MOTORSPORT - Ace is coming home on his road to recovery

by Peter de Graaf
Northland motorcycle racing champion Aaron Clark - who has spent almost two months in an American hospital after crashing at 200km/h on October 10 - is coming home at last.
The 37-year-old arrives in Auckland tomorrow, where he will spend another two to three months in hospital continuing his long recovery from major head, pelvis and leg injuries.
Aaron will be transported on a stretcher and accompanied by his sister Megan, mother Raye and a nurse on the long trip from Memorial Hospital in Colorado. He will be airlifted from Colorado Springs airport to Los Angeles by private jet, then taken on an Air New Zealand flight to Auckland.
He is expected to stay in the orthopaedic ward of Auckland City Hospital for two to three months.
Aaron's father, John Clark of Onerahi Bookshop and Lotto, said he was responding well to intensive physical, occupational and speech therapy.
"He's very competitive, so he's challenging himself beyond the targets the therapists set each day."
Mr Clark said it was great to have his son close again, though it was tough for Aaron to leave his wife and friends behind - "but the advice from the States is that this is where he needs to be".
Aaron was still unable to put weight on his pelvis but was "hopping along on a walker", building up strength and getting his memory back.
It was only one month after the crash that he truly recognised his wife Tedi again, Mr Clark said.
"It's very hard for her," he said.
Aaron's wife will stay in the US for now, where the couple bought their first home just a week before the crash.