Mud in Your Eye

Seriously… a hole... in his heart. 

JCR Honda rider Tim Weigand has suffered his share of injuries, but the latest has nothing to do with motorcycles other than keeping him off of his race bike for the next several months. He was diagnosed recently with a bilateral hole in his ticker, which triggered a mild stroke last Saturday as he prepared to head south and contest the Baja 250. The good news is that he is okay and will have surgery to repair his heart.

This is the same guy who stepped up and rode for Team USA at the 2009 ISDE when riders were stricken by injury. Never having ridden an enduro, he soldiered through two-thirds of it before getting food poisoning to start Day 5. Sick, miserable and out of his comfort zone, Timmy pushed on and then crashed, ripping off the tip of his little finger. He got up, mounted his CRF250X and didn’t quit until Team USA finished fifth in the World Trophy standings.

Doesn’t make sense that a guy with this much heart actually has less than you and I.

Here’s the account of Weigand’s ordeal courtesy of JCR Honda.

Timmy Weigand was in full Baja preparation mode, getting ready to join Kendall Norman and defend his 2009 SCORE Baja 250 win aboard his number 1x Honda CRF450X. With a scheduled departure for Baja, Mexico of Sunday March 7th. On Saturday March 6th Timmy woke up and got dressed as usual. Timmy recalls washing his face in the bathroom when he felt a slight headache come on as he stood up from the sink, he was suddenly blinded in his left eye. Not sure what to make of it he laid down and his vision came back but was blurry.

Timmy's wife Nicole, who is nine months pregnant and due to have their second child next week, did some quick research online and realized that they needed to go to the ER. At the ER they gave Timmy a CT scan finding no abnormalities. From their he was sent to an Ophthalmologist, fearing that he had a torn retina. The Dr. carefully and thoroughly examined Timmy's and found his eyes to be in perfect condition. The Dr. then insisted that Timmy go back to the ER because something else is wrong. With a cell phone in one ear and a landline in the other the way was paved for Timmy's priority return to the ER. Now back at the ER, he underwent several tests including EKG and Blood work. Still inconclusive he was admitted to the Hospital late on Saturday and scheduled for an MRI Sunday morning. The MRI revealed that he had suffered a stroke in the back of his brain. A slew of tests followed and on Tuesday it was revealed that Timmy had a bilateral hole in his heart that was the cause of the stroke. This hole is congenital and he will need to have heart surgery to fix it. He is seeing the best specialists and with special thanks to Dr. Helm, is getting priority treatment.

Timmy's family, friends, team and sponsors have been an incredible support to him and he wants to express his appreciation and overwhelmed gratitude and most of all to his wife Nicole.