"I'm so Glad I was Knocked Out. My Hip was Out, My Back... I don't Remember the Pain" | Brandon Hartranft on His Horrific Injury 3

If you’re reading this, then you are one of the niche that are blessed to have discovered the greatest sport in the world. Moto is something special. But it can also be brutal. We all know the dangers and consequences of throwing a leg over a dirt bike. Unfortunately, HEP Suzuki’s, Brandon Hartranft recently suffered major, life changing injuries in a crash while testing for this upcoming Supercross season. He’s currently at home in California doing rehab and starting his long road to recovery. We talked to Brandon and his wife, Madison, on a recent episode of The MotoXpod Show where he was in amazing spirits, and he gave us some insight to how things are going.

For the full interview, check out the YouTube video right here. If you're interested in the condensed written version, scroll down just a bit further.

Jamie Guida - Vital MX: This is one of those interviews, I will tell you right now, it's awkward, man. We know what you've been through. And it's gut wrenching, and hard to talk about. So, how are you feeling today?

Brandon Hartranft: Uh, just a lot of emotions and a lot of soreness. Waking up every day, it's just a routine of being sore. So, it's a little bit tougher than what people think. But I mean, I guess it's part of it. We all sign up for it, but definitely a lot of time just sitting here every day on the couch. So mentally at times, definitely pretty tough.

Vital MX: I can only imagine. Not only are you in a lot of physical pain and discomfort, but a long road of rehab ahead of you. Then there’ the mental side of it.

Brandon: Today was kind of a bummer. I have to get so many CT scans on my shoulder, my back, my hip, and then out here in California is not making that easy with not being able to get me in. I might possibly need shoulder surgery. It's just ongoing. And then we go to Pomona, California, which is where my therapy is, and that's about 45 minutes from us without traffic. I go there and we don't really get shit done today, and you're just scratching your head like, this is miserable at times so people don't get it. You think they just heal and whatever. I destroyed my body and there’s consequences to that. And it sounds like I might need more surgery on some stuff.

Vital MX: I have a list of your injuries here from a post you made, L1-L2 endplate fractures, L3-L4 transverse process fractures, L1-L3 spinous process fractures, left hip dislocation, right rib fractures 5-7, right scapular fracture, and right pneumothorax with a chest tube.

Brandon: And there's actually three more breaks in my shoulder. I was knocked out for, like, 5 minutes, man. So, that's a long time. I'm still feeling that a lot, especially when I go outside. My brain is just, I just feel like I'm buzzed. It's just the process every day of waking up and trying to get better.

Vital MX: Yeah, the mental side. You have your wife, Madison, with you, but have you looked into any professional help? Just for the mental side, I feel like you're going to want to talk to somebody.

Brandon: I'm pretty stoked. We're moving back to New Jersey and that's where I'm from and I'm moving back with my family. I'm so fricking happy to do that. You have no idea. Personally, I don't really like California. So going home, I'm so fricking stoked to go home. Honestly, that's going to help. That's going to help me out a lot.

Vital MX: Having family around and more people, I'm sure. And I want to get Madison on in a second. I'm sure there's so much on her shoulders. And you guys are newlyweds. I mean, wow.

Brandon: She got kind of sick from it. When I first crashed, she took a flight straight to me. And then when she saw me laying there, I was so drugged up, but I guess I was telling her, “Calm down, it's okay”, because she was about to faint seeing me laid up. But it's quite tough on her, not just me. It's tough on her as well.

Vital MX: Yeah, it is literally life changing.

Brandon: I don't think people realize how lucky I got by not being paralyzed. I literally pinched my spinal cord and split it a little bit. People think it’s just a broken back. I still don't know everything about my spine. When they put it back together it wasn't straight, and they put all this hardware in there. They fused my back, and we still don’t know what's truly, truly wrong.

Vital MX: It could be months, maybe years, before you really know the full extent.

Brandon: I got told never ride again, and I got told I can ride in a year. I have no clue because like I said, we have to get a CT scan and then go to a neurosurgeon and go from there. Then I have to work on my shoulder and then maybe my hip. So, we'll see.

Vital MX: I’m sure as a racer and somebody that loves to ride motorcycles, that is in the back of your mind. But I would imagine if you could put that thought away it would be better for you. I don’t know how you’d do that though.

Brandon: There's times where I'm thinking how I've been riding since I was three years old. Outside of this life, I don't know a damn thing.

Scott Thomson – MotoXpod Show: You mentioned that you were knocked out for a few minutes, and then in and out of surgeries. What was the first clear thought that you remember having.

Brandon: I'm so glad honestly that I got knocked out. My hip was out, my back, I guess my practice mechanics said I was freaking out about my hip. Then I tried getting up, you have to think I was so knocked down, concussed, I don't remember anything. I don't remember the pain. I just remember getting in the hospital and then my back killing me. And I was freaking out telling them to give me medicine. And they couldn't give me medicine because my blood pressure was so low because I was in trauma. That's kind of the first thing I remember. And then the second thing was her coming in and about fainting.

Vital MX: How quick did she get to you? Were you already in the hospital when she got there?

Madison Hartranft: I was actually up in LA picking up one of my girlfriends that flew in from Alabama for Thanksgiving. And I got the call from Dustin (Pipes) that Brandon had a crash, but nobody knew how severe it was. So, I was like, “Do I need to fly up there”? And he said, “Yeah, maybe”. I immediately booked a flight out of Orange County, but I had to fly to San Francisco for an hour layover. And then I flew into Fresno, so it took me about 6 hours to get there.

Brandon: I don't remember any of that.

Madison: I was getting texts on the plane that Brandon had all these broken things, not just his hip or his shoulder, whatever, what we originally thought. And then I'm getting told by the surgeon that Brandon needs to go in and have back surgery. So that totally just spooked me on my flight. I just started screaming, crying. I was flying up there thinking, “Oh, it's a popped-out hip and everything's going to be fine.

Vital MX: I know you had the punctured lung and the chest tube. That's always fun. But with all your other injuries, that was probably the least of the discomfort.

Brandon: It's pretty weird. When I first got hurt, you know, strictly back, back, back. And then a week and a half go by, and my hip is starting to hurt all of a sudden, and then it transferred to my ribs. Now that I'm home, my shoulder, it's just weird. One week it's one thing, and then next week it's another. Everybody was hitting me up. “How's your hip”? And I'm like, “Dude, what are you guys talking about? The thing’s perfectly fine”. And then the next week comes by and I'm like, “Holy shit, my hips bad”. So yeah, it was just weird how all the injuries, it just took my body to settle in to understand, like, you actually have other injuries. I don't know. I'm like, “Who gives a shit about my shoulder. That's the weakest injury”. And now that my body's coherent on all these other injuries, my shoulder, if I move it in a weird spot, it feels like it's going to snap. And it's no exaggeration. It hurts like hell if I move around.

Vital MX: Back to the I was asking about the chest tube, were you awake for that?

Brandon: I was out. I’m glad I was out. Looking at this scar, I'm like, “Holy”... It looked like I got shanked.

Vital MX: Yeah, I've got one on each side. I was unconscious for the first one. The second one they literally numbed me right there and cut me open and shove that thing through the ribs.

Brandon: You were awake for it?

Vital MX: I was awake, but I was numb. So, it didn't really hurt.

Brandon: Goodnight, that’s scary as hell.

Vital MX: It didn't really hurt like I thought it would, but it was awkward feeling when that piece of plastic or whatever goes through your ribs.

Brandon: I bet. I'm glad I was sleeping for it.

Vital MX: Well, you had to deal with a whole lot worse.

Brandon: Did you use that little toy to breathe?

Vital MX: Yes. Where you have to keep it at a certain level?

Brandon: Keep it in the smiley face or something. The lady seemed urgent to rip the tube out, and I'm like, “This is going to hurt like a motherfucker”. The tube is blood red. And the lady's like, “I want you to inhale and exhale, and I'm going to pull on it”. And I'm thinking she's just going to do it little by little. No. As I exhale, she ripped the whole thing out, and I was just like, “What”?

Vital MX: Talk about the industry, man. The people reaching out. Road2Recovery, they hooked you up with some help with the airplane, which I think probably made the process easier.

Brandon: Oh, my God. That made life so much easier. It was either a six-hour ambulance ride or that. When we hopped in the ambulance, well, I didn't hop in it, but they put me on a stretcher, the whole thing, carted me to it. And we drove from the hospital to the airport. That was like a ten-minute drive. And I'm like, “Dude, there's no way I could have done 6 hours”. Road2Recovery has absolutely crushed it. And Mike Young is truly a gentleman. I can't thank that dude enough. And the whole industry, it's crazy. It's a little mind blowing how everybody's been so awesome towards me and really, really trying to help. I've never seen anything like it. It's pretty tough because as a moto guy that's pro, you don't want to really pay attention to somebody that gets hurt. And the Road2Recovery people are way more crucial than what people think when they get hurt. Those people are doing an awesome job. Even Ethika, I can't believe they stepped in to do that for me. Honest to God, it's so awesome to have them to do that. For me to be on my own underwear, I'm mind blown right now. It's so badass what they did. And then same with SKDA, one of my buddies from home named Corey McFadden who used to help me racing, and then Dirt Bike Depot, and the Custom Upfits guys. He's raffling off that trailer, but I want that trailer. That thing is so sick. I just can't believe how much people are stepping up for me. I want to help and give back. But they don't want me to, and I don't even know what to do.

Vital MX: You just need to worry about yourself. You've always have been one of those guys that I love in the pits. You always have time for us and give back in that way. So, I respect that you want to do something like that. But yeah, that's not your concern right now. You could very easily be in a very dark place right now. And again, a long recovery coming. But I think you're a guy that seems to be very strong mentally. And it's good to hear you laughing, man. I love that.

Brandon: I agree. I definitely could be making this a lot worse. But being home, I got let out early before Chrismas because I was supposed to get discharged on the 28th. They let me out a few days before Christmas, and that helped a lot just to be home and get out of that place. You're like a lab rat in the rehab center. They literally pump you with meds and you just sit there and you're kind of depressed. So, I was stoked to get home early. And then my parents and wife and family have truly helped me so much, just trying to make sure I'm okay and then just trying to get me home. And we have to pack a house up and move back home, which is going to be tough. But everybody from Madison's family to my family, they're all working together to get us home. There's been so many great people helping us and a lot of good people in my corner.

Scott: We've seen it happen in our sport so many times where pills become a problem in that recovery. Do you have a plan or mindset of where you want to be at a certain time with the medicine?

Brandon: So, I crushed my insides, which caused me to not being able to pee or poop. And right now, I'm taking so many medications, so just to drop a turd...I don't know, man. It's miserable at times. I honestly have weaned off the pain pills a lot. I take one at night. They’re Oxys, which I didn't realize they actually helped as much as they did. But yeah, I think when I eventually stop taking that stuff, I'll be able to poop better. We counted with the nurse, they're giving me like 13 pills, three times a day. So, my body's just going through a frickin loop right now. My dad's freaking gnarly about pills, so if I ever somehow get in that position, my dad would probably snap me out of it.

Vial MX: With all the internal trauma to the body it does start to shut down certain areas. There are things that are going to take time and you have to hope that it all figures itself out.

Brandon: It's so miserable dealing with the stomach. My stomach will be absolutely killing me. I feel like I'm going to literally just have diarrhea. And then I go and try and poop and nothing comes out and it's an everyday process. For the last month even peeing was so bad there for a bit, but I got that down and figured out. And pooping has a mind of its own it seems like.

Vital MX: Madison, I can't even imagine as a new wife. First of all, congratulations on that. But I just can't even imagine what's going through your mind. You had to be terrified, I'm sure.

Madison: Thank you! Yeah. I mean, you sit there, and you see him so defenseless. You know, that's all he's known his whole life, and ever since we've been together. I used to race, too. So, I get when it's in your blood, it's in your blood. But to see it just ripped away from him so fast and he's being so strong about it. So, it definitely helps whenever he has a good attitude. And we have so many good people in our corner checking on us, asking if we need anything. “How can I help”? So, at the end of the day, there's no doubt in my mind that if he does not come back racing, he's going to be good at whatever he does.

Vital MX: He talked about the bathroom issues. I'm sure you're having to help, which, you know, really, nobody wants to have to do.

Madison: Yeah, the first three weeks I had to wipe Brandon's butt. And he is so weird about that kind of stuff. He's got stage fright when he goes pee. You can't even be in the same room as him even if the door is shut. He doesn’t want you in there. It’s so crazy how life can change at the drop of a hat. Now he was like, “You're going too far right. Wipe my butt. You're going too far left”. I know this is funny to talk about, but you have to find the good in the bad of every situation. But it's just crazy how life changes so fast. And, yeah, I was wiping his butt for, like, three weeks and cathetering him myself. So, yeah, it's definitely a crazy way to break in a marriage. I mean, everybody keeps saying, if you can get through this, you can get through anything. Also, the brain injury that he's dealing with, he's going to speech. He's forgetful of things. That's also been another hard part, and his family can tell you the same thing, he gets so uptight and snaps so fast and then says hurtful things. And then 5 minutes later, he's sad because he didn't mean to say it. But it just happens. Obviously, I know what I'm dealing with because I've spoken to all the doctors and they basically told me, “You're going to deal with this, and this is something that will heal itself with time”. So, it's a lot of mental stuff that, you know, not only with his injuries, but you're dealing with the other side of things, too, of the brain injury. I didn't expect to be in this position. I thought Brandon was coming into A1. We were excited and thought, this is going to be his best year yet. He was coming home from Fresno. He was going up there and riding a few days a week with Dustin. They have a whole new setup, and he would come home telling me how great he's doing. At the end of the day, I think everything happens for a reason. So, I'm just going to keep living by that. And I know it will be good no matter what.

Scott: Yeah, 15, 20 years from now you'll look at this and say, “We got through that”. It kind of puts everything in perspective.

Madison: Exactly. I definitely think it's going to bring us closer together as a couple. Not that we weren't already, but I already feel like it's bringing us closer together. And like I said, I think he'll come back stronger.

Vital MX: Before I let you go; you were in the Fly Formula helmet for this crash. You made a comment about what you thought of it.

Brandon: That thing did its job. At least I think it did. That helmet was so good. When I put that helmet on, it suctions to my head. It's very, very strong, and then it's got these cushiony things to absorb your impact. And yeah, I thought it was legit.

Vital MX: Those are called RHEON.

Brandon: If I was in the other helmet, I don't know what the case would be. I did crush the Fly helmet; I smashed the shit out of it. So, it did its job, I'd say.

Vital MX: I can't tell you how happy I am to hear you in good spirits, you know? I'm sure you're going to have some moments where you're down. But I love hearing that you are up right now and that your friends and your family are surrounding you with the love and the compassion you need. I'm a big fan of yours. I've always enjoyed talking to you.

Brandon: I'll never forget when I did that interview for the top eight, you asked me a question.

Vital MX: Yeah, at Salt Lake City last year.

Brandon: Because that's a moment in my life, just being up there with those guys and you asked me a question. So, I'll never forget what the question was and stuff like that. I appreciate you being a supporter.

Vital MX: Yeah, man, I like you, dude. You're a good person. That's what I always take away from certain people, I don't care how good you are on a motorcycle. I care about how you treat me when I was new in the industry, and you always made time for me. I cannot wait to see you fully recovered. And like I said, even if you're not back on a motorcycle competitively, I want to see you back at the races. And I can't wait to interview you in person.

Brandon: There's a race this year at MetLife, and that's literally 15 minutes from my house. So, I might need to come and watch and hang out for a bit.

Vital MX: Yeah, dude, let's make that a goal. I don't think that's one that's on my schedule. But I if you make it to that race, I'll make Michael Lindsay send me. So, let's make that a goal.

Brandon: That's a deal. Thank you guys, for always looking out for me.