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“I've come a long way”: after having almost become quadriplegic ... he becomes a professional cyclist

2021-05-05T18:09:12.565Z


Thomas Peyroton-Dartet, a civilian police officer, is a professional cyclist for the EuroCyclingTrips team. A beautiful lesson in life afterwards


He is 35, is a police official, nearly became quadriplegic in a fall 3.5 years ago and is running for a very exotic team registered on the island of Guam (located in Micronesia, in the Pacific Ocean and which belongs to the United States). If he is listed among the French professional cyclists this season, Thomas Peyroton-Dartet, member of the EuroCyclingTrips training, is distinguished by his history and his daily life. “After what I went through, this adventure is a bit of a bonus,” he admits. We are a team of friends, this allows us to travel, to discover other countries while participating in great races. "

For the Toulousain installed in Plessis-Robinson (Hauts-de-Seine), everything almost stopped on the island of Moorea during a stage of the Tour de Tahiti in September 2017. Hit by a scooter on a bend, the he former Team Peltrax Dammarie rider is relieved with multiple fractures to his face and neck, as well as a hematoma to the brain.

After several operations and very heavy care, he got back on a competitive bike seven months after his terrible accident.

"The doctor who followed me told me that I was an exceptional clinical case"

“I have always had this desire to resume cycling,” he says.

When I came to myself, 15 days after the first operations in Tahiti, my girlfriend told me

I canceled your plane tickets

for Taiwan where I had to go to compete in a race.

I replied: "What do you mean?

It's going very well ”even though I couldn't get up and managed to speak for just 5 minutes in a day.

I was not aware of my condition but I had in me this desire to leave.

That's what kept me going.

The doctor who followed me told me that I was an exceptional clinical case, that I should be in a wheelchair… There is an element of miracle but also of will.

I never lamented my fate.

I was also told that the way I recovered was unique.

Normally, it takes 3 to 4 years to regain some semblance of normal life after an accident like mine.

"

The terrible images of the accident of Thomas Peyroton-Dartet, in September 2017./DR  

His convalescence was nevertheless an ordeal. “I was bedridden for three months, I barely walked, I melted my muscles, going from 65 to 58 kg. After the vertebrae, I had my face redone

(Editor's note:

installation of four titanium plates in the upper jaw and screws up to the nose)

, I had lost the right inner ear, I had problems with balance, my right eye had been shifted two millimeters. I then had epileptic seizures. I would stay a week stiff, as if I had just run a marathon. With the first treatment to stop them, I climbed to more than 70 kg, I put on weight but badly… Afterwards, I had another which made me anemic. There, I found one that stabilized these crises for a year and a half. I have come a long way. "

Last year, Thomas Peyroton-Dartet therefore became a professional cyclist by signing with EuroCyclingTrips. In this team, he has the status of “non-salaried pro rider”. Abroad, unlike in France, training courses that evolve into Continental (3rd professional division) do not have the same obligations in terms of social legislation. “I just get a defrayal, he admits. But compared to some teams of this level, with us, it's well organized. There are no false promises so no deception. We are well equipped in terms of equipment, our travel expenses are paid and it is administratively square. For example, for the coronavirus, we have a health form to fill out regularly. We also have our visas on time. "

"The best way to put an end to my accident would be to stand on a beautiful podium…"

For him, competing in top-level races is “a revenge”.

“It feels good to be on my bike, to attack in the race to prove to myself that I'm still alive.

I did not finish in a wheelchair, I fought and I will be able to compete in the French Championships against the best French riders like last August.

»From his accident, he hardly retains any after-effects.

In terms of his profession as a police officer, he was nevertheless reclassified.

While he was in charge of protecting personalities and sensitive points, he now works in an office.

“I have a few more migraines than before and sometimes neck pain compared to the plaque I was placed between the C6 and C7 vertebrae,” he explains. But the real pain, I don't have any more. I'm recovering just a little worse than before the accident. In the big climbs, I lost a bit, I'm missing a bit of VO2. But I hope to run for a few more years, 3 or 4 years. The best way to put an end to my accident would be to go find a stage or get on a beautiful podium… I have a structured life. I was thinking of making myself available to the police to devote myself 100% to cycling, but the Covid-19 disrupted everything. We have a good program with events in Eastern Europe, Asia and South Africa in addition to some French races. I hope we can run normally soon. "

If all goes well, he will play in the Five Rings of Moscow in early June before the French Championships in Épinal (June 20). “Last year, it was tough when Bardet and Latour attacked quickly, but now I would like to slip into the morning breakaway, that will be my goal. "

Source: leparis

All sports articles on 2021-05-05

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