As most of you know, Boothy crashed at Joey’s during a qualifying session at the 2022 Isle of Man TT races and suffered significant leg injuries, as well as a few other complications. He was conscious and airlifted by helicopter to Noble’s before being transferred by plane to Liverpool the same night.
We’ve been overwhelmed by messages of support and people wanting to know how Boothy is, but haven’t been able to update you guys because of the severity of the situation. Well, as things have become slightly more stable, the man himself has typed these very words from his hospital bed. Over to you, Boothy…
“First of all, I just want to say how humbling it’s been to have received so much love and support over the last few weeks. After I crashed at the TT on the last night of practice, I’ve been inundated with messages from people all over the world and it really has lifted my spirits.
“Secondly, I just want to apologise for not being able to reply to everyone that has sent well wishes whilst I’ve been coping with some of the most difficult days of my life.
“Please don’t take it personally; other than the amazing doctors, nurses and medical staff that have been looking after me, I’ve barely spoken to anyone since the accident. It’s not because I haven’t wanted to, it’s because I haven’t been able to. I had ten trips to theatre in the first two weeks, which was really fucking exhausting. And when I wasn’t in theatre, I was either in too much pain, or on too many drugs to keep my eyes open. It was, and still really is, a case of resting as much as possible.
“But because it’s become clear that so many people are so genuinely concerned, I thought I’d try and give you as much of an update as I can.
“Both femurs were broken in the crash, but they were amongst the first to receive treatment, so I’m quietly confident about those, in the longer term.
“There is also some spinal damage, higher up the back, which could prove problematic, but needs more investigation before they can say for sure.
“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.
“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.
“But the more I think about it, the more I realise 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 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.
“And I’ve got some close family and friends around me that I know will be there for me every painful step of the way. I just really hope, for my future-wife Kaye’s sake, that I’m not going to be too horrendous to live with, when they eventually let me out of hospital.
“And I also know, from the past couple weeks, that I’ve got the entire 44Teeth community on my side. As I said before, your messages and comments really have lifted my spirits, and helped me get through some of the most difficult days of my life. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Boothy xx