Lauren Parker is a professional triathlete who used to train for more than 35 hours a week. Parker, 28, is a triathlete from Newcastle who was involved in a freak bike accident a couple of days ago.
Before this accident, she used to be an elite swimmer for more than 12 years. Then she challenged herself when first signing in to compete at her first Ironman triathlon back in 2014. She was even able to place herself second in the Ironman Championships in Hawaii back in 2015.
On April 18, she was doing her routine triathlon training and was on her bike when she fell from it and slammed into a guard rail. The speed she was going when this crash happened was around 50km/h.
“I was riding along doing my training session and my front and rear tire both burst at the same time. That just does not happen,” Ms. Parker told Nine.com.au.
She added that all she can remember after the accident was her lying on the ground feeling an unbearable pain and someone else holding her neck. The reason why she was also facing difficulties to breathe was due to the fact she had broken several ribs which had punctured her lung.
She also broke her scapula, a vertebra, and also damaged her spinal cord. The force she hit the guard rail caused her a shatter pelvis as well.
After the accident
After the accident, Parker was unable to feel she had lost the control in her legs until the moment she was being wheeled into the John Hunter Hospital.
“They have to do the surgery within six hours of it happening to get the blood flow back and I remember being taken in for the operation when I said ‘I can’t feel my legs. That was the first time I felt that but after the operation I knew it was gone”- added Ms. Parker.
Inside sources admitted that her surgeon told Parker she had only one percent chance of walking again in the future. This is the reason why Parker, immediately after her surgery, went to a spinal specialist in Sydney.
It is expected Parker to continue her intensive rehabilitation at the Royal North Shore in Sydney for quite some time until she can officially learn what are the things she can or cannot perform.
Her triathlon team members, family and friends have set up a GoFundMe page in Ms. Parker’s name to help raise enough funds to continue her recovery. Until now, people have donated around $20,000.
