Following Cam Zink's hospitalization in Canada for a ruptured spleen, and an upcoming scheduled surgery for his problematic knee, the Haro/Oakley rider has terminated his season and is now focusing on regaining full fitness for the 2008 season.
Zink's internal injuries were suffered at the Bearclaw Invitational at Mt Washington, Canada, when he crashed on a practice run on the first day the course was open.
"I was riding pretty mellow, just making my way through all the course features when I second guessed myself," said Zink.
"I came up to the first of two dirt jumps which were pretty massive. After the log drop I braked to stop but then decided to still go for it. I came up short and almost saved it. The logical way out would have been to jump over the bars, but with my knee being torn, I decided to hold on and hope for the best. The "best" definitely isn't what happened."
"I flew over the bars from the top of the nine foot landing to flat ground on my side. There was nothing sharp to jab my spleen, though the impact alone was too much for it to take. After the crash my wrist hurt, so I sat on the side of the course for a little bit. After 10 minutes or so, my stomach started to hurt from all the blood filling up in my abdomen. This was a familiar feeling as I've suffered the same injury riding downhill six years ago."
"Then soon after my shoulders started hurting because of pressure points that pass through the abdomen. This was the tell tale sign," finished Cam from his hospital bed soon after the incident.
The injury is a level two out of four rupture, which fortunately means his body will heal on its own without surgical intervention, but with a lot of down time. Following his release from hospital Zink headed home to Reno to begin his rehab, which his wrist also needs, and then plans will be made for his all important knee surgery.
"The knee surgery I'm looking into is not approved in America, so I will have to look outside the country for specialist surgeons to have it performed. I heard about it being performed on skateboard legend, Danny Way, and it's supposed to be bomb proof! They replace the ACL with a Kevlar rope and will also replace the meniscus with a whole new one. This will most likely be the last knee operation for my poor knees."
After only six to eight weeks rehab for this type of knee surgery, compared to the usual six months for conventional surgery, Zink will resume training for 2008.
