside in Essex to work as a mechanic for some of the top riders. That is an opportunity he is unlikely to have been given in normal circumstances but it is one where he can take in essential knowledge to further his career.
"I'm going to learn stuff that I'm going to put into bikes for the rest of my career," Shane said. "I'm going to have my eyes and ears open to see and hear what riders are doing and then hopefully I will have an advantage when I come back."
And what of his comeback?
"For normal people they would take out the rod after six months and then there would be another six months recovery," he admitted. "But before the accident I went to the gym, so was quite fit anyway. As soon as the rod is out I'll be back up the gym and working to get fit for a race or two at the end of the season. If not, I'll have a fresh start next year."
You get the impression when he does come back he will be better than ever.
Shane would like to thank his sponsors who have stood by him as he begins his recovery - Meridian Marquees, John Harris motorcycles, Eddy Grimstead racing and all the members of the third bend gang at Eastbourne speedway. He is always in need of sponsors especially now with the repair bills for the bike, which was wrecked. His racing suit and protective amour were also ruined as they had to be cut off of him by the paramedics.
If you want to sponsor Shane E-mail gazza@sidetrack.freeserve.co.uk
NEWS UPDATE
On 30th on December I rode for the first time back after a break to get ready for the new season ahead of me, but it didn’t go to plan.
My first ride I was a little rusty but on the second I was back on it and was going as fast or faster than before but my third ride everything changed and my third ride has now changed my whole look of this season, coming out of the forth bend really low near the white line I picked up some unwanted drive and headed front wheel in the air straight to the fence. I tried my hardest to get the front end down as soon as I could, as I got it down I knew the fence was in front of me a few metres away and hit it with some force.
The footrest dug into the fence and threw me over the handlebars and I cart wheeled down the track and the bike ended up a good 20 metres away from me and 30 meters away from were I crashed.
I laid on the track and at the time I new straight away that I had broken my leg, as soon as the paramedics came and gave me the gas I felt so much better and happier as it eased the pain.
Jon cook from Lakeside speedway was a massive help and would like to thank him for all the support he gave me during the hard time as he was there on the track to reassure me, also the paramedics who came so quickly.
After being in hospital in Medway for 4 days and 3 nights after the operation I was sent home but once again my luck turned , I had no strength and felt light headed.
As I was rushed to Tunbridge wells hospital they found out I had lost half my blood and had a very bad knee injury as I had dislocated it in the accident. I had to have a blood transfusion to make me better . After 5 nights and 6 days in Tunbridge wells hospital I was finally was allowed home to recover. Now I’ve got my splint off my leg after a month and I am starting to bend my knee also my leg does not hurt as much.
It all seems like my recovery is going well and heading in the right direction now and give it some time I will be back riding and I’ll be faster and stronger physically and mentally than before and racing in no time at all.
p.s thanks for all your cards it cheered me up I will try and update you all as things progress through the year.
thank you.
Shane
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