Olympic street skating star Nyjah Huston is back in a hospital gown after a brutal crash near Long Beach left him with a fractured jaw, a fractured cheekbone and a lacerated kidney. The 31-year-old Californian and Paris Olympic bronze medalist shared photos from his hospital bed along with X-rays that lay out the damage in stark detail. The skater, famous for hurling himself at massive street lines and towering handrails, is now under medical care while fans and fellow pros react to the latest scare.
Huston posts hospital photos
According to Reuters, Huston detailed the injuries to his jaw, cheekbone and kidney in a social media update that included images from his hospital room and X-rays. The outlet reported from Long Beach that Huston himself supplied the photos that are now circulating among his millions of followers.
Not his first major crash this year
This is Huston’s second serious injury of the year. In January he revealed that a training slam left him with a fractured skull and a fractured eye socket, as CBS News reported. At the time he shared hospital images and called the wreck “a harsh reminder how death defying skating massive rails can be,” a line that feels even heavier in light of his latest crash.
One of the sport’s most decorated street skaters
Street League’s skater profile lays out Huston’s long run of contest wins and titles, and Reuters noted that he brought home a bronze medal for the United States at the Paris Olympics. With multiple SLS Super Crown victories and a stack of X Games gold medals on his resume, every injury update from Huston instantly becomes a storyline for the skate industry, its fans and the sponsors that have backed him for years.
What’s next: recovery and safety debate
There was no immediate contest schedule update from Huston’s camp, and it is not yet clear whether he will be forced to sit out upcoming events. The crash has also stirred up the ongoing debate over protective gear in street skating. Huston has previously said that younger skaters should wear helmets even though he personally does not plan to, as AS.com reported, a position that splits opinion among fans and other pros. For now, the priority appears to be recovery. Earlier this year he said he was “taking it one day at a time,” according to CBS News, and his latest hospital post suggests that mindset has not changed.
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