Since winning the 2007 450 AMA Motocross National Championship, Grant Langston has spent the last two years in and out of hospitals dealing a serious case of melanoma which had developed from a tumor in his left eye. According to Langston’s doctors, the South African is lucky to have any vision at all in his left eye after all he’s been through. But amazingly, Langston is going racing in 2010, thanks to his doctors and thanks to sponsorship help from JLaw Racing, Yamaha and Monster Energy.

How is the eye doing?

My eye is pretty much as good as it’s going to be. It’s not 100% and it never will be. If anything, it’s just going to deteriorate at a more rapid rate than the average person, because of the treatments. For example, the doctor told me that by the time I’m 40 I will have the vision of an 80 year old, which will probably make me legally blind in that eye. For me, Anaheim 1 gave me a good idea of where I’m at. To be perfectly honest, as much as I was excited and wanted to go racing, I still had questions about how I would do. At nighttime, are the ruts or shadows going to bother me? So as far as those things go, I’m a little tentative. But I thought it was good enough, and it didn’t bother me too much.

You have to feel good that you have sight at all in that eye.

Absolutely. After learning more and more about what I had, the way it turned out, I’m in a very minute group of people who have been able to bounce back with what I have. Turns out, there is about a 50% chance of death, because people don’t catch it in time. It could’ve been much worse and to have relatively good vision out of that eye is pretty close to a miracle. I can’t complain and I’m racing motorcycles, which didn’t seem like a possibility very long ago. I’m thankful to be getting another chance to race.

What is it like to be coming back from all of this?

I’m just trying to have fun. There’s not a lot of pressure and obviously, like any race, you always want to do better, but I’m just using Supercross as a chance to get back into the groove and get my fitness back and just enjoy racing again. I’m not a title contender and I don’t even have goals like, “I want to be top-seven in the series, or top-five, or whatever.” I just want to improve as the series goes on and then when I feel like I can charge with these guys for 20 laps, then I’m going to go and do it and then I’ll get the results I want.

You spent a lot of time away from the sport, does that make you appreciate it that much more?

Yeah, I don’t think I’ve had this much fun riding Supercross, ever. I think it’s because I’ve been away from the bike for so long. When I’m riding, it’s like I don’t want to quit. Also, I think it fun because there’s no pressure. When you’re in a high paid position there tends to be a lot of pressure, and now, it’s like I’m just doing this more for myself and for sponsors that have stuff with me. And I really appreciate those guys, because with the economy, there were a lot of guys sitting on the outside looking in, trying to find a ride. And I’m really thankful for all the people who stepped up and for Yamaha helping me in the eleventh hour.

What’s the bottom line?

I’m not getting rich right now, but I’m doing what I love and I’m having fun and my kids love coming to watch me ride. It’s great, this has really become a family sport for me, and so I’m happy.