Dan Atherton hurt in dirt jump crash

It’s with regret I have to contact you with some more injury news. On Tuesday night of this week Dan was out riding dirt jumps at his local trails in Llanfyllin, when he crashed and landed awkwardly on his head. Dan was taken to Shrewsbury hospital in a ambulance where they X-rayed his upper spine. The results confirmed a fracture to his C2 vertebrae with a further CT scan confirming another fracture to his C1 vertebrae.  On the positive side Dan has full movement in all his limbs and at present there is no damage to the nerves that pass through the central spinal column. Dan remains immobilised for precautionary measures while currently awaiting a transfer to the orthopaedic unit in Oswestry, a hospital the Athertons know well and one that is luckily renowned as the best unit in the country. As long as everything goes to plan with his recovery we should hopefully see Dan on a bike by the end of the year. Our sympathies are with Dan and the rest of the Atherton family at this time and any well wishes to Dan can be made via the team’s Facebook page.