Shane Byrne suffered severe injuries in Snetterton crash and reveals paralysis had been a major concern

By Richard Cawley

Shane Byrne has revealed that the threat of paralysis was a major worry for surgeons after his crash at the Snetterton 300 circuit earlier this month.

The Lambeth-born racer, a six time winner of the British Superbikes Championship, broke his neck in two places, fractured all his ribs and broke his septum.

Byrne tweeted an update on May 26. He said: “I have 2 bruised lungs, all of my ribs fractured, 4 broken vertabrae, a broken neck in 2 places, broken septum, collarbone, multiple other back fractures, fortunately no paralysis which was a big bonus as paralysis was a major issue and concern.

“The 1 question from my surgeon after seeing my x-rays was how on earth are you not paralysed! 

“His operation to fix the back and neck ran obvious risks of paralysis potentially coming back in the mix, fortunately the op went very well.

So good to speak this boy today 👊🏻🙏🏻 @officialbsb @67shakey pic.twitter.com/Hb3M5mpH1u

— Luke Mossey (@LukeMossey12) May 28, 2018

“I’m now pretty sore and beaten up but a rehab and recovery program always starts the instant a crash ends, it’s a long road ahead but for once I got a great start and can’t thank all of you for your confirmation support throughout these difficult time, there’s so many people to thank, Marshalls, medics, team members, friends, fans, family that I really don’t know where to start, a massive shout-out to my amazing wife @PetraByrne though, she is my world, my everything and never ever stops being by my side whilst bringing up or children.

“Being a mum to them then running around like a headless chicken after me, thank you all so much for the support. See you soon when hopefully I’ll be feeling substantially better than I do right now, apologies again for the delayed update, I need a nap now, that’s knackered me lol.”