On Friday, June 3, 2022, Isle of Man TT racer Mike Booth was airlifted to Noble’s Hospital (also on the Isle) after a crash at the 26th Milestone, more commonly known as Joey’s. He suffered serious leg injuries, but was conscious upon transport to the hospital.
Why are we telling you this at the end of June, 2022? That’s because Boothy, as he’s better known in his role as the third member of the 44Teeth crew, just gave an update about his condition. For those unfamiliar with the former Fast Bikes journo, his Instagram bio begins with the words, “Breaking motorcycles and bones for three decades,” which probably gives you a bit of an idea of what comes next.
As it happens, the crash did quite a bit of damage to the racer. He’s currently recovering after having ten operations in the first two weeks after the incident. The crash broke both of his femurs, and also damaged his spine in a way that needs further examination and investigation to understand. There’s more, though—and more serious. Here’s what Boothy wrote:
“The injuries to the lower legs were fairly serious, with some quite nasty bone and soft tissue damage. The left tib and fib have been fixed, and the docs said the operation went really well. Unfortunately, the damage to the right lower leg was too bad, and despite the surgeons’ best efforts, they weren’t able to save it, so one of the trips to theatre was to amputate my right leg, just below the knee,” he wrote.
“Losing my leg has been one of the most difficult things to get my head round and, if I’m being honest, the main reason this update has taken so long to come. It’s hard to explain something like that to others, when you’ve not really come to terms with it yourself,” he continued.
Boothy, who had been writing daily 44Teeth.com entries about his IOMTT experience up until the crash, also thanked the 44Teeth community for all the concern and care they’ve shown since June 3rd. He also had this to say about the future:
“But the more I think about it, the more I realize that actually, losing a leg doesn’t have to be that big of a deal, if you don’t want it to be. I’ve seen people run marathons, climb mountains, race bikes and do all sorts of stuff, with prosthetic limbs. Things will be different, but it’s not the end of the world…. and crashing where I did, could (and probably should) have been a lot worse.”
“Recovery-wise, it’s definitely not going to be speedy. All of my separate injuries are fairly hefty by themselves, and dealing with them all properly, all at the same time, is tough. The road ahead is going to be a long one. And probably full of massive bumps and some seriously hard days. But I’ll be doing everything I possibly can to get as fit as I possibly can, as soon as I possibly can.”
We at RideApart join the many wishing Boothy a recovery that’s as swift and uncomplicated as it can possibly be.
