Gadea fractures two vertebrae and damages spleen in heavy crash

Spanish rider Sergio Gadea (Moriwaki) suffered a heavy crash during the Moto2 qualifying session for the Japanese Grand Prix at Motego, resulting in two fractured vertebrae and a damaged spleen.

Gadea was hit by the bike of Max Neukirchner, whose brakes malfunctioned.

The Valencian rider was first treated in the clinic at the Motegi circuit and was then airlifted to the Dokkyo University Medical Center in Mibu, near Utsunomiya, where he remains hospitalized, as Spanish TV reported.

Doctors are evaluating the possibility of operating Gadea while team boss Pablo Nieto is by Gadea’s side all the time.

Speaking to RTVE, Pablo Nieto explained that Gadea “is under observation because he has two broken vertebrae, the L2 and L4, and there are concerns about the status of the spleen. If it continues to bleed it’ll have to be removed. They do a scan every hour to see the progress of the spleen. Everything depends on seeing if they will operate or not.”

Source: EFE
Photo: motogp.com