Herne's leg injury is like a 'shark's bite' (From Bournemouth Echo)

Herne's leg injury is like a 'shark's bite'

7:00am Thursday 11th February 2010 in

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BEDRIDDEN Jay Herne insists he will be fit for the new season despite sustaining a horrendous “shark bite” wound down to the bare bone in a track spill in Australia.

Bournemouth’s skipper will undergo a skin graft on a deep cut next to his right knee in Tamworth Hospital, New South Wales tomorrow.

Herne, who has not been able to walk since the accident on Saturday, says he will not be able to move his leg for a week following surgery.

He sustained the injury after falling and being hit from behind by another rider’s bike in a re-run of a race he was leading during the Australian Longtrack final.

Speaking exclusively to the Echo from his hospital bed, Herne said: “It could have been a lot worse. I’m lucky my kneecap wasn’t shattered.

“I could also have torn ligaments or suffered tendon or muscle damage, so in a way I’ve got off lightly because any of those would have kept me out for six months.

“When I first looked down straight after the crash, I could see my kneecap sticking out because a big chunk of my leg was missing.

“I’d gone into the first corner, hit a hole, took off and managed to get the bike down, but, unfortunately, the bloke behind couldn’t lay his bike down.

“He just ran over me, although it wasn’t his fault, it’s just racing.

“But it’s a big chunk down to the bone, like a shark bite.”

The date of Buccaneers’ opening third-tier fixture has yet to be decided, but boss Garry May wants a home and away challenge in April ahead of their National League programme.

So Bournemouth Castle Cover’s spearhead faces a race against time to be fit for tapes-up.

Herne, who will double-up for second-tier Somerset, said: “They’re booking me in for a skin graft on Friday.

“Hopefully, that will go ahead and everything will go okay with the operation.

“Although I’ll be able to go home after the operation, I’ll have to stay in bed for a week because I won’t be allowed to move my leg so that it will knit together properly.

“Luckily, I’m a fairly fast healer, so fingers-crossed the surgery will go okay and I won’t be missing out on racing.

“Somerset’s press and practice is on March 17. I only have just over a month until then, so I want to get back to Britain and build bikes.

“It’s hard to say exactly how long I’ll be out for until after I’ve had the skin graft.

“We’ll know more then, although I’m determined to be back for Buccaneers’ first meeting.”

Ex-Scunthorpe rider Kyle Howarth and Karl Mason, formerly of Newport and Weymouth, were confirmed as Bournemouth new boys last night.

Howarth, 16 today, has signed as a full Pirates asset, while Mason comes in on loan to complete Buccaneers’ 2010 team.