Dr. G: Unsung hero

Steve Shambeck/OrangeCounty.comDr. Gus Gialamas accepts his Unsung Hero award at the second annual AFMXA Awards.

Dr. Gus Gialamas -- an orthopedic surgeon based in San Clemente, California and affectionately known to FMX riders as "Dr. G" -- won the Unsung Hero award at the 2nd annual AFMXA Awards on Saturday. You've just got to love a sport where every pro competitor's hero is the guy who puts their broken bodies back together, so we called him up to help sing his praises a bit further.

"Let's just say over the years I've operated on quite a few of them," Gialamas says, citing patient privacy concerns in demurring from naming any specific riders.

FMX riders understand and accept high levels of risk, and spectacular crashes come with the territory. There's even a special AFMXA Awards category for Biggest Slam: If you aren't taking some spills along the way, you probably aren't going to make it very far in this sport. Thanks to his proximity to the epicenter of the FMX world and his growing reputation among the top riders, Dr. G has seen more than his share of bad breaks.

"FMX injuries are interesting from an orthopedic standpoint because of the speed and height involved in these accidents," Gialamas says. "We see some really serious breaks and complex fractures with extremely severe musculoskeletal trauma. And then the surgery itself is just the beginning, especially for these athletes who are eager to get back on their bikes, because riding is both their lives and their livelihood."

Red BullWhen Robbie Maddison needs to get put back together, he seeks Dr. G's magic touch.

Robbie Maddison (winner of the AFMXA's Muchos Cajones Award for the second year in a row) says he's not even sure he'd still be riding if it weren't for Dr. G. He saw the doctor after a freak crash that resulted in his handlebars getting lodged behind his facemask, wrenching his neck and jaw and creating debilitating pain.

"I'd been to every specialist in L.A. and they were telling me I'd need 12 weeks downtime, which was the worst possible news because I'd just gotten this gig with Crusty Demons," Maddison says. "So I went to see him and he was like 'Dude, your head's on backwards.' He worked his magic and six weeks later I was doing the Crusty Demons tour. Every injury I've had since I've gone and seen him."

So, for all that, how does it feel to be the unsung hero of FMX?

"I'm very appreciative, but it really should be about the riders first and foremost," Gialamas says. "I think the real unsung heroes in this sport are the people working behind the scenes to make the courses as safe as possible, everyone involved with the AFMXA from the board level to the riders, the people developing gear to protect these riders, and the EMT teams on the ground responding on the scene when something does happen. I like to think I received this award on behalf of all of those folks."

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