One of the purest climbers in running or cycling in Australia, and though unsung, also one of this countries best all round athletes, Paul Crake, crashed during a stage of the Tour of Southland in New Zealand and was badly injured. Today brings us news that he may be paralysed.
Australian athlete Paul Crake is paralysed after an accident during a cycling race in New Zealand.
Crake, the five-time Empire State Building stair-climbing champion who finished third in the 2005 Australian cycling championship road race, was seriously injured when blown off his bike during the Tour of Southland last Saturday.
He remains unable to move his legs, despite having had surgery at a specialist spinal unit, and doctors fear the paralysis may be permanent.
My thoughts are with him.
2 responses so far ↓
Five // Nov 17, 2006 at 3:51 pm
It seems very cruel, doesn’t it? I mean, people make all those useless remarks like ‘he was doing what he wanted to do’ and ‘you do extreme sport and you take risks’, but it’s awful.
I can’t help but smirk though when I think about wheelchair stair-racing …
Phil // Nov 17, 2006 at 4:20 pm
If there is one thing about Crake is that pain is his friend, so if anyone can pull through it’s him.
I think it’s certain that he’ll never race again which is too bad because I was always interested in following his exploits.
The other four guys in his group all got up, he didn’t, life is a real dice roll sometimes.