Back in May, Vincent Haskovec was paralyzed in a crash during the AMA race at Infineon Raceway. Since then, the Czech rider has been confronted by many obstacles—even more than most people with his injuries. For nine months, Haskovec has had to be completely focused on his recovery. Early on, we let Vincent know that our website was available whenever he was ready. A little over one week ago, after a visit to his doctors in Long Beach, California’s Memorial Hospital, Haskovec and his girlfriend, Simona, stopped by Road Racer X’s Southern California offices [also in Long Beach] to update his fans on his progress.
By CJ

RRX: First of all, thanks very much for agreeing to this interview. I know everyone out there is really eager to hear how you’re doing.
Vincent Haskovec: Thank you very much. I’m so happy to still see that so many people still have me in mind. It’s just a good feeling, like I’m really a part of something and not just totally on a side road somewhere, or alone.

Well, that’s sure not the case. Everyone has to respect your privacy, but I can guarantee you that there are a lot of people out there thinking about you.
Yeah, that’s what I feel, and I just want to express my appreciation for that. It’s pretty cool.

I think what everyone would want to ask you first is how you’re doing.
I’m healing, and that’s really, really good news. After my first surgery, I thought I was healing, but I really wasn’t. I was actually getting worse and worse. October is when my second surgery happened here in Long Beach at Memorial, and it was a really important step in this process for me. Since then, I’m getting better.

That surgery was required because of an infection, right?
Yeah, it was an infection at a really hardcore stage—it was chronic infection, actually; it was actually eating up my bone. There was pus in my bones around the hardware they put in my body to support my spine—two bars with connection rods across and 10 screws. The length of the screws was almost two inches. All of that was infected except for around two screws. So eight of those screws, the surgeon just pulled out from my spine with his fingers. So imagine that—how badly it was infected already. Only two screws were still holding by the threads. Here are the screws, if you want to see [Simona displays a pile of titanium hardware.] He grabbed them like this and pulled them out from my spine. Imagine; it’s really gross. [Accidentally drops a screw.] Oops, that’s very expensive! [Laughs] The doctor told me this is $20,000, just sitting right here. He handed them to Simona after the surgery and said, “Here is a present that you’re not going to need anymore—but definitely save it because it’s like 20 Gs!”

Anyway, that was pretty hard because the surgery was supposed to just remove the tissue where I got infected. Nobody knew. I went through all the tests—CT scans, MRI. Every test you can think of, I did. For two days, they didn’t do anything else but tests. They took blood from me 12 times and just poked me everywhere, but they didn’t know I had an infection that bad. Only when the surgeon opened me up, he found that. He was surprised as well.

So what did they have to do?
They took everything out and got a bone graft. They cleaned me and they took the bone from the bank; they didn’t even use it from me. That was it; it was like a three-and-a-half-hour surgery. It was really good compared to the first one. I didn’t lose that much blood, so I was pretty cool. The third day after the surgery, I was put in a hyperbaric chamber, which is 100-percent oxygen under a lot of pressure. It helps heal all the wounds and infections. It was amazing how that thing worked on me. Everybody just said I was healing right in front of their eyes—the scar and everything. What I had for months in that other hospital, here it was gone in 10 days.

Wow. That must have given you a big morale boost.
So good. Right after that surgery, with everybody in this hospital, I knew I was in a much better place and that everything was going like it was supposed to. I was in really, really high spirits. It was good.

What happened then?
There was nothing supporting me, so the doctor asked to fit me with a brace to support the body against spasms and involuntary movements, so I couldn’t crush that bone. He wanted to bone to heal properly. That’s what the brace is for. They were supposed to give me what they call a full jacket, which is full plastic around you. But I was pushing so hard [for another solution] because I had that before for a whole month, and I knew that you cannot shower. You stink and you sweat—it’s unbelievable. I was like, “Please, just give me something that’s more open,” so those guys here in Long Beach really worked with me. They gave me this brace which I can go in the shower with and change it after, so I don’t have to be wet for hours and hours. It’s really pressing into me. It has this bar holding me right here [indicates brace across upper chest] so that I cannot go forward. I also have a big plate in the back that’s holding me straight, pretty much.

And it seems to be working okay?
Yeah, yeah. You know, if you’re going to have something like this pressing you all the time, you’re going to get irritated. After a week, I was sick of it. Now it’s four months, and I’m still sick of it! [Laughs] It’s so uncomfortable and everything, but if I lay down, I take it off. I sleep without it and stuff, so it’s all right. That’s saves me.

And it sounds like you’re much happier with your new doctors.
Yes, yes. Here at Memorial in Long Beach, I really lucked out because those people really saved my life: Their attitude, and the time that they give me, to always discuss every issue with me—I’m really grateful for that. The surgeon is Dr. Pak, and everybody from my rehab is great too. This is actually where Wayne Rainey was worked on, and two nurses remember him. [Laughs] Imagine! They’ve been there for so many years. I was like, “No, way, you’re kidding me!”

They said, “We’re serious. You know why we remember him? Because CNN came to do an interview with him, so we had to clean everything up.” They had extra work! [Laughs] That was so funny.

I understand Wayne spoke with you.
Yes, I called him and left a message. He was out, so he got back to me three days later, and he laughed about that.

Also, he visited me in San Jose [shortly after the injury]. Our mutual fan and friend set up that meeting. He emailed him at home and asked if he could come visit me. [The fan] was there as well. We all sat after lunch and talked for three hours. It was really great to meet a guy like that because he was really my hero. When I was growing up, he was the guy I cheered for.

We talked about his condition as well. He actually asked a lot about me—how I got here, how I got into racing, stuff like that. He was curious about me. I just asked him one question about the legs—if he had some pain and stuff. It was a really surprising answer, because it’s 12 years since he was injured, and he told me he still has some days in the week—one or two—when he’s still got some pain, and his cord was severed completely. It’s just hard to understand how some nerves are still connected, which is how you still have the pain. They’re just not working right, but still, something is connected; otherwise, you’re not going to feel anything. If they don’t work, why should you feel some pain? Same with me: I’ve got just great pain in the legs. It’s pretty much non-stop; it’s just a matter of how much pain. I’ve learned to live with some degree of pain. Now, in this right leg, there are seven to 10 hours from the 24 hours in a day when it’s just really a lot. It’s just like, What’s going on? That’s why I visited the doctor and they found out what was going on, with a bone growth on my leg. I’m taking pills for it.

This was after your second surgery?
Yes, that’s when I started taking all the pills. Those pills interfere with the healing of the spine, so I stopped doing it. The doctors checked me out, and they were like, “Yeah, you probably lucked out because everything’s fine.” But six weeks after that, I knew I wasn’t fine. I came back, and I started treatment for it. Now it’s just three months, and apparently the growing stopped, [although] I still have a lot of pain. I’m still taking pills, and I’m going there in [five], and if he sees no change, he’s going to schedule surgery for me. They’ll open it up and take a chisel and hammer and take out that excess bone. From that moment, I’ll have the full range of motion again. That stuff is growing all the way to the hip, so they’ve got to take it out and put in an artificial hip.

I was so scared about another surgery, but I know a lot of people do it. I talked to a lot of people, and they said it’s not a big deal now. The surgeon’s good, and everything will work well after that, but still, I’m freaking out about the surgery. That last one was enough. It was going in a dark hole, and when I woke up and saw the light, I was like, I don’t want to do this again.

Part 2 >>