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Racing Crash
Our man Adam Swan was racing last night at Lee Valley and unfortunately had a big crash and has done his collar bone.
Hope you mend well Adam and get back soon.
Hope you mend well Adam and get back soon.
Comments
I was knocked out briefly and have no idea what happened. Absolutely no recollection of the event.
I have a broken collarbone, three broken ribs and s pneumothorax which I had drained at 0500 this morning.
Looks like I'm staying at Homerton hospital for a couple of days.
(Morphine is ace btw)
Apparently some riders went down in front of you and you probably went over the top of them and landed on a heap to have busted your ribs up.
All this meant the commissaire for the E/1/2 race decided to give the riders notice that in 1/2 a lap their race would finish... Bit of a last minute bun fight apparently.
Best wishes chap
Don't rely on the NHS for your collarbone fella, if you can avoid it. While the emergency care is incredible and world beating, after that they don't really prioritise things like shoulder symmetry, getting back into an aero cycling position, getting back into training quickly, or cosmetic deformities. "Letting it heal naturally", is a euphemism for "we don't spend money on that stuff".
One of the best sports shoulder orthopaedic surgeons in the country operates out of Pine Hill Hospital in Hitchin. He does loads of these for cyclists, jockeys, motorcycle racers etc. He did a cracking job on mine and got me back onto the bike in 8 weeks.
I also seemed to benefit by taking calcium and glucosamine supplements during the healing process ...
Good luck either way fella, get well soon!
Andy
Interesting what Andy said, I was with the newzealand coach the other day and he said exactly the same thing. "See a sports surgeon".
It would have healed into a knobbly mess, making carrying a backpack, using a climbing harness, shooting archery or riding a bike anything short of 12 weeks out, difficult at best. I would have considered it a disfiguring handicap. They didn't seem much bothered as I wouldn't be on a waiting list if they deemed it unnecessary.
They operated and pinned it and had to take a sliver of bone from my hip to catalyse a bone graft as the small bits couldn't be pinned and the gap needed to fill itself.
This was all NHS and apart rom their insistence on not pinning it straight away I have no complaints about how they looked after me when I needed the op. to pin it. Great surgeon and the best they fould do as it was then.
sadly, I still have the titanium plate in situ as the graft didn't fully take and the bone needed the extra support.
In short, insist on having it pinned or you could end up in a similar pickle Adam.
By the way, that shoulder is fine now but have since snapped a rotor cuff (not possible to reconnect) and broken a leg, but all good and almost as good as new. Given some help and time the body is a remarkable tool if allowed to get on with healing itself.
Firstly thank you for everyone's kind comments on here and via txt. Means a lot.
I am still in Homerton hospital. My road rash has mostly healed, my three broken ribs are healing themselves slowly. After much nagging, the consultants agreed to pin my Clavicle here for me. The operation must be performed within three weeks of the accident so I had no want or desire to pursue the the Pinehill option as suggested on here. From what I understand, my clavicle was a mess. Broken in numerous places. I have a titanium plate fitted and a few bolts. I'm sure it will heal nicely. Physio has already commenced and movement is returning quickly. My shoulder is still numb but that's to be expected.
Finally my pneumothorax has been somewhat difficult. I have had a chest drain in place for two weeks now. It was removed yesterday but my lung immediately collapsed once more. I was taken down to theatre again and had a new drain re-inserted. I have now had the drain repositioned or adjusted five times, which as you can imagine is quite unpleasant.
Currently the specialists aim to remove my drain on Friday and discharge me on Saturday, 17 nights post accident. This is the loose plan but it seems to be a very dynamic situation given the trauma I went through.
Once again, I thank you for the well wishes and I will update you when I am free!
Worst of all, my brand new Trek Emonda is a mess. I snapped the forks and the seat stays. That hurts the most. And the fact I was in a break of three riders with three laps to go with a 45 second gap when I crashed! But that's Crit racing.
Ad.
I am still hospitalised at the moment. Today is exactly three weeks since my accident. I am currently awaiting a bed at St Barts Hospital in London. I require an operation on my lung and this can only be performed there. It's a "VATS" procedure. Once I have this, my recovery should be relatively straight forward and quick. Hopefully that bed space will come quickly as my chest drain is becoming increasingly more painful and I'm so bored in my hospital bed.
Once again, thanks for the well wishes and I will update the thread when I am discharged and fixed.
Post on here when you're in St Barts and able to take visitors, I'll drop off a comic or summat. I'm working in the area for the next few weeks so it would be an easy lunchtime visit.
The club was great to me when I crashed last June, it would be nice to pay it forward.
I was transferred to St Barts late last night and it's been brilliant here. I am currently all prepped to have my op this morning and it looks likely I will be discharged over the weekend. Great news for me.
Gareth