First modification:
With almost 20 broken bones and after five operations, the INEOS Grenadiers cyclist, current champion of the Giro d’Italia and winner of the Tour de France in 2019, was able to leave the clinic where he had been hospitalized since the accident suffered on January 24 on a road from the north of Bogotá, a recovery described as miraculous, which he will now complete on an outpatient basis.
On January 28, Egan Bernal shared the first image that showed him after the accident suffered on the 24th, and revealed that he had faced “95% probability” of becoming paraplegic. Just nine days later, the Colombian cyclist was released to continue his rehabilitation on an outpatient basis.
“One moment I was preparing for the Tour de France, giving it my all in the time trial, and the next second I was fighting for my life,” Bernal summed up his descent into hell over these 13 days.
The process included, in the words of the runner, “almost 20 broken bones”, fractures in different parts of the body after colliding with a bus parked on the side of the road where he was practicing a time trial: femur, patella, two vertebrae, metacarpals, maxilla , as well as a pneumothorax and a punctured lung.
For 10 days he remained in intensive care, one in intermediate care and then two in hospital, before being discharged.
“Everything coincided to find good professionals, if it weren’t for you the story would be different, so I must thank you for allowing me to have a second chance,” said the 25-year-old runner, addressing his treating doctors, in a shared publication by the Universidad La Sabana clinic on Twitter.
We want to thank @Eganbernal, for allowing us to accompany your process. His strength, conviction and courage are an example that motivates us to move forward. Being able to accompany our patients and their families is what gives meaning and life to our Institution. pic.twitter.com/M332uopamV
– Unisabana Clinic (@ClinicaUsabana) February 6, 2022
“The truth for me is like being alive again. In these days of feeling pain I said ‘at least I feel pain, at least I feel something’. I think it’s a miracle, but I think the real work was done by you guys. Thank you for giving me a second chance.”
A successful career marked by misfortunes
Bernal’s passage through the world’s roads has been as early as it has been plagued by accidents and injuries, although none as serious as the misfortune of January 24 that practically sentenced his 2022 season.
In 2019 he was the first Latin American to win the Tour de France and also the youngest champion in the 110-year history of the event, at just 22 years old. Two years later, he was the second Colombian to win the Giro d’Italia, and the only Latin American to have won both the French event and the transalpine tour.
In 2018, a fall in the last stage of the Tour of Catalonia, where he was second overall, prevented him from achieving his first Pro Tour podium. He broke his clavicle and scapula, but recovered in record time and came back to win the third stage of the Tour de Romandie, his first win on road cycling’s top circuit, and the lead of the best young man overall.
That same year he was involved in a massive fall in the Clásica San Sebastián, from which he was evacuated by ambulance after suffering a head injury, a slight brain hemorrhage, a fractured nasal septum and loss of teeth.
A year later, a new collarbone fracture ruined his participation in the Giro d’Italia, but soon he was ready to win the Tour de France.
In 2020, back pain caused by scoliosis, due to the asymmetry of his lower limbs, prevented him from defending his title in the Grande Boucle, forcing him to withdraw after stage 16.
INEOS with irregular season and large compensation
Bernal has not been the only INEOS rider hit by misfortune this season. Colombian Brandon Rivera fell during training on January 27, three days after Bernal, breaking his left elbow and dislocating both that joint and his shoulder.
The Olympic champion, Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, also suffered an accident, in his case on February 5 when he skidded on a wet road during his participation in the third stage of the Estrella de Bességes, held in Spain, but only ended with abrasions and he was even able to finish the stretch.
But in the same period, there have been reasons to celebrate, such as the triumph of the Italian Filippo Ganna, the stellar INEOS time trialist, in Bességes, or that of the Olympic mountain champion, the British Thomas Pidcock, in the Cyclocross World Championship .
We’re happy to report that @EganBernal has been discharged from hospital today 🤗
Egan will now return home to begin his long rehabilitation journey — and we’ll be supporting him every step of the way. pic.twitter.com/tHilgYnCzk
— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) February 6, 2022
For the time being, Egan Bernal’s joys for the team will be of a medical and not a sporting nature, but he has already begun his rehabilitation to try to shine again on the roads.
With EFE and Reuters