Oh wow. That couldn’t have been good.
No. It really put me back. I met with a specialist in Charlotte, NC and he discovered that not only did the left wrist need attention, but my right wrist hadn’t healed properly, either. It was still partially dislocated. My only option was to get the right wrist partially fused and get a bone graft on the left scaphoid to try and get it to heal. That was November. From then on, it was a waiting game to see if the surgeries would do what we intended. 

And now here we are in August. What’s the prognosis?
Well thankfully, my right wrist healed! The fusion took and I was out of the cast in 8 weeks time. My left scaphoid took a lot longer. I was in a cast until the GNCC opener in March. That’s right about when the doc took me out of it and wanted me to start working it to see if we could stimulate the healing process. Initially, it looked promising! There was healing, even though it was a slow process. We got to the 6 month mark and the doc felt I was good enough to start riding. So at the beginning of May, I took the bike out for some laps. It was painful! I tried a couple more times, but I knew something wasn’t right. I went back to the doc and he had to do yet another surgery and partially fuse the left wrist, also. That required a cast for another 8 weeks. I just got out of that cast at the end of June. I’ve been rehabbing ever since. I’m feeling good. The doc is confident with my progress. He released me to ride and I’m anxious to get back at! Just, one step at a time. 

You still have that fire burning, even through all this adversity. How do you maintain your focus?
It’s not been easy! There’s been some hard days and some dark days. My wife, Rachel, has stuck by me and helped keep me motivated. I’m determined to get back. This is definitely not the end! It’s actually opened a breath of fresh air and revived me to get back out there. I’ve been racing dirt bikes for a long time and now that I haven’t been able to; I know that I want to race dirt bikes! It’s showed me how much I love the sport and it’s what I want to do.

As you’ve been on the sidelines this year, you’ve witnessed Kailub Russell dominate the championship. Does it frustrate you that you aren’t able to be out there challenging for the win?
I mean, it does, but you’ll drive yourself nuts if you dwell on it and worry about something like that! Obviously, he’s having a stellar year. I’d love to have a year like that! It just motivates me to be better. Hopefully next year, I’ll be in a position to battle for those wins.

However, I’m more realistic this time around. When I came back after summer break last year, I don’t think my goals were realistic for the type of injury I had. Now, after going through this whole thing all over again, I know in my mind what I’m expecting of myself. I’m not setting the bar too high, but I do know what I want to do! 

Great! We look forward to having you back! I know much of the GNCC Racin’ Nation was hoping for this fall, but we want you healed 100% and fully competitive!
That’s the goal! I’ve been staying active and doing what I can, but there’s only so much you can do with one arm in a cast! So, although I’m staying fit, there’s nothing like on-the-bike training. That’s why I need these next six months to prepare for the 2016 season. It’s all about building grip strength, rebuilding those calluses on the hands, building up the forearms…there are so many things that can’t be duplicated off the bike and they take time.

I had a chance to bump into Justin Brayton (SX/MX racer). He said he doesn’t live too far from you there in North Carolina and you guys did some training together before your injury.  
Yeah, we became pretty good pals. He lives a little over an hour away. Before I got hurt I was riding quite a bit at the JGR track with him. We would mountain bike and road bike together. Now, I just go to the Wednesday night mountain bike races and hang out, cheer him on.