LESS than six months after breaking his neck, Llangynog’s World Cup mountain biker, Dan Atherton, celebrated the new year by returning to his bike for the first time.
Describing the crash on the Atherton’s own dirt jumps last June during training, Dan explained: “As I took off I knew I was going to land short, so jumped off mid air. As I bailed I started rotating and smashed into a ditch. I knew instantly something was wrong. My neck was totally out of my control. It was limp and it was all I could do to hold it still,” he added. At Shrewsbury Hospital, Dan, pictured, learned he had broken his neck: “I broke the C1 in four places,” said Dan, “It’s a ring used to articulate the head, with the skull above and the C2 below. Thankfully, I landed with enough force to displace the broken bones outwards, minimising the chance of neurological damage.”
A metal cage was screwed into Dan’s skull and strapped around his chest, holding his head motionless for three months, during which time he kept a log of his progress.
July: “A big expedition...10 steps out, 10 back. Feels like a pile of bricks on my head.”
“Love waking up at night. For a split second everything is okay. Then I feel... but as long as I can feel, I’m happy.”
October: “Bolts have been unscrewed. A pillow never felt so good.”
November: “New scans found two skull fractures that had been missed. Finally, neck is stable and I can go hard on the re-hab. Stood looking at my bike. This moment has been a distant goal for a long time.”
December: Finally, after months of waiting, Dan finally got back on a bike last month, an important milestone in his remarkable recovery, but while there is a long way to go, he says for now he is just appreciating normal life.
“I have crashed like that 100 times and walked away unscathed,” says Dan, “It’s amazing how life works.”