Encinitas, CA – Tucker Larrieu was seriously injured on March 17, 2017, at a friend's motocross track in Quincy, California, just 33 miles from his hometown of Portola, California. Tucker was prepping for an upcoming race when his friend Avery found him unconscious on the track. It is unclear how Tucker's injury occurred, as he has no recollection of the event. Tucker does remember that he was purposely riding conservatively at the time since Avery was working on the track in his tractor; so Tucker was focusing mainly on his bike set-up for that weekend’s race. Avery realized it had been a while since the last time he had seen Tucker or heard his bike, he decided to go look for him to make sure that everything was okay. Avery found Tucker unconscious and jumped into action, getting him immediately flown to a hospital in Reno, Nevada.
An MRI discovered that Tucker's t-5 and t-6 vertebrae were dislocated, causing bruising to his spinal cord. Doctors performed the surgery that next day to decompress and fuse his t-4 through t-7 vertebrae. The surgery was considered a success, however as of now Tucker is paralyzed from the chest down but does have full use of his arms. On March 27th, just 10 days post injury Tucker was flown from the Reno hospital via Angel MedFlight to the world-renowned Craig Rehabilitation Hospital. Craig Hospital exclusively specializes in the neuro-rehabilitation and research of patients with spinal cord injuries. Tucker will now undergo an intense 60-day rehabilitation process.
Tucker has raced since the age of 4 and has a competitor’s passion that is adrenaline driven. He competed in the 2015 X Games and in the Endurocross series. With his love of extreme sports, Tucker is no stranger to injury and having to work hard. This is his second back injury as well as his second time in Craig Hospital's rehabilitation program. A quick eight months after his first back injury Tucker returned to racing and won his biggest race, the Virginia City Grand Prix. Ironically that is the same race he was prepping for when he sustained his second back injury that has now left him paralyzed. Tucker is up for the challenge and is prepared to put in the work to get on his road to recovery.
The Lirreu family and Tucker are now in need of your help. The rising cost of hospital bills and out of pocket expenses for Tucker is currently expanding at an exponential rate. Unfortunately, his insurance will not cover 100% of these ever growing bills. If you are able to help, Road 2 Recovery has set up a funding page for him at https://road2recovery.com/cause-view/tucker-lirreu/. You can donate to his R2R Fund directly or leave a positive message for Tucker to read at this link. Any and all donations help.
About Road 2 Recovery:
The Road 2 Recovery Foundation is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization that was founded in 2000, and is dedicated to helping AMA licensed Professional Motocross/Supercross riders and Action Sports Athletes with financial assistance if they sustain career-ending injuries as well as providing motivational, emotional, and spiritual support to these individuals and their families. To make a donation click here. For more information on Road 2 Recovery and upcoming events visit www.road2recovery.com or contact Lori Amstutz 619-339-5671.
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