Article supplied by RFDS.
Childhood sweethearts, Murray and Julie Collins, have been together for over thirty years.
And throughout their time together, they have shared an unusual passion – for the adrenalin charged sport of motorcross racing.
But back in 2003, the wheels very nearly came off Murray’s motorcross adventures, when a random miscalculation mid-race almost cost him his life.
In Episode #98 of the Flying Doctor podcast, Murray and Julie recount the day when an inter-club motorcross race at Longreach ended up with Murray being airlifted by the RFDS, suffering from major internal bleeding.
The sport of Motorcross combines high speed and jostling for a position on the track, with the challenge of obstacles.
There’s even an obstacle section known as a ‘whoops’ – which is basically a series of continuous bumps that racers can ride over, as fast as they like.
On the day of his accident, Murray recalls taking the ‘whoops’ with confidence – as he was in the leading pack of racers! But after hitting the handlebars of his bike at high speed, Murray quickly realised he had ‘really done something’. Murray had ruptured his mesenteric artery and began severely bleeding into his abdomen.
