Following the second broken neck of his career, Kyle Partridge has announced his immediate retirement from the sport.
By Hayden Gregory
Partridge fractured his C6 and C7 vertebrae in a crash at Pala on November 14. The rider came over the top of a tabletop and landed in soft dirt, forcing the bike to stop and throwing him over the bars.
Kyle has since set up a GoFundMe page to help with his recovery. The page issued the following statement.
“On November 14th, 2015 I was riding my bike at Pala. I came over the top of a 40ft table top and landed in some very soft dirt resulting in my bike coming to a dead stop when I landed. This threw me over the bars. When I woke up, I hadn’t realised that my neck was what was messed up. As I thought I broke my shoulder blade. After a few catscans and MRI’s, I found out that I had yet again broken my neck. C6 and C7 vertebrae.
“I have been around this sport my whole life and I know the love that comes along with this sport as a family. I have put my whole life into riding my motorcycle. As hard as it is for me to say, it is time for me to take a step away from racing and be a dad for my son, Landon. I have used up all of my good luck and I do not want to miss out on him growing into a young man. I have seen people come together and do some very cool things for people that are in my position.
“I am not asking for a hand out, I am simply asking for the help of Moto, freestyle, and any other action sport communities to come together and help me get through this tough time that will leave me at a financial state I may never be able to get out of… Anything helps and I appreciate everything that everyone has done over the last 25 years of my career, to get me to where I was a few days before this injury.
The American made his pro debut in 2005 with his best result coming last year as he finished 21st overall in Monster Energy Supercross. It was expected that Kyle would join the CycleTrader.com/Rock River Yamaha team for 2016.
You can visit Kyle’s GoFunMe page here.
