Video: Lachlan Blair Shares An Update After A Month-Long Stay in Hospital After Crashing in Cyprus

It seems like a particularly bad year for these announcements but unfortunately I am now part of the group of riders who will be starting the season on the bench.

Short story: I was having a delightful time in Cyprus, weird incident, broke my leg, compartment syndrome, 6 operations, 27 days in hospital, MVP my girlfriend for spending a month in Cyprus smuggling snacks into the hospital for me!


Long story: I was having an incredible time out training in Cyprus with fellow Deviate rider Tom Wilson getting big days in on our Highlander II’s preparing our legs for the season riding some incredible trails. (Thanks to Freeride CY showing us the goods!). The weekend before we were due to fly home there was a local DH race hosted by Gravity CY at Stavrovouni. The track was amazing fun so we were excited to race it! Just before our seeding runs were due to start a massive rain storm came in completely changing the track, with the thought that finals might be cancelled due to the weather I decided to push hard in my seeding run to try for a good time.

Unfortunately, I washed out in a corner, I thought I had managed to save it but my leg got trapped between a bank and my pedal and just instantly folded in half knowing my leg was broken I lost control, crashed into a bush and fell over... Thanks to the amazing organisation of Gravity CY it wasn’t long before I was helped off the track and driven to the hospital. X-rays at the hospital confirmed what I had known for hours, that my leg was obliterated.

I got some paracetamol and was checked into the hospital with the plan of having surgery when the swelling went down. Unfortunately however that night I developed compartment syndrome in my leg and had to have emergency surgery at 2am to relive the pressure. It took 3 weeks and 4 further minor operations before the compartment syndrome was finally stable and the wounds closed. After that my leg was ready for the final surgery to put metalwork in and stabilise the fractures. This operation went well and I’ve now got a massive plate bolted onto my tibia holding everything together. After 27days in the hospital travelling home felt incredible! My insurance organised a flight medic and a full row of seats on the flight which all made for a straightforward and relatively comfortable journey. I've now been home for a couple of weeks and after a few visits to the hospital they are really happy with the progress and I should be able to begin slight weight bearing in 3-4 weeks if all continues well. I have also been able to visit my incredible physio Kenny from project:physio. He has been putting me to work to make sure the rest of my body stays strong and making sure my injured leg will be ready to get straight back to it when the bone has healed.

At the moment it's difficult to predict how long it will be before I'm back riding properly, I've been through enough injuries to know how important taking the time to rehab properly is so I will be making sure not to rush into anything.




I want to take this opportunity to thank all of my sponsors for their unwavering support during this less than optimal occasion.

Deviate, Hunt, Rubicon RAW, OneUp, Leatt, Ohlins, Crankbrothers, Magura, Maxxis, Wahoo, Weldtite and Tubolito.

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