A press conference was held yesterday by the Lotto-Soudal team regarding Kris Boeckmans’ crash in the Vuelta a Espana last month and his recovery since. The crash happened on the eighth stage of the race, with Boeckmans’ crashing very heavily and needing to be placed in an induced coma afterwards.
Following on from the crash, the Belgian had been diganosed with amongst other injuries, several facial fractures, a heavy concussion and a torn lung. He remained in an artificial coma for almost two weeks, before he was flown back to Belgium. He and the team doctor Servaas Bingé spoke to the press 41 days after the accident about his comeback.
Kris Boeckmans “I remember nothing of the days before the crash and the crash itself. The first weeks I had some strange dreams. All the people who visited me in Spain also were in my dreams, but in a very different situation. This was a very confusing period. By means of the stories they – including Thomas De Gendt – told me when I was back home, I tried to recover how far back my memory goes. It seems that I only remember the first stage of the Vuelta perfectly and the days afterwards are just a blur. Only three days after they got me out of the coma, I was perfectly conscious again.”
“From the moment I began the revalidation exercises, I notice my progress. Even though it are only small steps. Physically, I feel a bit better and a part of my body weight already has returned. Of the 15 kilograms that I lost, eight are back. I don’t have pain, but I feel that I underwent some operations. The screws in my cheek can come out next week, they irritate me. My headache gets worse if I need to concentrate for a long period. At that moment I feel some pressure coming up, so then I will take a rest. Every day, I stay in a dark room where it’s completely silent. By doing this, my brain concussion will recovery the quickest.”
“I never thought of quitting as a cyclist. Initially, I didn’t realise how bad the situation was. Yes, I was in a hospital, but I didn’t know why. I wanted to leave that place as quick as possible and re-join the group. By means of the stories my family and friends tell me, the photos and the testimonies, I could draw myself a picture of the situation. Cycling remains an important part of my life and one day I want to be the rider that I was before the crash. When I was watching the World Championships, I could imagine myself riding in the peloton.”
“We don’t have a plan for the future. We take it step by step and see how the revalidation goes. Three times a week, my girlfriend brings me to the revalidation centre to do my exercises. At this time, I’m capable to ride my bike for only five minutes. The kiné therapists and the team doctor are making sure that I take enough rest in between the exercises. For now, we stop after one and a half hour of exercising, where we focus on strength and stability. Step by step we can build up the intensity.
Team doctor Servaas Bingé: “From the moment he crashed till today, I’m involved in the revalidation of Kris. Almost immediately after the crash, I was onsite. The first minutes, he was conscious but couldn’t talk much as he was in shock. Due to the facial fractures, there was a lot of blood coming out of his nose. This made it very difficult to hook him onto the artificial respiration machines. The urgency doctor of the Vuelta and myself immediately agreed that the best solution was to put Kris in an artificial coma. We did this on the spot before bringing him to the hospital. The medical services in Spain did a very good job on applying first aid.”
“After a couple of days in coma, we started to let him breath on his own. Kris regained consciousness but quickly we discovered that his oxygen absorption wasn’t going fluently. Due to his lung contusion, he couldn’t breathe optimal. This contusion couldn’t be seen during the first examinations, because the lung alveoli can only be damaged after 48 to 72 hours. When we discovered this, we put Kris immediately back to sleep. The days after that, his lung contusion evaluated badly. When he was recovered of this contusion, we were able to transfer him to Genk. Since then, everything went quick. He underwent a facial operation and a couple weeks later he went back home to recover. What concerns us the most is his brain concussion. It’s not his first one and because of that the recovery takes a lot of time. By this time, he can start his revalidation but we need to be very careful that he doesn’t overdo himself.”
Also Kris realises that he needs to take it slow. Three times a week, he spends some hours per day in the revalidation centre. For the rest of the days he rests.
