Stephen Murray won't be winning any beauty pageants any time soon following his crash at the weekend. The Dungarvan man was riding for Strata3-VeloRevolution at the Suir Valley Three in Tipperary when he crashed on a high-speed descent.
By Brian Canty
It wasn’t his first crash and it won’t be his last but Stephen Murray can count himself lucky after walking away with no long term injuries from a nasty spill while descending into Dungarvan on Sunday’s second stage of the Suir Valley Three-Day.
The Strata3-VeloRevolution man hit the deck while travelling at around “60 or 70 kilometres an hour” and was one of around a dozen riders subsequently listed as non-finishers.
The list of casualties are many but Murray counts himself as one of the lucky ones after “only suffering cuts and bruises”.
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The photos might tell a different tale, however.
Murray's head took the impact on Sunday and here's the result; a nasty-looking scar that required 10 stitches to close. He has eight over his eye as well as significant cuts and bruises all over.
“There’s no lasting damage anyway and nothing is broken so that was a relief,” he said.
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“Two guys fell in front of me, it didn’t look like there was anything on the road but they came down and I didn’t have time to react so I went down as well.
“I was fully coherent for the whole thing. I was trying to get my stuff together and get going but the paramedic stopped me.
"Then my eye filled up with blood so I had to stop,” he added.
He spent a few hours in hospital as he watched others carted into Accident and Emergency in Clonmel.
“I’ve eight stitches over my eye and 10 to the side of my head but facial injuries always look desperate.
“The road rash is killing me as well so sitting down is a nightmare.
“I was sore for a lot longer from the crash in the Rás two years ago when I broke a couple of ribs.
"But this is the most worried people have been - and probably one of my worst. I was disgusted having to pull out.”
