Egan Bernal must undergo a fresh round of surgery in
Bogota on his spine after doctors reviewed the latest scans of the Giro d’Italia
champion and 2019 Tour de France winner.
After his crash into the back of a parked bus last week,
while riding on his TT bike, Bernal has undergone multiple surgeries for fractures
to his spine, kneecap, femur and ribs. He also had surgical procedures for a
collapsed lung and for fractures to his mouth and hand.
He has been undergoing treatment at Clinica Universidad
de La Sabana hospital in Bogota since the crash. He came down at high speed
while riding on his own just ahead of a group of his Ineos Grenadiers team
mates, who were all on a training camp in Colombia.
The first round of spine surgery he underwent was on the thoracic spine, which is located in
the upper and middle part of the back and features 12 vertebrae; T1 to T12.
Bernal had surgery on T5 and T6.
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He must now undergo surgery on the cervical spine, which
is around the neck region and is comprised of seven vertebrae; numbered C1 to
C7.
While a statement from Clinica Universidad de La Sabana
confirmed the second round of spine surgery is required, it also reiterated its
confidence of a prompt recovery for Bernal.
The 25-year-old, who was focused on the Tour de France
this year, said he was almost killed and had a 95 per cent chance of being
paralysed in the crash.
“After advancing the recovery of the systems involved in
his polytrauma (musculoskeletal, respiratory, hemodynamic nervous) new
diagnostic imaging was carried out and it was determined, on an
interdisciplinary basis, that he will be submitted to an operation at the level
of the cervical spine," Clinica Universidad de La Sabana said in a
statement.
"This intervention will favour his process of
rehabilitation. We advance with the patient in all his processes of recovery,
confident of a swift improvement."
