Pococks Progress: Coming back from injury

Mel Pocock suffered a horrendous injury at the start of the British Championship, losing a good proportion of his thumb as a spinning sprocket raked across his right hand. From a position that looked like he was going to lose his entire hand and maybe never ride again, the DRT Kawasaki rider is making fantastic progress, and is already planning his return to racing.

MOTO caught up with Pocock as he enjoyed the Monster Hospitality grandstand at Lommel while watching his team mate Max Anstie bring home the overall.

So Mel - it's been five months since your injury at Hilton Park. How has the recovery gone? It was really slow at first, but in the last month and a half it has really stepped up. I've been doing much more at the gym, I've has five separate operations on it which have all gone well and according to plan which is all pretty amazing given how bad my hand was. I've literally had no complications, no infections, nothing - it's really surprising.

Coming into the hospital to start off with I was told by two different surgeons that I was going to lose my hand and to come from there to now, five months later the doctors saying that they would like to see me riding in about two weeks - the difference is just huge. It's been a long journey though - a lot of work has gone it to get me to this point from a whole host of people.

The biggest effort has been from my trainer to put in the effort to customise my training program to my injury and getting both my arm and my hand back to strength, but he's done it and I'm pleased with where I am.

Do you feel relatively positive? I'm completely positive - it's a bad injury but to come through this you have to be positive and I'm 100% sure that I will be back to riding to my full capability again, just half a thumb shorter!

You mentioned that you had spoken to Jessy Nelson in America. Yes I went to Glen Helen the other month to watch Zach Osborne my former teammate and I hooked up with Jessy who had a similar injury to me on his left hand and only has one thumb. It was good to talk to somebody that has had this problem first hand! ( Laughs) It was good to see what he had had made to help him ride and how he has got on with this issue. Big respect to him - he's killing it out there and on that basis, I think I'm going to be OK.

And when do you think you will be back on a motocross bike? Last week I went to physio at my local hospital for my three times a week round of X rays, exercise, se the surgeons, the skin specialist and all the other doctors and they told me to start riding on a flat track by about the end of August, They are looking to sign me off in about five weeks.

That will bring me just short of six months from the initial injury to back riding which is nice as they said it was going to be so much worse. I've progressed really well.

And can you see yourself racing next year? Yes of course - I'd like to do a couple of races before the end of this year.

Don't start with the Beach Race! No I probably won't - that's maybe a bit too much! But I will definitely be riding a bike this year - 100% - I can't wait.