Friends bond online in support of rider

First of all, thanks for all your support, it really has been unbelievable. We have been aware of various rumors floating around and so I am going to update everyone as often as possible. . . . First, he has suffered a very serious spinal injury. He has crushed his third, fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae and consequently suffered some damage to his spinal chord.

Less than 24 hours after Stephen Murray broke his neck in a horrifying bicycle motocross crash June 22 at the season-opening Dew Tour event, the extreme-sports community discovered a huge benefit to the Internet, using its worldwide reach to distribute facts and collect funds.

On the bmxtalk.com message board, a website used by BMX enthusiasts around the world, Murray's family and friends have provided descriptive up-to-date accounts of Murray's recovery and its obstacles.

Murray was attempting a double back flip in the final round of the BMX dirt-jumping competition in Baltimore. It was his trademark maneuver, one he had successfully completed dozens of times, including his first in competition en route to winning an X Games gold medal in 2001.

Murray, a 27-year-old who moved to Southern California from England nine years ago to pursue a career in BMX, launched himself into the air on the course's last ramp, but bailed out at the jump's apex. He landed head-first on the dirt and lay motionless.

"He didn't get out of it the way he wanted to and ended up in a bad position," said fellow BMX pro Ryan Nyquist, who witnessed the accident. "Most definitely, the worst crash a lot of people have seen."

Murray had to be resuscitated during the ambulance ride to the University of Maryland Medical Center. The announcer of the event and Murray's close friend, Paul Roberts, made the calls to his parents in England and wife, Melissa, who was home in Corona with their sons, Seth, 4, and Mason, 1.

Some sensation in his right wrist and left shoulder gave everyone a huge lift. However, he developed further complications later in the day with his breathing. . . they decided to do a bronchoscopy. The results of this were that they found lots of [crud] in his lungs. . . . They believe that this is due to inhaling lots and lots of dust from digging and riding trails over many, many years. Sort of similar to that of a miner's lung.

Pneumonia is common among spinal-injury patients in the weeks after their hospitalization. Murray's bout set in just before the Fourth of July.