From Olympic Medals to Motorsport Podiums: Centinel Spine is Helping People Rediscover Their Lives

Performance Tech Motorsports continues driving spine health awareness alongside renowned global heroes, including a 2020 Olympic Silver Medalist.

Performance Tech driver, athlete, and spine surgeon Dr. Robert Masson brings the mindset of hope to all his patient strategies, including that of Rory Sabbatini, 2020 Olympic Golf Silver Medalist. Like Dr. Masson, Sabbatini had excruciating spine pain that was impeding his day-to-day life, as well as his golf career. Sabbatini turned to Dr. Masson for a life-changing surgery using the Centinel Spine® prodisc® C total disc replacement—the same device Dr. Masson had implanted in his own spine to relieve his pain and get him back on track. This device allowed both men to go on to achieve new life goals, such as climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro for Dr. Masson and the Olympics for Sabbatini.

“Winning the Silver Medal at the Olympics is an achievement I’ll always be proud of,” Sabbatini said. “I’m thankful that I was able to find a surgeon who could provide a solution so that I could extend my career to reach new heights and support golf awareness in Slovakia.”

In addition to Sabbatini, Deerfield-based Performance Tech Motorsports also paired with Centinel Spine and their rediscover™ spine community (RediscoverMyLife.org) in 2018 to bring spine health education to the motorsports paddock. The goal was to make more people understand how tough racing is on the body and the long-term damage this can cause. It puts incredible strain on an individual’s spine and the likely addition of a spinout or crash heightens the chances of back pain or spinal injury. Through Dr. Masson, Performance Tech has spent the last four years educating drivers, IMSA, and NASCAR series participants and fans that there is hope for a life beyond debilitating back pain.

“These days I start my patient evaluation with the most important question of all, ‘what are your goals?’, then we go into the spine health problem and strategy,” Dr. Masson said. “Rory is a massive inspiration to me not only as his surgeon, but also as a spine surgery patient—and an inspiration to every other spine patient in our Masson Spine Institute community. I am fortunate to have performed surgery on hundreds of high-level athletes and Rory has set the gold standard for our goals of ‘extreme recovery’.”

Kickstarting his motorsports career was another stepping stone in Dr. Masson’s post-surgery life. After years of being held back from his truest potential due to pain, he set a list of goals he wanted to complete—including, but not limited to, summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro and advancing his tennis game. This is the same passion RediscoverMyLife.org has been vigorously promoting through its partners, like Sabbatini.

“My racing journey, in my fifties and after my prodisc C artificial disc replacement, absolutely influenced the holistic approach I take towards spine surgery,” Dr. Robert Masson said. “I am focused on sports spine surgery these days and passionately believe in fitness, health, agility, and performance in the context of modern spine surgery for people committed to chasing their dreams. The prodisc C is the most established spine surgery solution on the planet for weekend warriors, elite athletes, and—thanks to Rory Sabbatini—Olympic medal winners.”

Together, the group is revolutionizing spine health procedures, awareness, and education. Sabbatini elevated awareness to new heights this year as he competed at the Olympics in Tokyo, proclaiming on the international stage that there is life beyond injury. The essence of a pipe dream can quickly become a reality when you diagnose the issue, set your goals, and put a plan in action.

For Sabbatini, the Olympics was high on his list of goals to accomplish. Dr. Masson’s dream was a bit more fast paced: the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

“Racing with Performance Tech Motorsports and standing tall on the podium of the Rolex 24 at Daytona with my first-born has been a priceless personal achievement that has reverberated throughout the spine health and surgery industry—and is a pivotal example of the disruption to traditional disability-inspired spine surgery and the transcendence to modern sports spine surgery,” Dr. Robert Masson said. “More and more people worldwide are reacting to their spine health crisis with a recovery and performance strategy, and Centinel Spine is leading the charge towards high-performance reconstructive spine surgery recovery profiles. Now, Rory and I personally have a little in common. He got his Silver medal finish at the Olympics, and, thanks to Performance Tech, I got a ‘Silver’ in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.”

The No. 38 Centinel Spine RediscoverMyLife.org Ligier JSP320 is now being prepared for the season finale, The Motul Petit Le Mans, from November 11th to the 13th. This endurance event will provide the team with one final outing in 2021 to showcase the importance of spine health for your overall quality of life. To learn more about the rediscover spine community and patient education platform visit https://rediscovermylife.org/.