Skateboarder Tony Hawk thought he was on the mend after breaking his leg early this year, but the legend recently received some unexpected news about the injury.
Hawk first announced his femur fracture on Instagram on March 21st, when he shared a video of himself at the same skate ramp where the injury had occurred two weeks prior. The skater was already back on his board, albeit gently, riding away from the scene of the proverbial crime.
Hawk announced at the time that he still planned to skate during the Legends Jam at the Pollen Weekend Jam in Vegas in May. “I am not defying doctors’ orders by doing so, and I realize I might not be at 100% trick / power capacity by that time,” he wrote in the caption.
Many in the comments called him a “badass” for getting back on his feet so quickly, but there was also a lingering concern that he wasn’t giving himself the time to heal properly. Unfortunately, the latter proved to be true.
In a new Instagram post shared yesterday, Nov. 21, in which several x-rays from the last few months are laid out side by side, Hawk wrote, “…I got confirmation of news that I have been dreading for while now: my femur never fully connected at the fracture site (non-union and varus angulation as they say in the biz) and has only grown further apart on one side of my leg.”
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He went on to acknowledge that those who thought he’d pushed himself too hard—including his wife—were “absolutely correct.”
He continued, “I was too cavalier in my approach to skating shortly after my injury, ignoring all warning signs – pain, mostly – and ended up shifting the bone placement that never allowed it to fuse properly.” The skater was very open and honest about only blaming himself for the “major setback,” lamenting the inability to turn the clock back and make different choices.
Hawk will need surgery to try to correct the improper healing, which is scheduled for sometime next week. “I am thankful to get a “do-over” of sorts, and hopeful that I can make a fuller recovery this time by having more patience and less expectations,” he added. “The silver lining to this disappointing news is that I was able to do a lot of skating (and some advanced tricks) without a solid bone to stand on; I should be able to do a lot more with a fully formed femur. It’s gonna be a slow, delicate process in the coming months but I plan to emerge stronger, wiser and more thankful than ever.”
While it’s an unfortunate situation, we’re glad to hear he’s on the mend and are wishing him the best on his impending procedure and recovery.
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