VOL. 53 ISSUE 17 MAY 3, 2016 P31
MULLINS HANGS IT UP
O
ne of America's top off-
road riders is calling it an
early career. Charlie Mullins, a
multi-time National Enduro and
GNCC Champion, announced
his forced retirement from
professional motorcycle racing.
Mullins has spent the past two
years battling back from dual-
wrist injuries suffered in 2014.
"The injuries I sustained in
my practice crash in May 2014
were career-ending," he said.
"At the time, I knew my injury
was bad, but in retrospect
had no idea the severity of my
situation. I cannot physically
bend my wrist back far enough
to twist the throttle properly. I
cannot hold on to the bike. I am
a danger to myself on the track,
and I do not feel comfortable
racing at the speed it takes to
win."
Mullins' injury included a
perilunate dislocation and torn
ligaments in his right wrist and
a scaphoid fracture in his left
wrist. He received surgery on
both wrists that year and came
back at the end of the season.
In the final GNCC, he re-injured
his left wrist. Not knowing the
severity of that injury he com-
peted in the ISDE the following
week. When he returned home,
the doctor informed him that
the screw in the left wrist was
broken and damaging the bone
further. The doctor performed
a bone graft on the left wrist
in hopes of saving the scaph-
oid. In the right wrist, Mullins
was experiencing popping and
grinding and it was deemed
unstable. At this point Mullins
decided to repair the right wrist
with a partial fusion at the same
time (as the bone graft) in hopes
of being able to return to racing
quicker. Six months later, the
doctor determined the bone
graft failed when the bone died
in the left wrist and a partial fu-
sion would be necessary, result-
ing in both wrists having partial
fusions.
Mullins took the entire 2015
season off to recover from those
surgeries. He raced five races
in 2016 with great pain. Doctors
recently told him that the bones
in the right wrist have shifted
and the staple from the partial
fusion appears to be coming
undone. There are no viable so-
lutions to fix the wrist to a level
he would need to compete.
"I want my fans, family, spon-
sors to know I fought to not be
the statistic," he said. "I spent
two years, praying and sweating
my way through the pain, trying
to get back to where I was and
it's taken a toll on me. It wasn't
until last Thursday that my hope
was gone. Once the hope is
gone, I knew I couldn't get on
the bike safely again. I have
family to care for and I cannot
risk my life knowing I'm not in
control.
"Feel no pity for me. I had a
decorated career. I won races.
I battled with the best in the
world and I am proud of what I
was able to accomplish in my 10
years of professional racing." CN
Injuries have forced
one of America's
best off-road racers,
Charlie Mullins, into
an early retirement.
