Murray BMX cyclist seriously injured

Professional BMX cyclist Mike Aitken, a Murray resident who just last month won the BMX Dirt competition at the AST Dew Tour's Salt Lake City stop, was injured badly in a crash on Sunday in Pennsylvania.

Aitken was in Pennsylvania filming a BMX video at a set of trails called Posh. He was also set to compete in the Dew Tour final stop in Orlando next week.

But during a run he over-rotated a 360 spin and took a hard hit to the head and suffered multiple fractures to bones in his face, jaw and head.

A website — MikeAitken.com — set up by one of his sponsors, 5050 BMX, has a link where donations to help pay for his medical care are being accepted.

"Like many professional riders, Mike's BMX career makes health insurance companies consider him too high of a risk," the site said, "and he is deemed 'uninsurable'. Despite multiple attempts to obtain health insurance he is currently uninsured."

After the accident, Aitken was reportedly disoriented and convulsing. He was then sedated by emergency medical staff and, according to the web site, has not yet regained consciousness.

"As expected, there has been no real change in Mike's condition since (Monday). He suffered another seizure this morning, and has yet to regain consciousness. Further testing (Tuesday) shows damage to Mike's brain stem as well as bleeds on his brain," the site said. "What that means in regards to Mike's recovery is not known at this time."

The BMX community has rallied to Mike's aid with support coming from the Athlete Recovery Fund.

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E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com

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