ST. GEORGE, Utah — The extreme sports community is rallying around a bike racer as he faces medical bills he didn’t expect after he was severely hurt during last month's Red Bull Rampage in Virgin.
Adolf Silva of Barcelona has been going to extremes since he performed his first double flip on his BMX bike at age 16. At the 2018 Red Bull Rampage, the crowd crowned the 28-year-old the “people’s choice.”
But this year. Silva would be tested as he never had before.
"I remember everything ... I remember hitting the ground straight away," said Silva on Monday. "And then straight away, when I hit the ground, and then I was sliding down the landing, I already knew, like, I couldn't feel my legs, and I knew that it wasn't just like a bruise ... I knew just the legs were not working. I was like, yeah, this is not good."
Following his accident, Silva was airlifted to St. George Regional Hospital, where he still remains. He broke two vertebrae and dislocated four others, fractured his sternum, and broke six ribs. He can’t feel or move anything below his chest, and it's uncertain if he ever will again.
What is certain is the support of his wife, Taylor, and his mom, Judy, who can relate with her son as far as wanting to go to the edge. She’s a wingsuit jumper herself.
"He deserves to be happy, so you accept the fact that they do all this stuff because the same I feel like me," Judy said. "I deserve to be happy and do what I want ... a lot of people been suffering from me as well."
But even being an extreme sports athlete didn’t prepare Judy for when she came upon her son after the crash.
"...he said, 'I cannot feel my legs.' Everything falls down, and you get in shock, and it's so difficult to see your baby like this, and yeah. Not easy for a mom," she shared.
Along with the support of his family, Adolf has the backing of the extreme sports community, which has raised more than $300,000 for Silva's medical bills through the Road 2 Recovery charity. While in the hospital, he’s been working with Mike Young, who became a paraplegic himself after a crash ended his long motocross career.
"We bridge the gap between what the insurance covers and what an athlete actually needs to rebuild and start their life over," explained Young, who is the Director of Athlete Relations with Road 2 Recovery
There’s been no gap to bridge for Adolf, as he's used to having injury care mostly paid for back in Spain by the country's universal health care system. But that insurance doesn’t apply in the U.S.
"Everyone just says, no, no, no, no, no, no," Silva said
Silva is looking at about eight more days remaining at the St. George Hospital before he's able to fly home to Spain to continue his care. In the meantime, he keeps his spirits up by racing a scooter that attaches to his chair.
"It's just fun to get some air, get some sun. and cruise around with the scooter around the campus."
