if something showed Marc Márquez during the ordeal of the last two years, in which he needed four operations to avoid withdrawal, It was his desire and will to be that rider who was sweeping MotoGP again. His ambition was one of his great companions in this process and in case there were any doubts, the doctor Joaquin Sanchez-Sotelo, doctor who intervened for the last time, makes it clear in Motorsports: “As soon as it became clear that there was a possibility of improvement, He told me that he was taking a plane and that he would be here immediately”. That possibility did not mean a complete recovery, but his ability to sacrifice may have a lot to blame for a complete recovery: “I don’t think he has any left. (limitation). From a medical point of view, the humerus is as it was before it fell off.”
This does not mean that there was no chance of something going wrong, “in an operating room there can always be problems”, but despite the fact that “The night before the operation I didn’t sleep a wink”, Sánchez-Sotelo acknowledged, the sensations were always good: “I had the feeling that it was going to work”. How did he get it? “I looked for a way to make the surgery the least invasive possible, the least risky. The bone is a cylinder, so I decided to make the cut a little higher to limit the risk of complications. And in this way, the surgeon at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota (USA), prevented a 29-year-old pilot and the most dominant of the last decade in the World Cup, hang the monkey prematurely.
With that trip to the United States began the resurgence of Márquez. The intervention had to be performed on American soil because “what is unique at the Mayo Clinic is its specialization” and in this case, Dr. Sánchez-Sotelo specialized in “shoulder and elbow.” An experience that, together with “a number of devices and resources that are difficult to find elsewhere”, attracted the Spaniard (who had already accumulated two interventions in Barcelona and one in Madrid) after seeing a 3D image that was revealing: “When he saw the 3D image of the two humeri, he realized that the best option was to have surgery. It made him very angry, because when you tell a patient who has broken his arm that you are going to cut it off again, most tell you that you are crazy”.
“I showed him the bones and he said ‘I’ll have surgery'”
Márquez tried everything to get back to the top, In fact, he talks about his best preseason on a physical level despite the fact that the bike is not with him. But at least he got leave behind “mobility problems, basically external”, who got off the bike in 2022 in the middle of the season: “I couldn’t control the bike in the corners and had problems braking. He could not block his arm, which was going inwards ”. Those were the main impediments for the eighth champion on the asphalt with a rotated humerus that was discovered after 3D printing: “He sent me a CT scan of both arms and we reproduced his two humerus in plastic. The left and the injured one, who had considerable rotation. We made a video call, I showed him the bones and he told me: ‘I’ll have surgery’.
Was that intervention necessary? “Marc’s operation is rare”, in fact a footballer would not have needed it, but for a motorcycling champion it was essential if he wanted to fight for titles again. And that was the objective of a Márquez who “has two very good characteristics”. “The first is that fully trust the opinion of professionals. What you want is direct and clear communication. And then, that he throws himself into everything he does. He told me that as soon as I gave him permission, he would go full speed ” and so it has been. The eighth champion has returned to win.