Interview | #84 Tanner Ward Takes Us through His Recent Crash and Injuries

By Billy Rainford

#84 Tanner Ward from Woodstock, Ontario, crashed at Vision Built Tracks and sustained a few injuries that will take him out of action for a while. He recently signed with Priority MX KTM and these injuries will keep him off the bike forcing him to miss the upcoming 2024 AMO Arenacross Championship in Chilliwack, BC. He spoke to us from the hospital on Thursday, November 7th.

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Transcript:

 Direct Motocross: Well, uh, as everyone has probably heard by now, Tanner Ward had a crash last weekend and sustained a few injuries. I wanted to give him a few days to, you know, kind of gather it all together and have everything sorted out. And I called him earlier today and apparently it still wasn’t enough time, but we’ve got him on the phone to take us through what the heck happened and what it all means. Tanner, thanks buddy for talking to us.

Tanner Ward: No worries, no worries, Billy. Yeah, thanks for calling.

Yeah, man, not the, uh, I mean, I guess we gotta, we call you for the good and I guess, unfortunately, we gotta call you for the bad. So, it sounds like you hit a root seeing on your Instagram as I’m sure everybody did? It threw you sideways, put you down or something like that. Take us through where you were and what the heck happened.

Yeah, I was just out at Vision Built there on Sunday on their amateur Supercross track getting ready for Chilliwack. There were a bunch of kids on the track as well so I was riding the outdoor track a little bit in between.

Honestly, I was just doing like a no clutch moto nothing crazy and in the back section there’s just a single and from what I can remember I just kind of came up over the single and normally kind of like, you know, speed scrub at the top and before I even got to that point I hit a root and it kind of just ejected me weird That’s pretty much the last thing I remember, kind of being in the air and being like, yeah, this ain’t going to be good.

But, I hit the ground hard. I was pretty out of it for a little bit there and then kind of got up, obviously I was knocked out and stuff, but I knew my hand was not good. I could see it was, it wasn’t good.

Like, visually your hand was messed up. Was it swollen or weirdly shaped?

Yeah, it was really weird. My fingers looked like they were lower than I could tell. I’m, like, “(Justin) Roney, my knuckles are out. My knuckles are out.” I was thinking of my knuckles to get back in. Like, I thought I just dislocated my knuckles, but turned out I broke three of the metacarpals and they dislodged.

So, they’re, like, yeah, yeah, not good. So, yeah, made my way to Woodstock Hospital and then figured out there that I punctured my lung and I had air between my lung and my ribs, so they had to put a chest tube in. And that’s obviously where I learned that the hand was not good either.

So that’s why they sent me here to London because they had a hand specialist and obviously a little more advanced and whatnot. They put me in this, like, this splint thing in Woodstock and were like, yeah, you won’t be in it for long. Like we’re just putting this on, just kind of support it for the ambulance ride.

And they do the chest tube in Woodstock as well, which I say chest tube, but they go through like the top of your ribs. Like it’s your chest on the side and they’re, they accidentally cut it wrong. There’s tape and stuff. The guy’s like making jokes saying, “Oh, I can be a plumber.” And I was still kind of out of it at this point. Like, obviously, I hit my head pretty good and I was on some drugs at that point. A little bit of a shit show to get it going. And then, uh, got to London and it’s just been weird, man. I haven’t really ever got answers, never knew what was going on.

I know with the, with the hand, they weren’t worried about it. Obviously, the main thing was to get the lung healed, get the air out. They put you, when you’re on this chest tube, you’re on this like suction thing, like you’re hooked up to air and this machine, it just, it sucks like negative pressure out, right?

It was not getting better. So it’s not that I want to shit on doctors and stuff, but it was very slow process here.

Which hospital are you at? Where are you?

I’m at Victoria in London. I would see a doctor. Well, I think, I don’t even know. He’s like the doctor student. I see him in the morning. What would have to happen is that they would have to turn the suction off, wait four hours, take an x-ray and make sure that no air built back up.

So like I would see the doctor in the morning and we’re about to shut it off. They wouldn’t shut it off until like late afternoon. And then they wait the four hours, like I was getting x-rays at like eight o’clock at night. There’s like three days where I was in the matrix about the exact same, like, see the guy in the morning, I’d show up later in the day, go get my x-ray, wait around, and then the nurse would be like, “Yeah, no, the doctor said there’s still air,” so they turn the suction back on.

So it was like three days of that, and little to no answers. The communication was not good. I’m trying to ask for like, uh, ask for answers or like any sort of plan or anything wasn’t easy to get. And, at one point, I was struggling with my splint I said they put on because like, it was probably the jankiest thing I’ve ever seen.

My wrist was like at a 90-degree angle. My fingers were just hanging there. Like, and I just, like you said, outside of the podcast here is I just got the cast on. It’s like they put a plaster cast on because I’m, yeah it’s been, it’s been a lot, to be honest with you.

Wow, so ribs are broken too?

Yeah, I got three broken ribs. I thought it was four, but I got three.

So, you’re talking, okay, your hand is in a splint with broken bones, like, what did they do? No surgery, or do you have to have surgery coming? What’s the deal on the hand?

Yeah, so, the original plan, like, when I left Woodstock, was I was getting surgery that night, so they were like, yeah, like, we don’t really care, like, we’re just getting you the surgery. And then, with the miscommunication and whatnot, and then I got here in Victoria, and then they’re telling me I have to get surgery at St. Joe’s. So, yeah, that’s the hand in the on Monday, they said, yep, tomorrow, which is Tuesday. Yeah, tomorrow too. No, no, sorry. On Monday they said Wednesday I’m having surgery.

So I did like my pre-surgery appointment on Tuesday here. But then when I did my pre-surgery appointment here at Victoria, they had no idea I had a chest tube in, so they’re like, what? Okay, we’ll figure that one out and then they’ll call me back and forth, call my doctor, call my nurses, finally getting answers.

I mean, at the end of the day on Tuesday, it was like, if your chest tube is out, show up here for 7 am, we’ll do surgery on your hand at 9. If not, don’t show up and we’ll have to reschedule. And then that’s when like, yeah, I, they didn’t take it, they didn’t clamp the chest tube until 2 pm. We had to wait another four hours, got the x ray, didn’t hear anything.

And then it’s not like the doctor comes in and is like, “Ah, it’s getting better, but we would rather put you back on suction.” It’s just the nurse is like, “Oh, no, the doctor says you got to put it back on.” So you just got a billion questions in your head, getting no answers. And then my wrist is just cockeyed for the Tuesday night.

I don’t mind. And I took the splint off and then the plastic surgeon came in on Monday. He was not happy or Tuesday, whatever day it was, was not happy that I took it off. I’m like, man, like my arm is going numb, like, not even my hand, it’s more than that. And a long story short, today when I saw, finally saw a real doctor here today, he was like, “Yeah, that’s was doing nothing.”

Like he grabbed my hand, they’re moving it around. Like this guy’s telling me that I’m going to like lose full function of my hand if I don’t keep this on. And then the other doctor just told me that like, “Yeah, if you kept it on any longer, like, you’re going to…” they call it like drop wrist or something like, I’m just like, I don’t know.

It’s a tough place to be in because like, I’ve been in plenty of splints and casts and whatnot and kind of know what’s right, what’s wrong. I mean, I’m kind of arguing with the nurse and I’m like, I’m not trying to be rude here, like I understand you don’t know and it’s not your choice, but like, I need to see someone who knows what they’re talking about.

And they’re like, “Yeah, yeah, we’ll be back.” And then six hours go by and just, I mean, not to be rude even right now, I’m just waiting to get discharged. I don’t even know what, I haven’t seen someone in like three hours.

Wow. And so are you still at Vic? Are you, so you are going to get surgery coming up or what’s?

Yeah, so actually, so long story short, once I got the chest tube out last night, finally, it was too late to get a hold of St. Joe’s Hospital, and then…

[Nurse walks in] I’m just going to initiate your stop, okay? Can I just take a little quick look at you,

Oh, someone’s there now?

Yep.

Perfect, let’s listen in, everyone.

Nurse: I’ll come back when you’re not busy.

Oh, shoot. No, I’m screwing you up.

Can we do it now?

Nurse: Well, when I get the stuff… five minutes.

Five minutes? Okay, perfect.

Perfect timing. That’s awesome.

Yeah, I figured that too. I’m like, oh, I’ll just get this out of the way now because I’m like, they’re not going to be here. Sorry about that.

No, it’s okay. It adds to the value of the interview.

Yeah, it does. Like, I don’t, I have any answers, I haven’t had an answer this whole time I’ve been here about anything.

That’s what I always find the most frustrating. All you want is, you know what I mean, you need someone to come in and just kind of talk you through some stuff.

Like a game plan, like, let’s have a game plan. It goes sideways, but like at least we have like, I mean, something to work towards.

So, you’re going, I’m assuming you’re going to the upper hand and limb at St. Joe’s to have it done. Is that the story?

Yeah. Yeah. On Wednesday which kind of sucks. I have to wait all the way to Wednesday now because I was supposed to get it yesterday and now the doctor’s away.

Yeah, so my hand’s gonna be I’m like, I hope I don’t have more damage or like more problems down the road because my hand’s sitting all dislodged for a week-and-a-half! So now I just go home and relax and wait, wait for Wednesday.

Oh man. Okay. So that’s going to affect our late fall mountain biking!

I know, especially with this weather. It’s nice out right now, but, I mean, it is what it is. I’m ready to get out of here.

Man, well, I tell you, three broken ribs is bad enough to deal with. I mean, if anyone out there listening has ever broken ribs, it sucks. I do not like breaking ribs.

Yeah, and then they like ask me about my breathing and stuff, and I’m like, well, I’ve never really broke ribs before, so I don’t know if I’m, like, if it’s my ribs that I’m feeling, or if it’s my lungs.

It’s definitely, it’s all kind of new to me, but, um, yeah, it’s been, it’s been quite the two or five days, very long, dragged out, and like I said earlier, if I was in the matrix, like, I’d see the doctor when I’d wake up in the morning. So something’s about to happen, you don’t see anyone for six hours, then something happens, don’t see someone for six hours, then something happens, and then by the time you take one step forward, which in a day you think you’re gonna take a couple steps forward, it’s already night time, everyone’s gone home, and you gotta restart the process the next day, and it’s like, I get it, like, I wasn’t, like, I had to stay in the hospital anyway, because I wasn’t making progress, like, with the, with the chest tube and stuff, I didn’t know why or what was the plan or if we’re not making progress, like, what else can we do here?

Or if we can’t do anything! it’d just be nice to hear from a doctor. And cause the nurses can’t give me, the nurses are just told to do what they’re told to do. It’s tough, man.

I haven’t even spoken to you since you joined your new team and everything like that. So, obviously you’ve ridden KTM’s before, with the Orange Brigade and stuff. So, you’re happy with all the changes and everything?

Yeah. Yeah. That’s the bummer part. I feel like I, like I’ve taken a huge step forward in my riding and just my overall, everything was just, um, probably the best I’ve ridden in a long time. It’s obviously very cliche to say that when you hop on a new bike program, but I think the people that see me ride lately can attest to it.

So that’s a little bit of the bummer part. It’s always when you’re feeling the best is when you kind of get knocked down. But, um, no, it’s, it’s an unreal program with Peter (Knoop). They’ve been, they’ve been awesome. Mostly through this, they understand. Yeah, yeah, no, it’s been good and one of the first things that I was concerned about when I got hurt and when I crashed, obviously I was pretty out of it being knocked out, but I was really concerned to letting the guys know I wouldn’t be at work on Monday.

But, um, no, the balance of the work, the riding, and obviously it’s all still fresh to me, but they have that part of it really dialled. Iit’s, it’s honestly a perfect program for Canada and someone like myself and yeah, I think a lot of people look at it like I took a step down, but if only they knew half the stuff that’s going on, how great this is, it’s, it’s a major step up.

Well, good for you, man. And you raced the Monster Mash at Baja Acres?

Yeah, yeah, Wyatt (Kerr) and I went with Mike Judge and just, uh, I mean I said it in our pod, but it was very, uh, very back to the roots. A lot of gate drops, four lap motos, but, um, yeah, it was so fun. We were, obviously Montana came down, Wyatt and Lauren, it was very, uh, just, yeah, camping. It was awesome. It was very fun. Cooking, they had the Halloween stuff going on. Unfortunately, not a lot of people showed up to race. It was maybe an expensive weekend for Wyatt and I to do sprints together. But, I mean, it doesn’t really matter whoever is on the gate or what the situation is.

When there’s a gate in front of you and it’s got a drop, you’re getting nervous. You kind of put yourself into those race situations. That was my goal this fall. I didn’t think I was really going to race much on the new bike. And once they kind of got the okay from Walton to go race and they let me have my contract early, I was like, man, I’m taking advantage of it as much as I can, because we struggle in Canada to race our eight races and don’t do anything for eight months and then go back racing again.

Nice. Who, what other pros were there besides you two?

Ah, just us two.

Oh, honestly? Oh, wow.

Yeah, it was just us two. There was, no, sorry, there was some other, I think, maybe some more A riders, but no one that’s ever came over here to Canada or no Canadians or nothing, really.

Hey, a W is a W. We don’t have to talk much more about details. Lol

Yeah, yeah, exactly. No, it is what it is. Like I said, like, I mean, I’m, regardless, you put yourself in a race situation, it’s four laps, so you gotta like, Wyatt, we’re going to, but I still got to go fast to go beat him.

I couldn’t just go and go slowly. Right. I tried really well. Um, my goal was to, was to make that gap bigger every moto, and his goal was to make the gap smaller every moto. So we were still pushing each other. So, you still get nervous. You still have to have some race craft. You’re passing a lot of like lappers and slower guys. So you still put yourself in your race situations.

That’s what we, why we’re doing these, but whether the gates are stacked or not, there’s still a lot to take away from from these weekends, right?

No, for sure. Like you say everybody’s chasing gate drops and yeah race situations. And then your plan was to go out to do the AMO Arenacross series in Chilliwack. That’s not happening, of course. So we’re well, we’re at the 7th of November now, so say you get surgery next week, you’re 6-8…what’s the winter plan now? Is Supercross in your future or is just now just training in the south going to be what’s happening?

Um, yeah, the plan was to go to Chilliwack. Obviously, my plan was working until the baby was born. Um, actually we have a baby due in February, so, it was kind of my plan right until we couldn’t, until the weather didn’t allow us here in Ontario. And then just kind of start focusing on down south and kind of coming up with a plan there.

So the plans haven’t changed too much. I don’t know what that timeline for getting back on the bike is, but I feel like I’m going to be giving myself even a little bit more time by the time I get back on the bike anyway. So, um, yeah, no Supercross this year. I think in the future, I’ll say I want to talk to Peter and stuff, but I would love to do it again.

I feel like there’s some, some unfinished business on that end of things, but, uh, this year with the situation, new team. Obviously with the baby on the way and stuff, I just want to want to be home and support Montana as much as I can. And then at this point now, I just got to get rested up and, and kind of, uh, hit the reset button for when we head down south.

Okay. Well, I appreciate you, you know, filling us in on what happened. We, of course, we all read your, post and all, but it’s good to hear your voice and kind of hear you kind of take us through it. So unfortunately you’re still sitting in the hospital, but, you’ll be back in and then back on the mend. So, good luck with it all. Good luck with the baby and everything.

Yeah, thank you. I appreciate you guys reaching out. Obviously, these times are tough and all this has been a bad experience for myself, unfortunately, like I guess I don’t like talking bad on anything, but the Canadian health care system, you get a true first hand experience right now being in it.

Yeah, a little frustrating for sure, man. You just want answers.

Yeah, I’ve never had to stay overnight here in Canada before. I’ve always done my major injuries in the States and kind of see the difference of it all. And, it’s unfortunate. I wish we were in a different spot in Canada and a different approach.

Nonetheless, like the people here, it’s not their fault, they work hard. They’re just kind of doing what they’re told to do. But, it’s kind of unfortunate. I feel like I’m putting my hand in a spot where I didn’t need to be. It could have been fixed and already on the mend where now I’m waiting a week-and-a-half with it. The bones all, all unaligned and whatnot. But, in the last year, I mean, there was no choice but to take the route that I’m given right now and make the most of it. So we’ll be back on the mend next Wednesday and got lots of time to chill out and make sure we’re a hundred percent cause I really feel like I can do some good things on this new bike and new team.

Awesome Tanner. All right, buddy. Well, good luck. Like I say, I’ll mention to Emily that you’re coming in and she’ll come see you.

Yeah. Perfect. Maybe she’ll be the nurse. Thanks, Billy. I appreciate it.