Maria Costello After TT Crash: Rehab at Specialist Hospital Has Begun

• Since the crash on 26 May 2026, Costello has been paralysed from the fifth and sixth thoracic vertebrae down
• Rehabilitation is under way, and a place at a specialist hospital has now been secured
• The fundraising campaign stands at £306,695 (around 358,100 euros / 407,600 US dollars) of a £350,000 target

This is already the second update within a few weeks. Costello, who has been among the best-known female road racers for decades, has been in hospital since the end of May. She had intended to start in the sidecar class of the Tourist Trophy alongside passenger Shaun Parker and crashed during the first qualifying session. What was planned as a race weekend has since become a months-long hospital stay with an open outcome.

What has Maria Costello said about her recovery?

Costello reports that the mental and physical strain exceeds everything she has known so far, and that she is now being treated at a specialist hospital. She wrote in a social media post: “The rollercoaster of emotions and the mental and physical challenges are like nothing I’ve faced before. So please bear with me.”

The post had begun as an attempt to bring back a little normality. Costello simply wanted to share a few photos from the Tourist Trophy, as she otherwise would have done. In doing so, by her own account, she came across hundreds of further messages that she had not yet seen. She then thanked people on behalf of Shaun Parker and herself and described the support as something that noticeably helps her.

On the treatment itself she wrote: “I know I’m fortunate to be at this specialist hospital with such incredible staff who are making all the difference as I navigate rehabilitation.”

This marks a point she was still waiting for in July. In her update of 12 July, Costello had said that she had already changed hospitals and that first rehabilitation sessions had begun, but that a place at a specialist hospital was still pending. At the time she wrote: “The bruising has gone, my wrist has been plated but some bones are still mending.” Back at the end of June she had described the four weeks after the crash as the greatest challenge of her life.

What injuries did Maria Costello sustain at the 2026 TT?

Costello is paralysed from the fifth and sixth thoracic vertebrae down. Her team published the full list of confirmed injuries via the fundraising page: paralysis from T5/T6, a broken back with fractures to both vertebrae, a broken arm, several broken ribs, a grade four liver laceration, a broken nose, a broken eye socket, cuts between the eyes and a broken sternum.

The abbreviation T5/T6 stands for the fifth and sixth thoracic vertebrae, roughly the area level with the shoulder blades. Damage to the spinal cord at this point affects the legs and the trunk muscles.

According to the campaign page, Costello needs specialist physiotherapy, and further operations are possible. Her team also wrote there that the consequences will change her entire life, not just her sporting career. A move or an accessible conversion of her home is considered necessary, along with an adapted bed, an adapted shower and kitchen, a stairlift and a converted vehicle.

How did the crash at Brandish Corner happen?

The crash happened on the evening of 26 May 2026 during the second lap of the first sidecar qualifying session on the 60.7-kilometre Snaefell Mountain Course. The outfit carrying start number 28 went off the road at Brandish, after which the red flag was shown. The session was not restarted because sunset was approaching at around 9 p.m.

The organisers have not commented on the cause. According to reports from the island, the LCR Honda outfit is said to have collided with a hare shortly before Brandish Corner. That has not been confirmed.

The official statement from the TT organisers the following morning read: “Maria has since been transferred to Aintree. Her condition is currently reported as serious but stable.” Costello had initially been flown by air ambulance to Noble’s Hospital in Douglas, where head injuries were identified. From there she was transferred to a specialist hospital in Aintree near Liverpool.

One detail that went unnoticed in the first reports is remarkable: on the same Tuesday, Costello had already had a minor fall during solo qualifying on her Aprilia RS 660 at Governor’s Dip, without injuring herself. No connection between the two incidents is known.

Why were the sidecar races at the 2026 TT cancelled?

Race control suspended the entire sidecar class for the remainder of the event after title favourites Ryan and Callum Crowe also crashed at the Crosby Leap section following Costello and Parker. In both cases the outfits had lifted at the front.

In their statement, the organisers explained that they had initiated an immediate technical and operational review after the incident in the third qualifying session and had subsequently suspended the class in the interests of the safety of competitors and spectators. The decision had not been taken lightly, they added, but safety was the top priority.

In the paddock, a technical background is suspected that was actually meant to improve safety. Ahead of the 2026 season, the air restrictor, that is the opening limiting the air supply to the engine, had been reduced from 38 to 27.5 millimetres. That cuts power and was intended to lower speeds. It is suspected that teams wanted to offset the loss with more radical aerodynamic concepts, and that this made the outfits unstable over the fast jumps and in gusts of wind. This explanation is not proven, it comes from within the teams.

How is passenger Shaun Parker doing?

Parker also survived the crash with serious injuries, but is now reporting positive news himself. Immediately after the incident he was taken by ambulance to Noble’s Hospital, was responsive and was treated for injuries to his chest, leg, arm and face.

The list later became more specific. According to reports from the island, Parker suffered fractures to his foot, ribs, collarbone, jaw, ankle and knee, along with a collapsed lung and blurred vision. He has told his supporters that he is doing well and that physiotherapy is continuing. A separate fundraising page has been set up for him as well.

How much money has been raised so far?

The fundraiser “Maria Costello MBE Road to Recovery” currently stands at £306,695 (around 358,100 euros / 407,600 US dollars), donated by 6,928 supporters. The target is £350,000 (around 408,700 euros / 465,100 US dollars).

The amount has continued to rise in recent weeks. In mid-July the figure was still £296,810 (around 346,600 euros / 394,400 US dollars). Among the supporters is British Superbike champion Kyle Ryde, who rode from his home in Nottingham to the Knockhill circuit in Fife, and did so on a 125 cc Honda Monkey. He said of the result: “After everyone’s efforts we managed to raise just shy of £21,000.” Converted, that is around 24,500 euros and 27,900 US dollars.

The campaign received additional attention through the Goodwood Festival of Speed from 9 to 12 July. Costello was unable to attend because of her recovery, but her fundraising page was shared there by the Duke of Richmond. In her update she expressly thanked him and Duncan Pittaway for it.

Maria Costello and her career on the Mountain Course

Costello was born on 9 June 1973 in Northampton and began her racing career in 1995 with a win at Mallory Park. In 2004 she set a Guinness world record as the fastest woman on the TT course, with a lap average of 114.73 mph, around 184.6 km/h. The record stood until 2009, when Jenny Tinmouth surpassed it.

In 2005 she became the first woman to finish on the podium in a solo race at the Manx Grand Prix, taking third place in the Ultra-Lightweight class. In 2009 she was awarded the MBE for services to motorcycle sport. In 2018 she became the first woman to take on the presidency of the TT Riders Association, an organisation that supports TT riders and their families in times of hardship.

In 2019 she competed at the same Tourist Trophy both solo and in the sidecar class. With passenger Julie Canipa she finished 17th and lapped the course at just under 103 mph, around 166 km/h. The sidecar class has been a fixed part of her TT programme ever since. By her own account she has sustained at least 24 broken bones over more than 30 years and repeatedly came back from injury, including after a crash at the North West 200 in 2014. In 2013 she also founded the “Woman on a Motorcycle” initiative and ran trackdays exclusively for women.

The 2026 Tourist Trophy was marked overall by an unusual accumulation of serious incidents, from the closure of a spectator area at Parliament Square to the cancellation of an entire class. The Costello case is the one with the most far-reaching personal consequences.

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