Westby Racing’s Superbike rider Mathew Scholtz is traveling home to Georgia today after having successful surgery on the injuries he sustained in a crash during Saturday’s race at the MotoAmerica Superbikes at The Brickyard event this past weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Mathew sustained injuries to his right leg in the incident, including a ruptured quadriceps tendon in his thigh and multiple fractures to the talus bone in his ankle. On Sunday, he had surgery to clean out his right thigh injury and repair the ruptured tendon, along with a separate procedure to clean out the complex fracture of his right ankle and prepare it for further surgery.
On Tuesday, Mathew had a second surgery on his right ankle, which included the insertion of several stabilizing screws in his right talus bone. The talus bone forms the lower part of the ankle joint and transmits the entire weight of the body from the lower leg to the foot.
All procedures and surgeries were successful, and Mathew is being driven home to Georgia by his fiancée Kiara. His prognosis for full recovery is excellent, and he should be able to start riding again in January.
In our previous press release on Mathew’s injury, we erroneously reported that he had been taken to the hospital by Kiara in a passenger vehicle. In actuality, Mathew was transported by ambulance from Indianapolis Motor Speedway to Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital.
“Right after the crash, I was in a lot of pain, mostly from my thigh,” Mathew said. “It was so bad that I didn’t even realize at first that I’d also injured my ankle. All I wanted to do was stand up, and when I did, I couldn’t bend my knee. Then, I quickly realized that I couldn’t put any weight on my foot. That’s when the doctor (Dr. Julia Vaizer from Indiana University Health Emergency Medical Center, which is located in the infield at Indianapolis Motor Speedway) helped me sit in the passenger seat of the safety car to take the weight off my leg till I could get in the ambulance. I’ve noticed that there’s been a lot of chatter on social media about them ‘stuffing’ me into that car, but that’s not what happened to me at all. The medical people at Indy took really good care of me. Dr. Vaizer did a great job.”
Kiara added, “Yes, the medical staff at the track were brilliant, and so was MotoAmerica’s Jim Buskirk and Norman Lastovica. Mathew was originally planning to have surgery on his ankle at an orthopedist in Atlanta, but Jim Buskirk recommended a surgeon right here in Indianapolis. We are so grateful about how everything worked out because the care Mathew received from the track, Methodist Hospital, and from Dr. Tim Weber (orthopedic surgeon specializing in foot and ankle trauma) with OrthoIndy, who did the surgery on Mathew’s ankle on Tuesday…all of them did such a great job.”
For Mathew, unfortunately, his 2020 MotoAmerica season is over, but team manager Chuck Giacchetto said, “Mathew is our Superbike rider. We wish him well, and when he’s ready to climb back aboard the #11 Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike, we’ll be ready to support him 100%.”