Justin Medeiros' Serious Crash

Justin Medeiros' return to the podcast Boys Interrupted was supposed to be about competition and training. Instead, it became a candid account of an accident that brought his season to an abrupt halt. During Boys Live from WZA SOCAL | Justin's Back!, the two-time CrossFit Games champion spoke in depth for the first time about what happened during the motorcycle accident that left him with multiple jaw fractures, a concussion and a lengthy recovery.

A hundred-meter ride

According to Medeiros, the day started completely normally. He was on his way to the barber, just a few minutes from home. At a traffic light he was first in line to turn left. After the light turned green, he pulled onto the road and, by his own account, had covered less than a hundred meters before things went wrong.

The police report, which he received later, showed that an 18-year-old driver had made an illegal U-turn. Medeiros cannot remember the exact moment of impact. The only things he can still picture are a red car, the moment he realized he could not stop in time and one last moment of eye contact with the driver.

After that, everything went black.

Five minutes unconscious

Medeiros' next memory is waking up on the ground. A nurse who happened to be at the scene was sitting beside him. When he opened his eyes, he heard someone say, "He's awake."

A police officer told him he had been unconscious for about five minutes.

In the chaos, he tried to make sense of his situation. At first he thought about his barber appointment. Only seconds later did he realize he had been on his motorcycle and that this must therefore be a serious traffic accident.

"That's when I realized this wasn't good," he said on the podcast.

Because he barely knew how serious his injuries were, he tried to ask the emergency responders to call his partner Ellie. That did not happen right away, so she only found out what had happened later, through the hospital.

Fear in the ambulance

One of the most striking parts of his story took place in the ambulance.

Medeiros described how he kept drifting in and out of consciousness while wearing a neck brace. Meanwhile, he could hear the paramedics communicating with each other.

At a certain point he heard the call "code two." Not long after, it changed to "code one," and he felt the ambulance suddenly start moving significantly faster.

Although he now knows the situation was under control, he admitted that in that moment he thought he might be in danger of losing his life.

"I didn't know how serious it was. I was just thinking: is this it?"

It turned out to be the first of many hours in which he only caught fragments of what was happening around him.

Serious damage to his face and jaw

The most severe injuries were to his face.

Medeiros broke both sides of his jaw and also sustained multiple fractures to the upper part of his face. Surgeons had to insert plates to realign everything and his jaw was wired completely shut.

On top of that, he dealt with damaged teeth, significant swelling around his ear and temporary hearing loss on one side.

One of the strangest moments during his recovery was the conviction that he had lost several teeth. With his tongue he felt large gaps in his mouth. It later turned out that what he was feeling was not his teeth, but his displaced jaw structure.

"I thought I was missing teeth, but I was actually feeling my broken jaw."

In addition to the fractures, he also suffered a concussion, which he says was responsible for the constant headaches that dominated the first few days.

Six weeks on a liquid diet

Perhaps the biggest challenge of the coming period has nothing to do with pain.

Because his jaw is completely wired shut, he cannot eat solid food for six weeks. Everything he consumes has to be blended into a liquid.

That means chicken, vegetables and other whole meals literally go through a blender before he can get them down.

For an elite athlete accustomed to consuming large amounts of calories and protein, that is an enormous challenge.

His biggest concern is maintaining body weight and muscle mass. Within just a few days he was already seeing changes in his physique.

"I'm already losing weight."

His partner Ellie is working with his nutrition coach to develop recipes that contain enough nutrients to support his recovery.

The fear of complications

His wired-shut jaw also brings risks that most people never think about.

If he becomes nauseous or needs to vomit, he cannot open his mouth. He therefore uses anti-nausea medication as a precaution. He also has to carry tools with him at all times that can quickly cut through the fixation if necessary.

An uncomfortable but very real reminder of how vulnerable his situation is right now.

No anger toward the driver

Notably, Medeiros spoke about the driver who caused the accident with virtually no anger.

Quite the opposite.

He said he would ultimately like to meet the young man. Not to confront him, but to let him know that the person he hit survived and is expected to make a full recovery.

According to Medeiros, the driver must have thought he had killed someone while he lay unconscious in the street for five minutes.

"That must have been awful."

It reflects a remarkably composed attitude from someone who would have every reason to be bitter.

Rogue already on his mind?

Even from the hospital, the competitive spirit was still there.

Medeiros said with a laugh that he initially thought about competing at the Rogue Invitational. Despite a broken jaw and a concussion, he was trying to come up with scenarios in his head where he could still compete.

That idea now seems increasingly unrealistic.

He remains involved with his team, though. From home he analyzes workouts, discusses strategies and tries to have as much influence as possible on his teammates' preparations.

That reflects the mentality that previously took him to the top of the CrossFit podium twice.

Perspective after a tough week

What stood out most during the episode was not the severity of the accident, but the way Medeiros talked about it.

Yes, he has multiple fractures, a concussion, hearing problems and weeks of limitations ahead of him. But he kept coming back to the same message: it could have been so much worse.

His neck, back and limbs were spared. He can walk. He can recover. And he gets the chance to return to the sport that made him world-famous.

For an athlete who was only seconds away from a completely different outcome, that may be the greatest victory of all.