Kai Otton Injury Update by Tracks
Kai Otton contemplates his return to the world stage
SYDNEY, New South Wales/Australia (Wednesday, August 4, 2010) – Kai Otton opened up 2010 as he has opened up every year on tour since his inception: with unapologetic intensity and high-performance flair. However, a neck injury suffered before the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay has sidelined one of the ASP World Tour’s most electric goofy-footers. Tracks Magazine caught up with Otton recently to get the diagnosis, the update and the prediction for when he’ll be back in the lineup. This…is their story…
Kai, what’s the deal with your injury?
I have got three bulging discs in my neck and the doctors prognosis is that I have a narrowing of one of the bones where your spinal cord travels down and I’m pretty susceptible to such an injury so it’s going to be pretty horrific, which it has been. So I’ve got a lot of never referral going down my right arm. I thought I was all right there for a while and I went for a surf about two weeks before J-Bay (because I hadn’t surfed in six weeks) I couldn’t paddle with my right arm. It was basically turned off because of the nerves. I basically have a numb thumb, which is pretty serious when your fingers go numb. But I’ve had some improvement in the last four days so it’s coming along. Prior to that though it was terrible.
Do you remember when it happened?
It’s a lot of that wear and tear you get in our sport. Paddling the way we do, and, um, I just got pole-axed [See: severe wipe-out] at South Narra [Narrabeen] and I hadn’t warmed up this one day so I got axed and couldn’t turn my head to the right at all afterwards.
What’s it been like being stuck at home when a big events on?
I actually haven’t had…
For full interview, check out Tracks Magazine’s ‘Interviews: Kai Otton’
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