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From: Cycle News, May 24, 2000, p. 3 & 92
Steve Laszko suffered a ruptured spleen and a broken neck when he crashed during 600cc Supersport practice at last weekend’s AMA National at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, California. According to an e-mail from his brother, Bob, Laszko was following another rider into the braking zone of turn seven when he either clipped the other rider or locked up the front tire on the brakes. He somersaulted into the wall lining the left side of the course and came to rest on the track. He was unconscious and was not breathing when the corner workers, paramedics and life-flight crew had Laszko stabilized and he was flown to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. Laszko regained consciousness when he arrived at the hospital, but was quickly sedated to allow the doctors to investigate the extent of his injuries. He had damaged his spleen and kidney and had a severe neck injury. His spleen was the immediate concern, Bob Laszko said, as it was causing a lot of internal bleeding. It was removed during emergency surgery; the kidney was examined but left to heal on its own. The doctor's attention was now on the extent of the neck injury. Laszko was suffering from paralysis from the neck down. He had been unable to breathe on his own since the time of the accident, and had been placed on a respirator shortly after arriving at the hopital. X-rays showed a significant displacement of the C2 and C3 vertebrae (at the base of the neck) with some collateral damage to the C1 and C4 vertebrae. MRI scans did not reveal any tear/shear damage to the spinal cord. Laszko was placed in traction to begin moving the vertebrae back into position.