A man who this summer claimed the latest in over 100 career wins, Colm Bracken is recovering from an unexpected heart attack and has a warning for others.
One of the country’s best known racing cyclists is recovering after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest recently.
Colm Bracken (48) has raced consecutively for 34 years and has an estimated 100+ wins to his name, his latest coming just this summer.
However, despite his continuing career and his ability to beat men less than half his age, he believes he is lucky to be alive after the incident which shook him on October 28th.
The father of three young children has since returned to work and a normalised routine, which will be welcomed by his many friends in cycling.
But even after a string of tests and medical examinations in hospital, doctors are still unsure how somebody in his physical condition suffered a cardiac arrest.
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Dubliner Bracken, who riders for Kilcullen Murphy Surveys, is still awaiting the results of more tests.
He is due to go for more scans before Christmas in a bid to establish the extent of the condition, which he is struggling to come to terms with, especially having been in the form of his life.
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While best known for winning short fast races in a senior career than has spanned 30 seasons, Colm Bracken also held the yellow jersey in the Rás. And he counts stages in the Tour of Ulster and Rás Mumhan among his century of senior career triumphs. Seen here leading in a Murphy Surveys Kilcullen CC clean sweep of the podium in the Bikeworx Series at Mondello Park in late May of this year (Photo: David Ryan – www.davidryanphotography.ie)
He was upgraded to the A1 racing category again this year following the national veterans' road race championships, having been in that top tier for many years and won some of the biggest races in the country.
“I think there's a message for all mature athletes as it seems to be very common,” warned Bracken, a brother of Sean Bracken who is a member of the Usher Irish Road Club.
“Don't ignore any chest pains even if it only feels like indigestion. Get it checked out immediately.
“I'd no idea what I had would amount to a heart attack and you can never be too careful.”
We wish Colm a full and speedy recover and from all at stickybottle we extend our best wishes to himself and his family for the New Year.
We'll check in again with him in the weeks and months ahead and hopefully we can share more information on Colm's case that might be of benefit to others.
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