Campbell and Merriman talk accidents, recovery time, and what may lie ahead for injured driver Brett Beckwith

by Debbie Little

Every accident on the track is different, but drivers John Campbell and Aaron Merriman, having broken at least one wrist each themselves, can commiserate with what driver Brett Beckwith has, is, and will be going through.

Beckwith, The Meadowlands’ current leading driver was sidelined on Sunday (April 12) following a mishap behind the gate at Saratoga. He suffered a broken wrist, broken jaw, and brain bleed.

This week, HRU contacted Merriman, 47, and Campbell, 71, for their insights on the road ahead for the 23-year-old Beckwith.

With the numbers he’s racked up, Merriman has the dubious distinction of being considered the poster boy for wrist breaking.

“Almost nine times, between the two [wrists], so I’m an expert,” Merriman said with a laugh.

Campbell did not play in the same ballpark as Merriman when it came to wrist damage.

“Yeah, only once,” Campbell said. “I shouldn’t say that. I did have a tiny fracture another time that I didn’t have to have a cast on but, yeah, I did break it the year Mission Brief raced in the Hambletonian [2015]. I broke mine in a qualifier, but it’ll be significantly different than Brett’s, because I didn’t require surgery.

They set it without doing surgery, and then I just had a cast on for a period of time, and then a brace after that.”

Neither Campbell nor Merriman has ever experienced a broken jaw, however, the latter does know what it’s like to have a brain bleed, which he sustained back in 2010 when his horse, Sound Dragin, stumbled and fell, catapulting him from the bike.

“So, the bleed will stop, I think [Beckwith’s] has stopped, that’s why they’re just going to monitor him for a couple of days, and the blood will just sit there in a pretty much harmless part of your brain,” Merriman said. “I was in the ICU for seven days in that wreck [in 2010], so I got to be monitored pretty closely there for the week. But I think they think he’s pretty good. He’s going to go through another CT scan, I know for sure, and then he will probably be able to get released… I couldn’t say how much that affected me. I don’t know if it did. Multiple concussions affect you, but I broke my neck at the same time, so there was so much stuff going on… I have a neurologist I still go to because of the number of concussions I’ve had. But you know, [the blood being in your brain], it’s not harmful, even though it’s there, it’s not harmful.”

After HRU spoke with Merriman and Campbell, Beckwith’s sister, Carly, posted on her brother’s Facebook page, on Tuesday evening (April 14), and gave an update that stated in part, “He had surgery on his wrist yesterday which was a success — as expected, he is in a lot of pain but he actually just got discharged from the hospital! The other good news is, he no longer needs any CT scans for the brain bleed! Of course, he still has to deal with his broken jaw so he will be heading back to the hospital on Friday to get that taken care of. He also has hearing loss in his left ear and will be seeing ENT as outpatient for that.”

Although Campbell sustained his broken wrist in 2015, when the Hall of Famer was 60, he said that his first racing accident causing him to take time off occurred in 1981 or ’82 when he was still in his 20s, and that, from a comparative viewpoint, you bounce back quicker when you’re younger.

“His range of motion is going to come back easier because he’s younger, the healing time will be quicker, everything will be better in that regard [due to] the fact that he’s 23,” Campbell said.

Merriman agreed with Campbell on youth being an advantage.

“Just even with everyday life, you definitely get aches and pains like you probably wouldn’t have when you’re younger,” Merriman said.

“But I do think that your body is an amazing thing, and John will probably say the same thing, your body is an amazing thing. Of course, it’s going to be a little bit harder… but I 100 per cent believe it’s easier when you’re younger.”

Merriman is good friends with Brett and plans to take a couple of days off to go visit him next week.

At this point, Merriman said the most important thing for Brett to focus on is his recovery and not to worry about when he’ll be back driving.

“He’s already thinking everybody’s going to forget him,” Merriman said. “I can’t really say much, because I’m that way, too.

“I said, ‘Absolutely, take it from me, because I’ve done it numerous times, listen to the doctors. Do not come back too quickly. Do not push just because you feel better, do not.’

“I was blessed because I broke my wrists, and then I came back too quickly and I broke them again. The messed-up stuff actually got fixed because I did it the right way the second time. I had, like, no wrist motion. It was horrible. I mean, okay, I can drive a horse, but what about everyday life? Even wiping my butt was hard, and then I rebroke them and then I did everything the right way… I think the therapy afterwards is way more than the healing.”

Campbell also stressed the importance of physical therapy and not coming back too soon.

“With a broken bone you have to wait, because you can’t do therapy with broken bones,” Campbell said. “He has to wait until the x-rays show that that bone is healed enough to withstand any therapy without doing more damage. So, he’s a ways away from therapy… When they take the cast off, you can’t believe how weak and limp your wrist is, and Brett will have to deal with that when the time comes. When that cast comes off and you can move it freely, it just feels like a noodle.

“And you have to, you know, just work it and get it back. It’s just a question of using it and strengthening all those tendons and muscles in there again, because when they’re not used for a period of time, it doesn’t take long and they just atrophy. And when that cast comes off, you’ve got a noodle at the end of your arm.”

The hardest part for any professional athlete is sitting on the sidelines while they recover.

“The first little bit is going to be tough, then he’s going to be fine, then all of a sudden, he’s going to get anxious, so I’m going to be there for him,” Merriman said. “He’s got a lot of people that are going to help him, and I think that that’s very, very important. And he needs to get the right people around him that actually want him to come back and be good.

“He’s a tough kid. You know, a lot of drivers get in accidents and they don’t bounce back, but he’s already been in an accident and this is just another one.

“I feel like he’s like me. He’s going to go out there and want to be better. I told [Brett’s mom] Melissa, ‘Make sure you tell him before I get to talk to him that he’s definitely going to appreciate the grind…’ The more time you have off, you appreciate it a lot more.”

Campbell said it may be hard to do, but the last thing Brett should be focused on is how soon he’ll be back.

“Catch drivers are supply and demand, and one of the biggest issues with demand is you have to be there and people rely on you being there and when you’re out of the loop, it doesn’t take long for people to find somebody else,” Campbell said. “It is going to weigh on him, and yes, it’s going to make him very anxious. It’s going to make him want to get back out there as soon as he possibly can, because he thinks, ‘Every opportunity I’m missing now I won’t get back.’ However, with time being on his side, he’s only 23, talent being on his side, work ethic being on his side, he’s going to recover from this and have a tremendous career.

“He shouldn’t even be thinking about when he’ll come back. All he should be thinking about right now is his health… When he gets about a month into that recovery program, he’ll have a better idea when he can come back… I will tell you broken bones and injuries don’t care about tomorrow.

“One thing that I’m assured of is that he will come back and be as good or better than ever, because he was just going to get better and better, because he’s still young. This isn’t going to change the trajectory of his career at all.”