Near-fatal cliff fall gives a new outlook
Apprentice Adin Thompson is riding with the weight of the world off his shoulders after cheating death last month when he fell off a cliff but somehow escaped with no major injuries.
The 19-year-old was exploring caves on his mother's property last month when a branch snapped, causing him to fall down a cliff “two storeys” high.
“We were hitting golf balls out there and I wanted to show my sister’s boyfriend some of the caves and cliffs out there,” he said.
“As I was climbing one, she is pretty high – probably two storeys high – the branch that was coming out the side of the rock, I thought it was sturdy but as it turns out it wasn’t because it snapped.
“I went man down pretty quickly, I cracked my head open and I had a massive haematoma in my leg. They thought I had broken my femur but I didn’t luckily.
“They were real worried about some of the stuff in my leg, I couldn’t walk for a while so I am just taking it steady to come back.”
With four rides at Doomben on Saturday, Thompson has his first metropolitan Saturday rides since the incident and said he has a different mindset this time around.
The enforced lay-off gave the former boom apprentice time to think for the first time in his career and looking back, he believes it could help his riding.
“Before that I had never had more than three days off,” he said. “After this break my head feels really clear, there is no stress and no weight on my shoulders now.
“It is a bit of a fresh start for me. About 16 months ago I was absolutely flying and it has dried up a little bit from then on.
Thompson will ride the Chris Anderson-trained Bryneich along with Take Tea and Plitvice on Saturday.