11 November 2014
Olympic cyclist in hospital following pothole crash
Following our previous
posts regarding the dangers of potholes, and the claims arising from injuries
sustained in pothole accident we were very sorry to hear of the accident
involving Olympic Gold medallist Dani King.
Dani was injured in a
crash when a fellow cyclist hit a pothole during a training ride. King, 23, was
taken to hospital by ambulance, and has suffered 5 broken ribs and a collapsed
lung, but was fortunately well enough to tweet from her hospital bed ‘Crashed
out of training yesterday resulting in five broken ribs and a collapsed lung.
Being looked after by the amazing NHS ICU in Wales ’.
Dani's father has said that Dani feared spinal damage after he crash, reporting that she was put on a spinal board following the incident. Dani could not feel her feet at one stage, and said to her father she was frightened to cry because she thought she was going to die she was in so much pain.
Dani was out with her
usual training partners when one rider hit a pothole concealed by a puddle,
bringing down a number of riders in the group. The Olympic and World track champion hit the ground, with another rider falling on top of her.
She is a columnist for
the Times, and they reported that she has previously written of her awareness
of the dangers of cycling on the roads:-
‘I ride my road bike
everyday of the week anyway for the track, whether that’s riding to the track
and back or on a training ride.There’s always going to danger on the roads,
where you’re sharing space with cars, and it is more likely that you’re going
to crash but if I thought too much about that I’d be a nervous wreck. Worrying about
crashes won’t help me’.
We have previously
written about claimants who have successfully pursued claims in respect of
injuries caused by potholes – please see our article about here.
Dani thanked her
followers for their messages of support and said that she wished the British
riders good luck in the track cycling World Cup in Mexico .
