Injured Vacansoleil DCM rider has a long road back, says his girlfriend saw whole accident
Two days after a serious accident occurred in Spain when he was hit by a car in training, Johnny Hoogerland has spoken about the crash and just how affected he is by the physical and mental consequences of it.
The Vacansoleil DCM rider was hit by a vehicle while training in Spain just before he was due to start motorpacing.
“It happened in a flash, I really could not move [to avoid it],” he told De Telegraaf. “I particularly think it is bad for my girlfriend Gerda. She drove a hundred metres behind me. She saw the whole thing. For me it's bad, but it has also been very hard for her.”
Hoogerland suffered several broken ribs in the crash, as well as fractured vertebrae, a bruised liver and some internal bleeding. It’s unsurprisingly been very tough on him, and he’s feeling it more now after the doctors adjusted his medication. “They stopped giving morphine, so I now feel the pain all over my body. But especially in my back and my stomach. And I get dizzy when I move my head too quickly.”
He’s not yet sure when he will be able to travel home, with further tests needed before a date can be determined for that. “I cannot sleep, but I'm happy to eat something,” he said. “It would be nice if I could go home, but for the first month, I will be able to do nothing. I don’t think at all about races. I will be glad if I think I can ride the sportif version of the Amstel Gold Race.”
He said that he is also worried about the mental effects of the crash. Hoogerland has had several accidents in his career, not least an incident involving a France Televisions car in the 2011 Tour de France which caused him to be flung into a barbed wire fence.
Those incidents made him nervous, and the most recent crash has taken its toll. “Physically I should have a full recovery,” he said. “Mentally it’s a different story, I’m certainly aware of that. Without help, I really can’t deal with this new blow.”