Eli Crash - Worse From Another Angle

Brutal.

Nothing good comes from getting your head bent back that far.

Wish I hadn’t opened that 

Mrs Tomac might call time

Geez...that's bad...

Ouch!!

Woah!!!!

Not good!

Has every one of his last three crashes involved another rider? Or just two out of the three? I'm kinda at a loss what to say. Every time he's in a race, he's getting carted off. 

That was not good and he is super lucky that didn't break his neck and even worse from that. I slowed it down and his visor digs into the ground and violently pulls and twists his head back, when he bounces you can see his visor throwing dirt like a shovel. Is the Bell not a magnetic visor?

I think you are correct for the most part. Likely a family discussion on retirement timeline at minimum. He has had an unusual amount of bad luck. Practically taken out of five races this year in incidents with other riders, which is rare for him.

However he is tough as hell, still one of the most fit and most skilled out there. Still winning races this year. Maybe his patience has waned and he is pushing harder than usual to get to the front due to the fact he knows time is running out? I am at that point in my life in general so I understand.

Some say its who he is racing with/ bad starts but reality is that was never an issue. His style has always been, with exception of some of years on the Yam, bad start no prob, will blast through the pack. Pick them off and move forward.

I also believe he has had some nagging health issue(s) that started halfway through SX that is keeping him from riding 100%, which could be putting him in bad spots.

Really will be a heartbreaker to hear is he hanging it up.☹️

Has there been any update on him? Released from hospital or still there? 

And I don’t think anyone would hold it against her if she did. 

"Four-time 450MX Champion Eli Tomac qualified 10th on his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION this morning, however, an unfortunate crash on the opening lap of Moto 1 brought an early end to his day. Initial on-site scans revealed no broken bones after straining his neck in the incident, and he will undergo further evaluation during the week." 

So he didn't even get transported? C-spine xrays in the medic rig and then on a flight home? Does the medic rig have CT scanner now? Xrays for neck injuries aren't a thing anymore. if you need imaging, you need CT.

Not to mention their x-rays haven't proven to be very accurately lately!

remember your head moves around in the helmet a bit so it might not have been that extended also it was more of a slide rather than impact which is good. Fingers crossed its a minor injury

Thanks for that update man, I was really scared that he broke his neck.

I’m pretty sure Weege mentioned during the race that he was transported to a nearby hospital. Doesn’t mean shit wasn’t missed, but it probably wasn’t the Alpinestars crew who missed it. 

I LOVE et3, but every time he's injured I'm certain he's gonna hang it up. Dude has done everything you can do in this sport, and now with a family at home...and he and his wife seeing an image of how he was probably inches away from ending up in a chair...I'd be done. Hope he heals up quick, and I'll be awaiting the retirement announcement.

Yes they definitely said during the broadcast that he went to a hospital.  

Gnarly hit, really hope he's not too beat up and can shake this string of bad luck!  He's been looking so good I think he could compete for wins.

They do not have a portable CT in the Alpinestars rig. Just xray and ultrasound equipment.

Only motorsport I’m aware of that has CT scanners onsite is MotoGP. Not even F1 has one. Largely because it’s not necessary to assess immediate trauma. They’re better off stabilizing and zooming to the nearest hospital.

What good does a trackside CT do if they still need to transport? Better to get a patient to a hospital where the injury can be immediately treated.

They’re looking for internal bleeding mostly. Critical shit that will kill you in minutes. 

My broken neck was discovered on X-Ray. I think breaking a neck is every bit as bad as people think, while also having the potential to not be as bad. The issue is whether or not the spine is damaged and if surgery is needed. Going through it I was pretty surprised how resilient the neck is, while also hoping to never do it again. Hyperextension like these images show is exactly what broke mine, but I'm probably 50 pounds heavier also.

That makes sense as to why he crawled off and stopped moving. 

I agree it wouldn't be a good idea to have CT at the track. Would do more harm than good. I'm just going off the PR statement on this one but if all he had was plain xray and not transported, maybe they need their xray machine taken away as well for the same reason? Looking for a broken wrist is one thing, shooting c spine xrays shouldn't even be an option. 

I'm a huge Eli fan, but really hope that he doesn't tempt fate much longer. 

He's got nothing left to prove. 

Brutal. Real nice Marchbanks. Retired a legend because you were in such a hurry to finish 11th. 

Brutal, hated to see it. Three races, three random crashes, three heavy heavy hits. 

At this point I just want Eli to retire. Its ok, hes one of the GOATs, have nothing else to prove. He keeps getting hurt, thats so terrible to watch. 

Go home, Eli. You reached PEAK, we love you. Go rest!
Or even better, get Dungey, Villopoto, Reed, Cairoli etc, ask AMA to bring back those 125 all star races so you can come and have some fun, no pressure... slower bikes, smaller jumps. Just stop huring yourself, man!

The last time I saw pictures of the inside of the medic rig, all they had for Xray’ was a mini C-arm. We use those for extremity work in the hospital in the OR. You might get a half asses C-spine picture, but it will be fairly useless. They would get better Xray images from a mobile Xray machine. Maybe they have one now, IDK. CT is the gold standard for spine imaging. We don’t even do c-spine Xray’s in our trauma bay anymore, and haven’t for years. Patients go as soon as they are stable to the CT scanner attached to the trauma bay for imaging. (Level 1 trauma center btw and I’ve been a tech for 25 yrs). The next step for spine injuries would be a MRI or a myelogram, if the patient get a MR. And the portable CT machines aren’t real great either. I’d be shocked if they really had one bouncing down the highway and back roads all over the country. And even if they did, I’d be surprised if they had someone to run it. It’s not just pushing buttons, contrary to poplar opinion. 

I Hope so

It looks like his head is detached!