Simon's Spinal Surgery

My name is Simon Hewitt and I'm an off-road motorcycle instructor and racer from South Wales in the UK. I won't bother giving you the life story as chances are, if you're reading this, you know most of it and how the image above came to be.

I was all set to race the 97th edition of the ISDE in Argentina at the start of November 2023 when 4 weeks prior, I started having some pain and weakness in my lower back. I rested it as much as possible and got some physios and chiropractors to look at it, but it just seemed to get worse.

A week before I was due to fly out, I dosed up on painkillers and tried to ride, as a final test to decide if I would fly to Argentina or not. Safe to say my back failed the test, as I was in agony after 5 minutes. I had no other choice but to withdraw from the team, find a fill-in rider to take my place and stay home.

Unfortunately from that day, things went further downhill. I started experiencing sciatica in my left leg that evening, and I knew that something was really wrong. I managed to get an MRI scan 2 days later, which showed a severely herniated disc. I was also put in touch with a spinal surgeon in Cardiff to review the scans.

The surgeon confirmed that the pain was due to the herniated part of the disc putting pressure on the nerves behind it, to the extent that he was surprised I could control my own bladder and bowels. He recommended a nerve-blocking injection for the pain, which I had on October 27th, which he admitted was always going to be a long-shot due to the severity of the herniation. It didn't really work and things actually got worse the next day, when I simply couldn't walk any more, I could only crawl between my bed, the bathroom and the sofa.

First week of November I started taking nerve pain meds which have helped, but only to the extent that I'm now walking with crutches and not crawling on the floor anymore. This has been the status quo for the last 4 weeks with barely any signs of improvement, and I still can't stand up straight or sleep more than a couple of hours at a time.

During this time I've consulted with 3 different surgeons independently; 2 in the UK and 1 overseas, and they've all recommended micro-discectomy surgery to relieve the pressure on the nerves, and prevent long-term nerve damage. This involves going in through the back, cutting ligaments/muscle/bone to gain access, and removing the herniated part of the disc. Recovery time is estimated to be 8-12 weeks.

The surgeon I've chosen to go with is the one I saw initially, and he's based in Cardiff. All 3 consultants stressed that time is of the essence, so waiting on the NHS is inadvisable in my case, particularly if I want to get back to some sort of normal posture/fitness, let alone 'race fitness'.

The health insurance I have doesn't cover spinal surgery, so unfortunately the funding of the surgery is all on me. The £9,985 goal is the exact cost of the surgery, and doesn't include the MRI, consultant fees, nerve-blocking injection, physio and chiropractors I've paid for so far in this journey. However, if we somehow exceed the goal amount, I'll give the excess to a charity.

All I can offer in return is putting your name on my bike graphics for the 2024 race season, and inviting you to a wet Welsh forest to watch me ride very averagely at my first race back.

Thanks for reading this far, thanks if you're thinking of making a contribution, and double thanks if you choose to do so.

Simon