Freestyle rider Adolf Silva issues update after terrifying crash at Red Bull Rampage

Silva and Emil Johansson had to be airlifted to hospital after heavy falls at the annual free ride race in Utah

Adolf Silva has provided a positive update on his condition after his terrifying crash at Red Bull Rampage.

The freestyle rider was airlifted to hospital after his heavy fall near Zion National Park, Utah, which saw him tumble violently downhill during his second run at the event.

A failed double backflip saw the Spaniard land on his head and roll down the rock face before the crowd surrounded him as he was loaded onto a stretcher before a rescue helicopter airlifted him to hospital.

But despite suffering a lower back injury, Silva, who is affectionately known as ‘Loco’, Spanish for crazy, is in good spirit, having posted an update from his hospital bed in St George, Utah.

“After this first day in the hospital I want to thank everyone for their thoughts overnight,” he said. “I do have a lower back injury and my focus is on my recovery.

“It’s great to have my family here and feel all the support from all of you guys.”

There was a break in the competition following Silva’s accident before the remaining riders resumed their second runs, but another punishing fall occurred on Sunday when Emil Johansson was also airlifted to the St George hospital, approximately 40 miles away.

The Swedish rider crashed down a sheer cliff face after attempting a tailwhip early in his run. The competition was paused again for medical crews to extricate him from an inaccessible position on the ridge line.

Johansson wrote on social media on Monday: “I suffered a big dislocation of my right hip that they managed to pop back in at the hospital... but will most likely need to get surgery on it to clean the socket up from pieces of bone. Besides that I am pretty much unscratched!”

The competition is famous for its unforgiving terrain and the extreme difficulty of the riders’ tricks and jumps.