Neal Henderson crashed out cycling when his carbon wheel failed with no warning while he was riding at 30mph. He was knocked out and said but for his helmet he may not have come through the crash.
Leading international coach Neal
Henderson has been getting the best out of some of the world’s top professional
cyclists for years.
Irish readers may know his name from
pieces stickybottle has published in recent years on the training undertaken by
Sam Bennett, just one of Henderson’s many charges.
However, in recent days Henderson has
been laid up injured, though ultimately counting his blessings.
His story is a cautionary tale for those
who choose not to wear a helmet out on the bike, even if not compulsory in
Ireland.
Henderson crashed very hard and with no
warning while training in the US last Friday.
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And while he’s nursing some nasty
injuries, he suspects he would have died but for the protection offered by his
helmet.
“Without any warning, while riding
straight - no braking or turning - the rear wheel of my bike failed
catastrophically and I was thrown forward to the ground at over 30 miles per hour,” he said.
Henderson’s
deep section carbon rim cracked right through, whipping him hard down onto the
tarmac.
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“I was knocked unconscious in the crash and my memory
restarts mostly as I was getting checked into the ER,” Henderson added of being
taken to Boulder Community Hospital.
“Fortunately the head CT didn’t show any skull fractures
or brain bleed, though I definitely suffered a concussion, laceration and a few
stitches above my right eye.
“I have lots of road rash and contusions on my knees, butt, back, and elbows,” he said, adding a fracture and chip to bones in his left elbow had also been spotted during X-ray.
Because of the impact his head took and the concussion he suffered, he has been told to limit his exposure to screens to allow his brain the rest it needs to heal.
Henderson
told stickybottle his helmet had broken on hitting the road. He feared he may
not have come through it such was the force of impact during the sudden crash
at training speed.
He was training with his APEX Coaching group, two of whom he said had come to his aid when he really needed it; top US triathlete Taylor Knibb and pro cyclist Julie Emmerman.
Details of his case have emerged just
days after the publication of new research on cycling crash injuries treated in
Irish hospitals.
Some 27 per cent of cyclists wearing a
helmet had suffered a head injury, compared to 52 per cent of those not wearing
helmets.
In total, 410 cyclists were admitted to
Irish hospitals with major trauma from road traffic crashes during the
three-year period 2014-2016.
Twelve of the cyclists whose cases were
captured in the research died. All 12 had suffered head injuries.
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