Four days after sustaining a spine and scapula injury during AMA Supercross competition, Austin Forkner took to social media to share his status in an emotional, 10-minute video.
On Saturday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the No. 64 Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider experienced a brutal wreck that left him unconscious for several minutes.
He was leading the 250SX East race prior to the incident.
During the 10-minute video he posted on Instagram on Wednesday, Forkner revealed a few more details about the crash, what it was like from his perspective and the aftermath.
He shared that his left contact fell out of his eye earlier in the main event, which may have contributed to the wreck.
“Is that why I crashed? I don’t know. I’ll never know,” Forkner said.
He continued, “As for the crash, I don’t need to get into it that much. It’s pretty simple. I came up about two inches short from that jump and when I went down, my weight went forward and I have my bad arm, which I’ve had all those nerve surgeries on that’s weak and has lost a lot of muscle, that was the arm that blew off…It was game over after that.”
The Missouri native was transported from the stadium to a local hospital, where it was found that he broke the transverse processes on the right side of his L3 and L4 on his spine. He broke his shoulder blade across the top, “all the way into my shoulder socket.” Finally, he also had bleeding and bruising in his lungs.
Though Forkner was released from the hospital on Sunday night, he is continuing to evaluate his injuries further with MRI scans and follow-up visits. It doesn’t appear that any surgery will be necessary for the known injuries.
“I’m very blessed and lucky I walked away from that,” Forkner said, pausing to let the stirring wave of emotion pass. “That was probably one of the scariest crashes I’ve ever had, or ever seen period.”
Watching the tape back “scared me a lot,” he shared as he broke down with tears.
Forkner’s not sure what the injury means for his immediate future in the sport and isn’t attempting to make any decisions about getting back on the bike a mere three days after the incident. He’s also not sure whether his latest injury will be just another obstacle to overcome in his life, or if it’s a greater sign from God to step away.
“I always talk to God and ask for signs and ask for Him to show me this and show me that. Maybe this is just another milestone or another thing for me to overcome, you know, it’s just gonna add to my story. But at some point, you gotta start thinking that maybe he’s trying to show me something, you know,” Forkner said.
This is his fourth major injury in four years.