Sunday:

So here we are, sat on our 11am flight out of Amsterdam and straight to John’s Dr in San Francisco. We are approximately 6hours in to this 11-hour journey and for the most part I slept! I have only been able to achieve 4 hours of shuteye in like 3 days, so it was needed! John is beside me watching a movie and in a lot of pain! Due to it being an injury in the hip and femur area it seems that no matter what position he lays in it just doesn’t help. John watched the movie ‘seven pounds‘ & is now half way through ‘ Role Model’ with Sean William Scott. It was funny as they had a documentary on Salt Lake City, Utah in the discovery option, and seeming as we may be going there for one of the rounds I thought why not get to know a little more about it, it was interesting to say the least ;)

Of course you all know John had a big high side during Fridays practice, which has related in him not participated in Sundays race. It is so crazy because on the day before this I received a long awaited call from the immigrations office, informing that I have just been issued my travel documents, so I am free to leave and return to the States as I please! YAY!

I found the first flight into Amsterdam which was leaving LAX the next morning at 9am, so I packed my carry on lightly to avoid checking in any luggage and printed my boarding passes. I was so excited at the idea of just turning up and surprising John on Saturday! I left our house at 5am so it gave me time for the unpredictable traffic going into Los Angeles, and traveling over seas can sometime mean arriving 2hrs before the flight departs. As I was cruising up the 5North I had John’s sister call me to let me know how practice was going, and it was then she informed me of Johns crash! She hadn’t been given any other info, only that he is now in the medical centre and his PA will call me with any news as soon as he can. Of course I was hysterical, as I just hate not knowing. Within the next 10 minutes I received an emotional call from John telling me exactly what had happened, what is damaged, and in detail, how much pain he was going through.

He then said “I wish you was here with me”, and of course I then told him of the big plan, and that I was currently pulling into parking lot 7 at LAX and on my way! I guess it made him feel a little bit better; along with the painkillers I am sure ;)

Both my LA-Chicago, Chicago-Amsterdam flights were crowded, hot and noisy so no sleep for me. After the 2hour drive from Schipol airport to Assen TT I met up with John just in time for lunch. He was hobbling around and had all reliance on a pair of crutches. I finally got to meet everybody at Stiggy which was cool, and before I knew it, it was “Hi everyone, BYE everyone!” and we were back on the road to Amsterdam. I know it was a long way to come for the few hours that I was there, but my flight was already booked and John needed someone to help take all the bags, check in, security etc and it was important for me to be there at a time where he needs me most J

So last night was spent in the Sheraton Airport hotel, and for John it was a long one. The painkillers wore off and anytime he was lucky to catch a wink of sleep he would have reoccurring muscle spasms, causing him to wake up screaming in pain. I wasn’t in a relaxed state either so I didn’t sleep at all, just pondering on my laptop, waiting to get the tired feeling that never came. It was around 5am when we logged on to motogp.com to watch the races, which had an unexpected outcome I must say, oh and poor Webb!

In between the races we were taking showers and dashing to get ready, as we knew we had to leave as soon as the Moto-gp race finished. Once we checked in, had some breakfast we boarded our KLM flight…. Which brings me to here J

As far as we know John has a small fracture to his femur, but this was is all that we know from the X-Ray’s, he is yet to have an MRI to see if any further muscle tissue is damaged. The impact of the crash caused John to dislocate his hipbone, which meant him being rushed to the medical centre and pretty much have it popped back in! From what I have heard its supposed to be excruciatingly painful as it has a lot of main tendons and nerves running through there, and is a pain that doesn’t come and go it is constant. Poor John L

At least we are on the way to the best place we could possibly go, Dr Ting has done 90% of Johns surgeries in which all have been outstanding, neat & problem free. Once he heard that John is on his way, he and Twan organized our room, pick up and have scheduled John to be worked on Monday morning and 5am. I will let you all know how it goes! Thanks again for being such great support everyone, we will get there J

Ashleigh

…………………………….

Wednesday:

Hello everyone.

 Just a little update… Today is Wednesday and it’s just after lunchtime here. Picking up from where I left off, we made it into San Francisco around 1pm and went straight to Freemont surgery centre to meet with Dr Ting. John went straight into X-Ray’s and CT Scan so that we could have full indication of what’s going on in there.

 The following day we had our alarms set for 4.30am to be in the surgery centre for 5.30. Every thing went extremely well and Dr Ting couldn’t have been happier. When John came around he was extremely delirious and was in and out of sleep.

He has been in a lot pain for the past 2 days & has expressed this being the worst injury of his life. His days are consisting of watching TV and as little movement as possible! Although Dr Ting was utterly stunned by Johns determination, he managed to get on his crutches the day after surgery ;) he absolutely hates being in hospitals so I guess when you want to go home, you just want to go home!!

John Hopkins:

" I have never been in so much pain in my whole life even though I have been in a few crashes! I was thrown into the air and landed on he track with my feet first.  After an agonising wait in the hospital, I felt slightly better when my hip was put back into place, but on Saturday morning I just felt like I had been run over by a train. Fortunately, my wife made a surprise visit to see me in Assen and supported me throughout the long flight back home. I had an appointment scheduled with Dr. Ting on Monday morning to get a clear indication of the sustained injuries, and set a realistic plan for my recovery. I will now start my therapy in a couple of days and have set my goal on being ready to race again in the US round. It is a shame this nasty crash happened, as the bike felt really good straight out of the box on Friday morning, and was looking forward to competing for a top position".

Dr. Ting, Orthopedic Surgeon:

" John suffered a posterior fracture dislocation of his left hip. When he arrived here in Fremont on Sunday, we did a CT scan which showed us the fracture of his femur. He was taking into the operating room on Monday morning where his fractures in the hip joint and pelvis were fixed with five solvable screws. John already walked out of the hospital on crutches, and will start training again within 2 weeks. I expect his full recovery to take up to 6 weeks, but with John anything is possible".  

Johan Stigefelt, Teammanager:

" Im really pleased with the outcome of John's surgery. I have big confidence in Dr. Ting's knowledge, as I know he is one of the best surgeons for these specific injuries. Dr. Ting has helped me with some of my injuries in the past, so I know for a fact that he is one of the best. I know John is tough and determined to come back to race as soon as possible. He will train hard to make a speedy recovery, and im sure he will be joining the team again shortly. Hopefully he will be ready to compete again in the US round, that would be great for all of us".

My Little Sister is here with us at the home right now,  so we are dashing around like little elves trying to help out, she swears he is the Bionic man ;)

Well, I will keep you all updated on any changes this way.

Ashleigh J