Stephen McNally on his way to Worlds Masters pursuit silver in Manchester (Photo: Larry Hickmott/velouk.net)
Stephen McNally is to be discharged from hospital in Manchester and will fly home to Dublin as early as tomorrow to continue his recovery on home soil after his crash at the UCI Worlds Track Masters.
The Orwell CC rider will be accompanied by medical staff on the flight home. He may require an operation on his shoulder injury. X-rays have also revealed his injuries are a little more serious that first thought, having broken six ribs rather than the three initially diagnosed.
While the European track masters champion and worlds sliver medallist faces a long road to recovery, it will be a great relief to himself, his family and friends that he is well enough to return home.
Advertisement
The Orwell CC rider was stretchered off the Manchester velodrome at the UCI World Track Masters last Wednesday evening when he came down very hard in a pile up during heat in the 45-49 year points race heat.
While it had been reported that he crashed occurred midway through the race, the spill actually occurred in the final sprint of the 20-lap event.
Related News
McNally knew he had scored enough points during the race to qualify for the final and so did not contest the sprint, in an effort to finish the race safely. But when a crash occurred just ahead of him he had nowhere to go and came down hard with five other riders.
He was taken from the track to Manchester Royal Infirmary Hospital, where it was revealed he had suffered six broken ribs, seriously damaged the A/C joint in his shoulder and most seriously of all suffered a punctured lung.
However, the word from the Irish camp is that McNally’s gear was brought home on the ferry by team members yesterday, Sunday, and that the Dubliner is due to fly home as early as tomorrow, accompanied by medical staff.
McNally had taken a silver medal in the pursuit last Monday night, only narrowly missing out on adding the World title to the European crown he won in Italy in August.
We have had a lot of messages into stickybottle wishing him a speedy recovery.
McNally gets silver in the Masters Pursuit in Manchester (Photo: Larry Hickmott/velouk.net)
Topics
