If a positive mental attitude can heal broken bones, Maguiresbridge rider Lee Johnston will be on the grid at the North West 200 this May.
But he’s in a race against time after crashing at between 80-90 mph during practice in Spain last month. Johnston, a five-time winner at the NW200, broke both his tibia and fibula bones in his leg during his recent crash when a part of the bike broke – which according to him has a ‘one in one million chance’ of happening.
After ending up in a Spanish hospital, he soon checked himself out and got back to England where he has since undergone surgery for the fracture.
The setback comes 10 months after suffering a life-threatening crash during a Supersport practice at the NW200.
Johnston suffered a broken femur, shoulder and ribs, as well as a collapsed lung and injuries to his foot and face, and had blood transfusions on the golf course before being airlifted to hospital that day.
After a long rehabilitation, he had just gotten back to ‘himself’ following that horrific crash when another bit of bad luck struck;
“About two weeks before this happened I got out of bed one morning and said to my wife, ‘You know what Christy, I feel good again. I’m not sore, I’m not aching, I’m not stiff – I feel like me again.’