Belgian Olympic event rider Carl Bouckaert is recovering at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston after breaking his leg in a fall from a dirt bike on Dec. 21 and then undergoing numerous subsequent surgeries.

Bouckaert’s son-in-law, upper-level event rider Michael Pollard, said he was riding a dirt bike through the woods at his Chattahoochee Hills Farm in Fairburn, Ga., when he was thrown into a tree.

“I guess he hit a bump and sort of got into the back of the seat and accidentally pulled the throttle, and it shot him off into the woods,” Pollard said. “He ran his leg into a tree. We got a call saying he broke his leg, and it was really bad. They airlifted him to Grady Trauma Center in Atlanta. We’re around broken bones a lot in our business, so I didn’t really think too much of it, but it turned out to be a substantial injury.”

Bouckaert underwent plastic surgery to repair a broken left tibia and broken fibula, but then he got an infection in the bone. He was taken to Boston to meet with a top plastic surgeon and has since been through 11 surgeries.

“It’s been a pretty long road, and we’re still at least two or three weeks away from being able to do the orthopedic repair. As it stands, the bones are still broken. He’s a super active guy, so we’re hoping everyone will send their well wishes,” said Pollard. “We’re optimistic. For a while it looked like it was more than likely he’d have it amputated. They’re going to put a full rod in the leg sometime in the next two weeks, and as long as that doesn’t get infected then I think we’re [in good shape.] I’d say we have an 80 percent chance of keeping it now, whereas it wasn’t looking nearly that good before. We’re really hopeful that ends up being the case.”

Pollard said he and his wife, Nathalie, Bouckaert’s son Stan and other family members are rotating visitation until Carl can come home.

“They have all the Harvard medical students coming through, and he’s conducting classes probably more often than not! The one thing about him is his spirit. I wouldn’t say he’s the easiest patient, but his spirits have certainly been good,” Michael said.