Never before has so much scaffolding been seen around one bone; absolutely crazy stuff. Who does Bono think he is, Martyn Irvine?
The X-ray above is of Bono’s elbow, wrapped in scaffolding after his bike crash in New York late last year.
The U2 lead man has written a blog posting on the band’s website and revealed his injuries are so severe he may never play guitar again.
He has said he’s been unable to move around and has also cancelled all his public appearances for the first six months of the year to allow him to recover.
He appears to be taking his misfortune in his stride, saying while The Edge has told him to stop treating his body “as an inconvenience” he has come to accept that he’s “not an armoured vehicle”.
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As a result of the crash in New York’s Central Park in early November, he had three metal plates and 18 screws inserted into his elbow and sustained a range of other injuries.
He writes of his spill: “I broke my hand, my shoulder, my elbow and my face.
"But the real injury this year was to my Irish pride as it was discovered that under my tracksuit I was wearing yellow and black Lycra cycling shorts.
“Yes, LYCRA. This is not very rock 'n' roll.
“Recovery has been more difficult than I thought... As I write this, it is not clear that I will ever play guitar again.
“The band have reminded me that neither they nor Western civilization are depending on this.
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Bono said he was mortified to be caught short wearing not very rock 'n' roll lycra when he was carted off to hospital.
“I personally would very much miss fingering the frets of my green Irish falcon or my (RED) Gretsch. Just for the pleasure, aside from writing tunes.
“But then does the Edge, or Jimmy Page, or any guitarist you know have a titanium elbow, as I do now? I'm all elbows, I am.
“I can't blame (the crash) on anyone but myself, mainly because I blanked out on impact and have no memory of how I ended up in New York Presbyterian with my humerus bone sticking through my leather jacket. Very punk rock as injuries go.
“The consequences of this freak accident are significant enough that I will have to concentrate hard to be ready for the U2 tour in fitness terms…
“As a result I have cancelled every public appearance and decided this missive is all the communication I can manage for the first half of 2015, beyond muttering and singing to myself of course.”
He could do worse than give Irish track legend Martyn Irvine a call for some recovery tips.
The Newtownards man won silver and gold at the World Championships in early 2013.
He then broke his femur in a high speed crash at the Tour of Taiwan just weeks later, before going into a long recovery that wiped out his entire 2013 road season.
He bounced back to win a bronze medal at the European Championships, then crashed again in late 2013 but somehow got himself back into shape and won another silver medal at the Worlds early last year.
Then again, Bono is no Martyn Irvine!
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