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MotoGP, Marquez's surgeon: "I didn't sleep a wink the night before the operation"

Joaquín Sánchez-Sotelo talks about Marc’s operation: "he was very brave. From a medical point of view, the humerus is now like it was before the fall, the only doubt may be Marquez's apprehension, but the mental part is quite under control"

MotoGP: Marquez's surgeon: "I didn't sleep a wink the night before the operation"

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Marc Marquez said it clearly at the end of the Sepang tests: "The most important thing is that now I'm fine and I'm able to ride". After the ordeal of 4 arm operations it was not such a foregone conclusion, but the last operation, carried out at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, seems to have solved all the problems.

Doctor Joaquín Sánchez-Sotelo (to Marquez's right, in the photo above) operated on the Spanish champion, whom Oriol Puigdemont interviewed exclusively for motorsport.com (you can read the complete interview HERE).

The surgeon is optimistic about Marquez's future.

"Marc has such a great capacity for sacrifice that I don't think he has any limitations. I think the previous operations on his shoulders will cause him more problems than this last onehe explained - From the medical point of view, the humerus is as it was before he fell. The only doubt I have is whether he has any apprehension about getting on the bike. But, knowing the person a little bit, it seems to me that the mental part is quite under control."

The doctor was impressed by the determination of the Spanish rider

"When he saw the 3D image of the two humeri, he realised that the best option was to have surgery. That is very visual evidence. As soon as it became clear to him that there was a possibility of improvement, he told me that he was getting on a plane and that he was coming here immediately – he explained - He was very brave, because when you tell a patient who has broken his arm that you are going to cut it off again, most of them tell you that you are crazy. It was the only way to do it."

That doesn't mean it was routine. Dr. Sánchez-Sotelo had to analyse the situation to reduce any possible risk.

"What helped me a lot was to plan the case with extreme care and attention – he continued - Other surgeons who had seen him before had recommended that I make the bone cut in the same place where there had been the previous fracture. And that, from my point of view, was riskier because there had been infection inside the bone. I looked for a way to try to make the surgery as minimally invasive as possible, the least risky. The bone is a cylinder, so I decided to make the cut a little higher to limit the risk of complications. Although in an operating room there can always be problems, I had the feeling that it was going to work. Of course, the night before the operation I did not sleep a wink. I was thinking, 'oh my God, I hope everything goes well.'"

 

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