Image: Private
Shocking news for motocross driver Matthias Walkner: The Salzburg man was seriously injured during final training preparations for the Dakar Rally in January. It is not possible to start in the important competition.
On Tuesday morning (local time), the riders of the Red Bull KTM Factory Team started an inspection lap at a moderate training pace. Walkner overlooked a five-meter-high cliff edge in the dust thrown up by his colleagues in front and landed on a small opposite slope. The impact from this height was so great that he fell. After a well-functioning rescue chain, Kuchler was immediately flown to the Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs.
The first diagnosis from the treating doctors in America was shocking: Walkner suffered multiple, including open, fractures of his tibia, fibula and foot, as well as a complex comminuted fracture of his upper left ankle. A knee injury is also suspected.
The first operation on Tuesday went well. It is currently not possible to say when Walkner will be able to be transported. As soon as possible, Walkner will be transferred to the UKH Graz in Austria.
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