Skate Anatomy: Tony Hawk

Tony Hawk

CENTER:

Teeth knocked out three times
“The first time was at Del Mar in the halfpipe. I stuck on a 50-50 and fell forward. I woke up later in the pro shop. Both teeth were broken off—all that was left were tiny nubs. It looked like a bullet went through the middle of my teeth. They put caps on them and I broke two sets of those.”

Knocked out five times

Corrective eye surgery

Bruised tailbone
“I did a bad frontside air around the corner at Upland; I didn’t pull off enough, so I went into the corner at the wrong angle. My foot went over the deck and I flipped over onto my back at the bottom of the pool. I just laid on the bottom for awhile.”

Four stitches in middle of forehead

Compressed vertebras in back
“I tried 900s over and over. A couple of days later my back stiffened up. A few days after that I could barely walk.”

Deviated septum corrected.

LEFT SIDE:

Three stitches in thumb

Two screws in fractured funny bone
“Backside 180 Japan over a funbox for a Gap commercial. I overturned and deck checked—not a good combination. I shot off my board onto my elbow.”

Tattoo removed from wedding finger

Broken pinkie and middle finger

Hyperextended shoulder
“I tried to bail a trick at Del Mar, but I landed on my board and it shot me out and my arm stretched out.”

Torn cartilage removed from knee in orthoscopic surgery

At least 20 stitches in shin
“The scab I have right now is the result of two incidents. A bluntslide bigspin didn’t work out and my board got tangled underneath me. Two days later I kneeslid from a trick with the board underneath my shins, ripped the original scab off, and did some more damage.”

Twice sprained ankle so bad that couldn’t walk

Four stitches in chin
“I slammed in the showers at the public swimming pool when I was a kid.”

Cracked second rib
“I landed a 900 and fell into the flat bottom. I heard something pop. Later that night I had trouble breathing, so I went to the doctor the next day.”

Popped bursa that created chunky calcium deposits along hip.
“I was trying to learn half-Cab to frontside blunt and I slammed really hard. That ended the session. I couldn’t sleep because the hipper stuck out so far. You could see it bulging when I was wearing regular shorts. My hip belonged to the Elephant Man.”

At least 30 stitches in shin
“In 1986 I was street skating and went to ollie up a bench, but my shin went right into the edge and cut it open. I went to the doctor and he gave me a local. He stuck his finger in the cut to make sure my shinbone wasn’t chipped. I could see his finger underneath my skin probing around. It was fine, all I needed was some stitches.”

Sprained ankle 4 times so bad that couldn’t walk

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