Cycle crash hearing could be this May, says solicitor
Jávea triathlete Andrés Contreras may have developed epilepsy due to head injuries in crash that killed his father and two friends and left him and Scott Gordon badly wounded
THE TRIAL of a drug-driver who killed three cyclists and badly injured two others on the N-332 in Oliva could be on or close to the second anniversary of the tragedy, this coming May.
Gandía resident Mavi Sánchez, then 28, was released after a year in custody charged with three counts of causing death by dangerous driving after she veered across the highway and ploughed into the six-strong Jávea-based triathlon team when she was four times over the drink-driving limit and had been taking cocaine.
Son of a Jávea ex-mayor Edu Monfort Gasent and José Antonio Albi, both 28, and Luis Alberto Contreras, 53, lost their lives.
Luis Alberto’s son, Venezuela-born Andrés, then 28, and British national Scott Gordon have undergone at least 10 operations each and are still out of action.
Scott is in physio after world-famous ‘super-surgeon’ Pedro Cavadas fixed his broken femur, which still failed to set 18 months after the crash, and Andrés remains unable to work and had yet another operation last week.
According to Scott’s solicitor, the case could be heard within about three months, but this depends upon whether the necessary medical evidence is available.
Details of how Andrés’ and Scott’s injuries have developed are vital to the hearing, says the solicitor, and what other long-lasting or permanent effects – physical and psychological – the smash may have caused, as well as whether or not these are indeed linked to the tragedy.
Andrés has reported a possible ‘focal epilepsy’ which may have been caused by the serious blow to the head he sustained when thrown from his bicycle on May 7, 2017.
After regaining consciousness, Andrés told the local press that he would forever be grateful to his father, who perished in the impact, for convincing him to wear his reinforced helmet, as this almost certainly saved his life.
A final hearing date has not yet been given, since Andrés and Scott need to be as far recovered as possible so that the extent of any permanent damage can be assessed.
The three surviving triathletes – who include team leader Jaime Escortell, the only member of the group unscathed in the collision – say they have not heard about when the hearing might take place.