Colombian cyclist Egan Bernal took his "
first steps
" on Thursday since the serious accident that nearly cost him his life on January 24 during a training outing near Bogota.
“
SURPRISE!!!
My first steps
, ”rejoiced on his Instagram account the 25-year-old runner, who posted a video of him walking slowly and unaided in a garden, wearing a cervical collar and lumbar support.
The only South American rider to win the Tour de France (in 2019), Egan Bernal had hit head-on on January 24 the back of a bus which had stopped suddenly.
He was then in the middle of training with his Ineos-Grenadiers team.
After his accident, Bernal underwent five major operations on his spine, right leg and right hand.
According to his relatives, Bernal fractured twenty bones, including eleven ribs, a femur, a kneecap and two vertebrae.
He also lost a tooth and had both of his lungs punctured.
He later explained that he "
had a 95% chance of remaining paraplegic
" and "
nearly died
".
The Colombian cycling hero spent several days in intensive care, but was finally able to leave the clinic on February 7.
No estimate of his possible date of return on a bike, in training or in competition, has yet been mentioned by his relatives, his team or his doctors.
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