Cyclist fractures vertebra in collision with car
One of New Zealand’s most promising cyclists has fractured his T1 vertebra in a nasty collision with a car.
Corbin Strong, a 17-year-old from Southland, rode his time-trial bike into the back of a stationary vehicle on a country road.
He is now in a back brace, has stitches in his legs and is likely to be sidelined for eight weeks.
‘‘I had my head down and I came around a corner and I seen a car that was in the middle of the road.
‘‘I just thought it was moving and I put my head back down and it had actually stopped on the road and I rode straight into the back of it,’’ Strong said.
‘‘The people from the car helped me out and called an ambulance.’’
Strong, who won three gold medals at the Oceania Track Cycling Championships late last year, said he was lucky the injuries he suffered were not more severe, believing he was riding at 40km/h when the accident occurred.
‘‘It could have been a lot worse,’’ he said. Strong, a year 13 student, was disappointed at the prospect of missing the upcoming national championships, which would have provided another opportunity to press his claims for selection ahead of the junior world championships.
‘‘For it to fully repair and heal it takes about eight weeks. I’ve got track nationals in four weeks.
‘‘I’m hoping I might be on the bike before and maybe still be able to do it, but it’s probably more likely that I won’t be doing track nationals so it’s going to be pretty hard to watch that.’’