SSP300, Carrasco: “Surgery successful. I’ll be 100% for the start of the season”

Ana Carrasco’s 2020 season came to a premature end when she suffered a serious back injury, fracturing her D4 and D6 vertebrae during a test at Estoril. The Spaniard underwent surgery right way and now, having waited for the right time and in a good state of health, she has returned to hospital to remove the screws in her back.

In light of how the vertebrae are healing, the operation was carried out on Tuesday 12 January. Ana will have a CAT scan in a week and if this confirms the good state of the fracture, she will be able to resume normal physical activity in a couple of weeks, once the surgical wound has healed. And in a month she can get back in the saddle. This means that she will be able to start the season in good physical shape.

The WorldSSP300 Kawasaki Provec rider is over the moon: “I’m so happy, the doctors say the operation went well and I want to thank the whole team for their support in recent months, particularly Albert, our medical coordinator, Santi, my trainer and Joan Tao, my osteopath. The many hours they’ve dedicated to my health are paying off, also thanks to the great work of Dr. Ubierna and Dr. Cáceres of course. I cannot wait to get back on my Ninja 400, I’ll be 100% by the start of the season”.

In the words of the doctor

The doctors explain: “On Tuesday 12 January we carried out surgery to remove the titanium implant that was inserted on 15 September. We decided to proceed with the operation because a CAT scan showed us that the fractures were already consolidated, and we decided to insert lyophilised bone into the screw holes to speed up bone regeneration”. It all went to plan: “The surgery went very well, as planned, and next week we’ll do another CAT to confirm the progress. If all goes well, she can start training in 15 days’ time, once the surgical wound has healed, and then in another 15 days she can ride a bike”.

Everything’s ready for 2021

Team manager Carla Grau adds: “We’re hearing great things from the hospital and the ICATME team and Ana should be ready in a few weeks' time. We at Kawasaki Provec want to highlight Ana’s professionalism, she’s worked religiously on her physical rehab in order to accelerate the healing process. As for the project, we haven’t stopped, and we have everything ready for the 2021 season”. And there is more news: “All our sponsors have reconfirmed their commitment to Ana’s project, even at this time of economic uncertainty and with the injury in the middle, and various new companies have come on board for the 2021 adventure. I thank them all; we’ll be more than ready for the first race of the season in late April”.

Translated by Heather Watson

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