CANNON RECOVERING FROM BACK SURGERY
Tue, 2007-05-01 17:42
For Scotty Cannon the phrase “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”
would be an accurate description of his current physical status.
Cannon, driver of Evan Knoll’s Seelye-Wright Top Fuel
dragster, suffered a back injury during the second round of qualifying at the
recently completed IHRA Spring Nationals in Rockingham, NC. He finished the
weekend despite suffering two ruptured discs.
Cannon underwent surgery last Friday at the Charlotte Spine
Clinic to repair the damage. This marked his second back operation since
1997.
“I’ve found out just how painful a ruptured disc can be,”
Cannon, who is still bed-ridden in his Lyman, SC., residence said. “I was in
terrible pain at the race track and I just tried to do everything I could to
make it through.
“When little Scott won on Sunday, I think it was the most
painful experience in the winner’s circle that I’ve ever experienced. It was so
bad over the course of the weekend that I didn’t make the last qualifying
session and my crew had to help me in and out of the car. I knew I had a bad
problem that wasn’t going to fix itself.”
Cannon aggravated the injury he suffered in 1997 when he raced
Pro Modified. He ruptured the same discs during qualifying for the final event
of the season and was forced to withdraw from competition. Physicians gave him
the choice of being in bed for six months or having corrective
surgery.
Cannon chose surgery, knowing that he had a major racing
commitment in two months that required a trip to Australia. Not only did he make
the trip, but won races and established records.
“I survived a 14-hour flight and that was not easy,” Cannon
said. “With what happened then and then going through what I did in Rockingham,
I think I have pretty much covered the bases of enduring pain.”
Cannon’s recent surgery was his last resort following an
unsuccessful epidural.
“I pulled the parachutes following my second qualifying
session in Rockingham and I knew I had a problem,” Cannon said. “I really had no
problems when I raced Funny Car, and the time I had off before this ride came
along really allowed me to rest my back.
“But the long hours and lack of rest during the last couple of
seasons caught up to me. Your body has a way of slowing you down when you can’t
seem to do it. This time it had the last word in everything.”
Cannon is planning to race during the upcoming Torco IHRA
Sooner Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“You know how that goes,” Cannon said. “If I can do it, I will
be there. We’ll just have to see.”
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