Fred Gall Anatomy

Fred Gall Anatomy

Thumbs down

I was hiking in the mountains and I slipped on some moss. I put my hand out to save myself and landed on a jagged edge and nearly chopped off my thumb; it was hanging by skin. I cut all the ligaments and tendons and was a mile up a mountain, three hours from a hospital. I had to get 24 stitches and microsurgery. Then I was good.

Step Off

I was trying to grind an 11-stair rail against a wall with no run-up. I slipped off my board with no speed and landed on the last stair on my ankle sideways. It popped loudly and I thought I broke it. I actually tore all the ligaments, which is even worse than a break. I was out for six months and I got hot pockets for life. It sucks.

Vanilla Ice Brow

I was 10 and skating at my first contest. In the back of this park they had a parking block set off a loading dock and into a jump ramp (like a really ghetto rail). I boardslid the block but hung up on the back of the ramp and flew head-first onto my eye. I scrapped my eyebrow off and got a concussion. I had such a gnarly black eye forever. My teachers thought I was being abused.

Thug Life

Albany, New York, is pretty ghetto. I was drunk at night there and had my guard down. I got hit from behind with what I think was a brick. Whatever it was, it f**ked me up, and the dude tried to rob me but I didn’t go down. I ended up at the hospital, got an MRI and found out I had a broken cheekbone and busted nasal passage.

Nose Dive

Slammed flat on my face at the Real to Reel premiere in San Francisco. I slipped on a wet bar floor and broke and split my nose. A month later, my friend Joe threw a corncob at me while we were barbequing. I turned around and it hit me in the nose like a brick. Broken again.

It Taint Good

I was trying to do a nosegrind tailgrab revert on a box in ’91. My back foot slipped off the tail and I nutted with a razor-sharp tail. It sliced the crevice between my nuts and my leg. I put my hands down my pants, saw blood and started screaming.

Chain Gang

Tried to hippie jump shove-it a chain with sharp links. Got hung up and slid both shins across the chain from ankle to knee, slashing them open. Mad painful.

Bombed Out

I was bombing a hill in San Francisco with Lance Dawes. It was so big and steep that the three speed bumps at the bottom looked like painted lines from the top. There were no lights, so we pushed hardcore. Lance fell before the bottom. I made it, but when I hit the first speed bump I just flew through the air like Superman. I landed on my back on the last bump and crumbled on the pavement. I’ll never forget that one.

Talk to the Hand

I was skating back from the liquor store in Miami with a 22 of Heineken in my hand. I’d already been drinking at the beach all day. I hit a rock and didn’t let go of the bottle in time. The glass ripped my hand wide open. It looked like there was a mouth on my palm. 12 stitches.

Steve Austin Hip

I was skating Cheap Skates in Pennsylvania in ’90. I was really small and I tried to rock fakie on the miniramp’s extension. Fully hung up and slammed to the flat bottom on my right side. My mom thought I broke my hip. It was just badly bruised though. Mom bought me Tony Hawk bionic hip-pads. I never used them.

Sparring Partner

Once again, just messing around turns bad. I got into a fight with a friend and cheap shots were getting thrown left and right. I threw an uncalled-for punch so, when I wasn’t looking, he threw one back. His punch connected good with my ribs and broke three of them. That shit is the worst. For three months, I could barely breathe or sleep without gnarly pain.

Wristssues

I’ve broken my right wrist so many times it just happens every couple months now. It’s like a normal procedure.