Stig Broeckx is continuing his remarkable comeback from a serious head injury sustained as a result of a crash during the Tour of Belgium in May 2016 that put him in a coma that doctors feared he would never come out of.
On Tuesday, Belgian journalist Sammy Neyrinck posted a video of Broeckx walking as part of his physiotherapy.
The 27-year-old Belgian former Lotto-Soudal rider was being timed as he walked, and appeared delighted with his new time.
Zelden zoveel panache gezien.Hele dag in schaduw van moedig man.Een eer was het.Alleen maar nederigheid en respect.Weldra repo @een en @sporza.🔜📺💻#FightForStig @StigBroeckx @peterbroeckx @coachvdb @Lotto_Soudal @sporza_koers pic.twitter.com/IzO7l9nuKQ
— Sammy Neyrinck (@SammyNeyrinck) December 13, 2017
Broeckx suffered a severe brain injury and bleeding on the brain after being hit by a race motorbike during stage three of the Tour of Belgium in May 2016. The motorbike had collided with another motorbike that had broken down.
The injury put him in a coma, and doctors feared that he would remain in a vegetative state. However, he came out of the coma in December 2016 and since then has staged a remarkable recovery, steadily regaining his speech, memory and movement.
In May 2017 – a year after the crash – Broeckx was back on a static bike, and cycles for 30-minute blocks. He was even reportedly caught re-setting the timer on the trainer so that he could carry on cycling a bit more.
Broeckx’s crash was one of a number of collisions involving riders and race vehicles over the past few seasons.
Broeckx himself had been hit by a race motorbike during Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne in February 2016, and suffered a fractured collarbone. He returned to racing in April 2016, but was hit again just a month later with horrific consequences.
The UCI has now introduced stringent rules to control the number of race vehicles and the way in which they move within a race to improve rider safety.
