Chris Vermeulen hasn't walked under his own power for five months. But today, he shed his crutches. Vermeulen, who underwent knee surgery after a crash during the opening round of the 2010 World Superbike season, is scheduled to be part of Kawasaki's three man team for the 2011 WSBK season.
“I'm back in Australia to finish my training and rehab on my knee, before our testing schedule begins in Malaysia” he said. “It's five months since I had surgery on my knee and it was five months that doctors said I would be able to walk. I am just getting off one crutch.
Vermeulen hasn't hopped on a motorcycle yet, but he has been rehabbing his knee with a strict training program of swimming and cycling.
“Part of the day I am walking around quite stable. The knee gets a bit painful after a while, but that's understandable, so I've been doing quite a lot of exercise to build the strength in my leg,” Vermeulen said.
Vermeulen will be racing with Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz with Kawasaki next year on the Kawasaki ZX-10R.
