FATBMX Your Online BMX News Resource Since 1998

Hi everyone, First of all thanks for all your support, it really has been unbelievable. We have been aware of various rumours floating around and so I am going to update everyone as often as possible via bmx talk as Stephen's condition changes constantly. This way you know the facts as we know them. So, here is todays.

Firstly, he has suffered a very serious spinal injury. He has crushed his 3,4 and 5th cervical vertebrae and consequently suffered some damage to his spinal chord. He had a 7 hour operation on saturday to stabilise the chord and relieve some pressure. The front of his vertebrae were shattered and has been replaced. Following a day of rest (sunday), he today goes in for a further 7 hour surgery to repair the back of his 3,4 and 5 vertebrae. This should allow some of the swelling to go down.

To let you know how things change, on saturday we were told he had no movement below his neck. Following Saturday's surgery, we were all surprised when he shrugged his shoulders and now has some sensation on his upper left side of the body. This was really encouraging. He is on a ventilator and therefore isn't able to talk but communication is possible. He is aware of his condition and is coping better than all of us. Don't forget how strong he is!

On Friday we are expecting the ventilator to come out of his mouth and inserted in his neck which should make communication better, and him more comfortable. He is in surgery now so the next update maybe tomorrow.

Thanks again for all your support, its unbelievable and a great comfort to us all.

Martin, Cynthia, Jeff, Melissa, Seth and Mason

www.bmxtalk.com



Tarek Rasouli, a former BMX rider had a spinal cord injury a few years back. He has kept his wheels rolling and coincidentally sent in this message this morning.

You might have heard of a project called "Wings for Life" (www.wingsforlife.com). Or possibly you have seen the logo (on some Formula 1 cars (Red Bull Team). Wings for Life is a charity foundation for Spinal Cord Research.

It is a privately funded non-profit organisation which follows the principal aim of promoting research worldwide in order to expedite scientific and clinical progress towards a putative cure for Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Paralysis. Since I am an ambassador of the Wings for Life charity, I want to inform you about the some projects organised by "Wings for Life".



Dear friends,

As you certainly already know, we’ve taken on quite a lot for the British Grand Prix in Silverstone: We want to raise donations for “Wings for Life”.

The campaign is called “Faces for Charity”; the idea behind it is simple: On both our Red Bull Racing cars we have room for photos of 42,000 people who support “Wings for Life” with a donation. Until 12:00 midnight CEST this Wednesday (June 27) anyone can choose a space on one of our cars, upload a photo via www.facesforcharity.com - and thus do something very, very good: support the people from “Wings for Life” in their fight to make spinal cord injuries curable.

However “Faces for Charity” shouldn’t only move Formula 1 fans all over the world for one weekend. It would be great to know that the entire Red Bull family in Silverstone is on board our cars –– that means you, your friends and your teams and the large Red Bull network, athletes, coaches, student brand managers, sampling teams, musicians, agencies, friends, distributors, their families and friends.

So choose a digital photo of yourselves – a photo that seems appropriate to appear before the world on a speedy journey of up to almost 200 mph. Visit www.facesforcharity.com, secure yourselves a space with a good view … and maybe take a bit of time in the next few days to gather as many passengers as possible – members of the Red Bull family as well as external friends in our network.

Thanks very much and see you all in Silverstone.

David Coulthard, Mark Webber In the name of the Red Bull Racing Team

Photo: Kosman