God where to start with this one. First things first, happy to say I'm back training now and pretty much back to full fitness 5 weeks after the crash. Eyes are set on the 2024 season with bigger and better goals than ever.
Now then. The crash. We were not even 20 mins into the first road stage of the Junior Tour of Wales, the conditions were in a cross over period from rain to blinding sunshine and blue skies. People started to take wet weather gear off (jackets, gilets ect). We came through a roundabout and things bunched up towards the front of the race after a pretty hectic start with loads of attacking. Now, exiting the roundabout everything was smooth sailing, until the riders next to me we hit by a rider trying to take their jacket off. This caused a domino effect in the bunch which caused me to crash and multiple other riders. My front wheel got wiped out so I immediately hit the deck. I landed on my shoulder, but my head followed through and smashed the floor. The impact split my helmet. I knew straight away that something wasn't right. I couldn't move my shoulder and my neck went stiff. I got picked up by the race ambulance, they did initial first aid and cleaned up the cuts. However, I had to go to A&E for x-rays. A huge thank you to the Jarret's who looked after me and took me to hospital, doing everything they could do to ensure my wellbeing. I had CT, MRI and X-ray scans and they came back as inconclusive. But I had to stay overnight as a concussion protocol as I had split my helmet. I was discharged in the morning as I was deemed fine to leave. I then travelled home with my mum in the car which wasn't the most comfortable but much better than staying in hospital, or so I thought. I spent the next few days at home trying to rest and recover. I then developed tingling in my are and lose of sensations. This meant another trip to hospital. As my symptoms had worsened I had to re-do the process again with all the scans. This time they came back with the results which linked to my symptoms. It was such a relief to have the results but it was at the expense of a 12 day bed bound stay in the Manchester Royal Infirmary. The results show that I had fractured a vertebrae (T1) and then I also had two bulging discs in my neck which were pressing against the nerves that go to my shoulder. This was the reason for the pins and needles and lose of sensations in my arm and fingers.
5 weeks on now and I'm training again. Very thankful for this to not have been more serious than it was because I could have very easily been paralysed from this. But crashing is a part of racing and something you just have to get over. Mentally challenging is one way of putting this, with a lot of questions I was asking myself. Is this really worth it? What's the point anymore? Why are you doing this? But this journey back to a healthy state and back to training has just been really eye opening for me. It has most certainly made me mentally and physically stronger. Training and preparation for the 2024 season has now started for me.
Finally, a massive thank you to the Jarret's who took me to the JTOW and looked after me, to pedal potential for their support this season, Withington Physiotherapy for their support and to everyone else who has helped this season, you know who you are ;)
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