Martyn Ashton Suffers Significant Spinal Injury 5

BATH, UK 12/09/13 – Martyn Ashton, international mountain bike trials legend, ex World Champion and star of the Road Bike Party YouTube sensation, was injured during a trials demo held on Sunday 1st September at Silverstone’s Moto GP, England.

During one of the stunts on the Animal WD40 Action Sports Tour, Martyn fell backwards off of a three metre high bar and hit the ground with significant force. The impact caused severe damage to his spine, dislocating the T9 and T10 vertebrae. After paramedics stabilised him at the scene, Martyn was swiftly airlifted to Coventry Hospital where he received emergency treatment and was admitted to Intensive Care.

New Day, Different Trial

The initial prognosis is not positive: Martyn has currently lost feeling below the point of injury. He has now been moved to RJ&AH Hospital Oswestry’s Specialist Spinal Care Unit where he is receiving treatment and undergoing further tests to assess the extent of his injuries and to map the road to recovery.

The current medical plan is for Martyn to undergo six weeks of complete bed rest to allow his body to heal itself as much as possible. At that point a lot more will be known as to the long term recovery he will be able to expect. Once the joint is stable he will then undertake a long and hard rehabilitation programme.

“Since the accident I've received so many wonderful messages and well wishes, I can't thank everyone enough for those – it has been hugely supportive,” said Martyn. ”I'm also incredibly lucky to have amazing family and friends, who are all rallying around myself, Lisa and Alfie, and helping us through this tough time. As a result I'm feeling very positive and ready to face the tough challenge ahead. I'm just taking it day by day, hoping that I can make enough progress over the next three months to be home for Christmas.”

Secret Filming

It’s currently too early to say what long term recovery Martyn can expect, however he is keen for everyone to know he is absolutely focused on his care and is also determined to release his next video, Road Bike Party 2, which he has been secretly working on.“My main focus this year was to make my next video Road Bike Party 2 – this has not changed. I've been training really hard on the new road bike and I've felt like I've been riding better on this video than I've ever ridden in my entire life. I was so confident on that bike. Unfortunately we hadn't quite completed the filming – we were so close – but thanks to the team behind me and some great friends I’m excited that we are close to pulling the final edit together... so watch this space!”

About Martyn Ashton

Martyn Ashton started riding motorcycle trials at the age of 11, reaching a high standard by the age of 18 and competing in national competitions. At this age he then ventured into push bike trials with immediate success seeing him selected for the Great Britain squad to compete at the World Championships. In 1993, the following year, Martyn won the British Bike Trial Championship and continued to dominate the British competition scene for the next 10 years.

1995 was a big year for Martyn. He joined the all conquering Volvo Cannondale Mountain Bike Race Team and won a World Bike Trial Championship. He then spent the next seven years riding on the Volvo Cannondale squad with his focus gradually moving more and more to live shows and media coverage.

In 2002 Martyn started riding for Animal Clothing and also created his own bicycle brand ‘Ashton Bikes’; Martyn's designs were strikingly different and influenced trials bike design for many years to come. During his career with Animal, which continues to the present day, Martyn has taken his live shows from a one man demonstration to an annual national tour (http://actionsportstour.animal.co.uk) with action from some of the best extreme sports athletes in the country.

One of Martyn's strengths has always been producing great riding footage for videos. This talent was evident in his early career in VHS hits such as the Trainspotting-inspired Chain Spotting,Tricks and Stunts and, more recently, with the huge YouTube hit Road Bike Party (below) which has received more than 8.5 million views to date.

We here at Vital wish Martyn all the best as he takes on this new challenge life has thrown in his way. Please join us in sending healing vibes his way!