'Saul Raisin has slipped into a "critical coma" after crashing on the
first stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe'
Report here:
http://www.eurosport.com/cycling/sport_sto863201.shtml
He was apparently on his own at the time, and there doesn't appear to be
a witness to the fall. This is simply a 'man fell from his bike'
accident, and he was of course wearing a helmet. It's probable that he
was going quite quickly. In the crash, according to Sports Illustrated,
'He had facial injuries and a fractured hip and collarbone...' that was
on Tuesday. On Wednesday he seemed OK and was able to talk to his coach.
Today he's got a '...brain hemorrhage. The doctors are not giving any
prognosis.'
Obviously I hope the poor lad (he's 23) recovers. I'm merely trying to
understand the effect of helmets on cycling injuries. I remember asking
last year whether anyone was collecting statistics on racing injuries
before/after mandatory helmets for racing. Obviously the amount of pro
racing is increasing, but it doesn't seem to me these sort of incidents
are getting fewer.
--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; no eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn.
;; Jim Morrison