Caroline Buchanan Injured in Car Crash

Jan 2, 2018 at 20:53
by Pinkbike Staff  
2nd for Caroline Buchanan.


The frequent Crankworx competitor and BMX Olympian is expected to make a full recovery after a vehicle rollover on private property left her with collapsed lungs, a broken sternum, and a broken nose.


Heal up Caroline
Photo via Instagram

bigquotesI wouldn't say 2017 ended quite as planned. Its been a rough couple of days in ICU after a vehicle roll. I just moved to a private room and everything is moving in a positive recovery direction. Injuries are... Broken sternum, broken nose, collapsed lungs. I'll will keep you guys up to date as we go. Happy New Year! Off season just got a little more tough!!Caroline Buchanan
Heal up Caroline
Photo via Instagram

We're wishing you the best for a speedy recovery Caroline. See you at Crankworx!

Author Info:
pinkbikeaudience avatar

Member since Jul 22, 2013
3,460 articles

117 Comments
  • 190 2
 If she recovers as fast as she rides we should all be okay
  • 53 3
 you should see the other guy
  • 60 10
 What Poop Monkey is trying to say is, "We all hope you recover as fast as you ride!"
  • 26 3
 @nuttypoolog: Thanks for clearing that up, I think we were all wondering what he was on about!!!
  • 48 3
 @dbox123: made sense to me you illiterate bunch hahaha
  • 7 0
 @bigpeaches: Sarcasm.
  • 1 0
 Damn... she’s got some good vibes for someone busted up pretty good.
Heal fast girl!
  • 42 5
 Am I the only one here thinking it’s really disturbing to take a selfie in an ambulance to post it on instagram? What a world we live in...

Anyway, I wish Caroline a good and fast recovery!
  • 11 1
 I'm not surprised. She updated with a video of the lung drain being removed. Again, tasteful stickers used. Smile
  • 19 10
 Anything for fame...and fortune. Social media controls many
  • 18 1
 No you are not. Social media has degraded the way people act through their day.
  • 3 1
 Get well soon Caroline.
It is highly likely she is contractually obligated to connect with followers X times per month/year. I know of some skiiers who get paid by how many followers and likes they have. A friend in media is contractually obligate to post on Facebook. Her job is PR and marketing. And she wont be able make videos or race for some time. So this is her job. To connect with punters /Followers to give exposure of the gear she uses which her sponsers will hope we will buy.

I dont think it is desturbing . Recentley I was desturbed seeing news coverage of a post of a near death wife to promote cancer screening.
Get well soon.
  • 3 1
 I also thought about why this pic was taken in the first place. However, this is NOT a selfie. Someone else took the photo.

I've seen plenty of photos of people in the hospital on social media and message forums but who would take a photo of a girl almost naked? Obliviously, Caroline gave consent but it still seems a little out of touch.

I hope she recovers 100% and can still compete.

Does anyone here know the full story of how her vehicle rolled over?
  • 2 0
 Very disturbing.
  • 1 0
 Hey, if you look at her left arm, you can see it is locked straight; it is not a selfie. It looks like she had someone take the picture, possibly her husband. Regardless of who took the picture, Caroline, we are all praying for you to heal quickly. What happened to you is beyond unfortunate. We will support you until the very end!
  • 26 1
 Wow wild. I literally just rolled over in my truck going skiing on New Year’s Day. I miraculously walked out without a scratch so hope Caroline makes a speedy and full recovery. Life comes at you fast don’t take it for granted
  • 62 5
 f*ck yeah. I walked away from both of my rollovers without injury too. First was my fault, seatbelt on, second I was a passenger and the driver was drunk (I was too drunk to realize or care), no seatbelt.

Unfortunately I lost my best friend a couple years back when he rolled his truck off an embankment while driving home drunk and emotional about a breakup. I say this as a lesson to those out there- don't drive drunk, don't drive while emotional, don't text and drive, and f*cking wear your seatbelts!

Glad you're alright, @FRough, and heal up, Caroline!!
  • 37 0
 In light of a near death situation, I don't recommend you try skiing in a truck. Stay safe. Healing vibes to Caroline.
  • 2 0
 @dubod22: HA!! My buddy has done that. I never felt like the risk of only being able to afford Walmart quality facial reconstruction was worth it though lol.
  • 13 13
 @therealtylerdurden

I am emotional quite often, so I don’t think that it is a problem... alcohol always is. Even in small amounts. So is being tired as hell and generally driving at night when our bodies are wired for sleep. Your testimonies should also be something to think about for dummies who think they are making a good choice by buying a truck or a SUV as a car that is safe to have their kids in. Yes it is safer than ford Fiesta but not safer than a big low sedan or kombi due to risk of rollover.
  • 2 0
 @WAKIdesigns: agree with trucks/SUV's being a poor choice safety wise but you're wrong in a Fiesta being less safe than a sedan or kombi, they're one of the safest cars you can get. Gone are the days of more metal = safer, you need to look up the EURO NCAP scores for vehicles now. I don't know what the equivalent is for the US, Cnada and Australia but a lot of models are sold worldwide now so the scores are relevant to a lot of us. All I know is that a lot of US models score badly over here, especially the pickups. The famous one was the Chrysler Voyager which scored 0* and they had to drop their UK ad campaign as it boasted about it's safety features.

While a pickup or 4x4 truck may be the cool choice it may mot be the best one.

* rated a 1 star as they didn't do a 0 rating at the time before someone dogs out the report.
  • 7 6
 @DaMilkyBarKid: you can’t fool kinetic energy, if you collide with a wanker in Q8 or a tosser in going much faster in M3 then Mondeo will do better than Fiesta.
  • 4 0
 @DaMilkyBarKid: I don't know about Europe, but here in the US crash safety ratings are only relative to other cars in the same class, so you can't really compare a "4 star" rating from a sedan with a "4 star" rating from a pickup.
  • 3 0
 @dthomp325: ratings are purely based on injuries to occupants at a set speed and impact type so completely comparable across vehicle sizes. They were set out like this intentionally.

@WAKIdesigns see above, they're rated the same regardless of vehicle size so a 4* vehicle will be better than a 3* vehicle regardless of what it is. It is easier to design a safer large car as you state, purely due to having more room to lay with with crash structures etc before the impact enters the safety cell we all sit inside in modern designs but European manufacturers (especially Renault) have made smaller vehicles many times safer than they were. In the example I gave above of the Voyager, if you had identical crashes in one of those or a similar era Renault Clio you have a much better chance of walking away in the Clio. By a big margin too.
  • 4 0
 @WAKIdesigns: then why are we all buying thin D30 pads over bulky old style foam ones? There are ways of making smaller safer and it doesn't matter how much you win the kinetic energy battle if all the kinetic energy if the larger car is transferred to the occupant.
  • 2 1
 @WAKIdesigns: I understand about Wankers and Tossers, but what about Punters and Salad-Dodgers?

Get well soon, CB!
  • 5 1
 @therealtylerdurden: Yeah, how about just not driving when your drunk-- PERIOD! Why is that such a DAMN hard principle to get through to people!!!! I work in the medical field and have seen too much and my good friend woke up in jail only to be told he was drunk the night before and was driving-- crashed and killed his best friend!!! He went mentally nutz with that reality! Drink and chill with your bros-- pick your place and stay and have a good time.
  • 2 2
 "I literally just rolled over in my truck going"

Oh thanks for clearing that up, I thought it was a figurative roll over.
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns: Correct, but..... and a lot of Automotive safety specialists know this too. If there is less car to hit then it is less likely to be struck (size wise) and the momentum and forces involved are also less. A lot of those specialists drive smaller cars.
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns: you might not think driving emotional is an issue because you do it all the time, but it is. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/12168472/Which-emotion-raises-the-risk-of-a-car-crash-by-nearly-10-times.html

And my first rollover was in a truck, second was in an SUV. If you're really that worries about it, pay a fabricator $1,000 to build a roll cage. Rollovers are relatively safe provided the roof doesn't crush and you don't fly out of the vehicle. Multiple smaller impacts over time or one big one all at once... I'll take the small ones.
  • 3 0
 @diggerandrider: I wasn't the one drinking and driving, dick head. And when my best bud rolled his truck, I wasn't there- I was 600 miles away. I said in my comment not to drink and drive. Calm yourself.
  • 1 3
 @therealtylerdurden: hehee , think you need to give up driving fella !
  • 1 7
flag therealtylerdurden (Jan 3, 2018 at 16:06) (Below Threshold)
 @Matt115lamb: Not at all. I've only rolled once, I wasn't even driving the second time. When I rolled, I had only had my license for 6 months and thought I was Billy Badass and that my bone stock Ford Ranger was a trophy truck. I hit a line of flowy jumps at 85+ on a 2 mile long sandy hardpacked road, got scared when I saw the end of the road coming up quicker than I expected and smashed the brakes. The rear end whipped out, tagged a power pole, whipped me around the other way and I rolled. Since then I've been sideways at 80 in the rain on an Interstate and have been up on 2 wheels at least a dozen times- I've literally lost track. Haven't rolled since, and I don't scared anymore, or at least I don't let it effect how I react.
  • 7 0
 @therealtylerdurden: what movie is this from
  • 3 1
 @therealtylerdurden: far enough but if I’m ever thumbing a lift over there please don’t pull over Smile
  • 7 5
 @therealtylerdurden: SUV is possibly the dumbest type of car ever invented, especially the latest breed. They don’t increase comfort/ cargo capacity nor safety over a kombi, while they are more expensive, burn more fuel and are arguably less safe. Most of them have crappy 4 wheel drive that is unreliable and has little to do with actual 4x4, often giving you a false sense of security. To top the list they handle like crap. The latest latest ones like Volvo XC90 are utter rubbish. It has smaller trunk than my V70. The only thing they do is they put you higher up making you feel in position of power, all fkng advertising people in car industry know that. There is no functional or practical use for SUVs, there is nothing that a raised combi like A6 all road doesn’t do that SUV does. People buy these for irrational social positioning reasons. It’s been scientifically proven that buying a “respectable” car temporarily raises testosterone levels in males.

And I can buy small car theory but as a family person I need a big car for cargo capacity
  • 1 2
 @sk133872: what movie is what from?
  • 2 2
 @WAKIdesigns: why are you coming at me with this SUV shit? Who cares?!
  • 1 0
 @therealtylerdurden: was a bad joke i guess. reminded me of any shark story on yahoo where some commenter inevitably types word for word Quint's description of the USS Indy in Jaws.
  • 1 1
 @sk133872: ha!! f*ckin a. Nah, no movie, I've just done a lot of crazy shit lol
  • 3 1
 @therealtylerdurden: seriously every time I try to think that you may be making reasonable commentary here (I try to look past the fact that you and I are on opposite ends of the political spectrum) you unleash with something crazy like this. I have never ever in my life even thought about driving in the manner that you describe in this comment. You’re either describing some Dukes of Hazzard fantasy in your mind or your grasp on reality is tenuous at best if you’ve actually put yourself in the situations you list above. It’s just plain dumb ass, regardless of age or gender or political persuasion. You’re lucky you’re alive. I think most readers here would agree with me on this one. And no there is no comparison between hitting a jump line on your bike as opposed to doing it with a pickup truck.
  • 1 0
 @fattyheadshok: driving my car/truck as if it's dh bike isn't a sign of a tenuous grasp on reality. I like driving fast, like a lot of people here like to ride fast. You sound like an average Joe talking about MTB right now, you do realize that, right? "Omg they're so crazy, wow he jumped off that cliff! Did you see that Linda?! They must have a tenuous grip on reality, my goodness!"

And if you don't believe me, come on down to AZ sometime, we'll go for a leisurely little Sunday cruise! Wink
  • 1 0
 @fattyheadshok: also, f*ck you. Just because you don't understand something doesn't mean to try to kick it's dick in the dirt.
  • 16 0
 Speedy recovery, Caroline
  • 7 2
 This is one chick that knows how to live. Her Instagram feed is always inspiring. I'm sure her recovery will be equally so. She is too rad to be down for long. Healing vibes and prayers to her for sure.
  • 10 4
 Any further details on what happened? #regardless I hope for a full and fast recovery!
  • 35 0
 Being that it happened on private property, I have a feeling that it involved hooning around on acreage.
  • 3 2
 @therealtylerdurden: all those times we were hooning around and to think we could have been right here or worse. Glad to not have had any mishaps in your trucks, although many too close for comfort.
  • 1 4
 @mtnbykr05: no kidding man. That time in Idaho when the truck pointed over the edge would've been bad, especially considering she'd been rolled twice already. I also forgot you were there the first time I got up on 2 wheels without rolling lol. I should get a roll cage in my current truck! lol
  • 2 1
 Latest we've heard is it was a quad bike accident.
  • 2 4
 @therealtylerdurden: does it still count as two rolls, if the truck was pieced together by 2 trucks that had each been rolled once? ????
No joke though, many of times I thought that tool box in your pathfinder was going to fix the back of my head.
  • 1 4
 @mtnbykr05: why are people neg propping us lol?

And I'm pretty sure it still counts, considering the cab had been rolled twice and that'd be the only part keeping us from being squished.

f*ck. On the bright side, Toolbox Lobotomy would make a hell of a death metal band name!!
  • 6 3
 Only injured my ribs so far, couldn't breathe deep for a few months. I used to think my super safe babysitter was retarded, but super safe means super happy, you don't realize how well you have it until you're sick or injured .
  • 1 0
 Sternum injuries take a while to heal. Detached 2 ribs years ago and it took months for them to reattach.
  • 4 0
 Get well soon. You're an inspiration to many, my daughter is a big fan (as are the rest of us!)!
  • 5 3
 Prolly crashed harder on UCI tracks. Us BMX'ers don't even feel pain after age 10 anyway.

Hope they pump you full of the good stuff to jump start training. How far did you send the car anyways?

Heal up real good!
  • 4 1
 Doesn't matter who you are, shit happens. She is a BAWS and will overcome this. Stay strong.
  • 3 0
 Damn. Sternum injuries suck. Healing vibes to a speedy recovery. Nose looks like it'll be alright.
  • 4 0
 I thought 2 collapsed lungs was basically death?
  • 4 6
 From the looks of it, the right side lung is only partially collapsed, the left lung has all the fluid shown in the X-ray
  • 9 3
 No x-ray up there @Highrevkev:
  • 5 1
 Yeah no xray there. Looks like a 3D CT to me.

Given "collapsed lung" isn't really a medical term, and could mean any number of different pathophysiologies + there isn't a time frame we can't really say.

Either way, not good at all.

Heal up!!
  • 1 2
 3D volumetric CT reconstruction would be my guess ha ha ha ha ha
  • 1 0
 You can still breathe with collapsed lungs. It’s a serious condition but it doesn’t mean the lungs aren’t working at all.
  • 1 0
 @mty10: And CT uses....magic rays? A rays? W rays? or.....X rays? Smile

Having had a traumatic pneumothorax, it is scary to feel the gurgling in your chest as the lung collapses. Fortunately just one went on me, can't imagine two. Even with one collapsed, breathing wasn't at 50%, it was more like at 20%. Could barely move without being out of breath.
  • 1 2
 @JohanG: it may use x-rays but it isn't an x-ray,
  • 1 0
 Well damn, I'm sorry I used the wrong term....I'm not a lab tech at a hospital :-P
  • 1 3
 neither am I
  • 1 0
 Best wishes Caroline, I hope you heal up well. Like the surgeon told me before brain surgery,"just think of it this way, now you get to take that long vacation you've been waiting for."
  • 1 0
 Damn. That looks painful. Anything going wrong with your sternum suuuucks. I separated mine once. It was not fun. I can only imagine what a broken sternum must feel like. Make a quick recovery.
  • 3 0
 Damn!!, sending healing vibes your way.
  • 1 0
 Glad she's alright. She WILL be back AND stronger than ever! And with a "physical therapist" like Barry Nobles on staff full time, I think she's in pretty good hands.
  • 3 1
 She somehow manages to still look beautiful, even with a smashed face! Get well soon CB!
  • 2 0
 Healing vibes! You got this girls!! Can’t wait to see tou back on the bike! ❤️
  • 1 0
 girl is tough as nails, she'll come out of this injury on top and get back to kicking ass riding bikes in no time! speedy recovery caroline!
  • 8 8
 Disgusting how the photo is sorted in "Dumb Internet Pics" section (after you open it as single PB photo you can see it), it should be in "Broken Riders" or somewhere else.
  • 2 6
flag bostonbrah (Jan 2, 2018 at 21:48) (Below Threshold)
 agreed
  • 11 4
 SJW's to the rescue!!!

Really though, who f*cking cares?
  • 2 0
 All the best, and speedy full recovery..
  • 1 0
 I wish you the best. My friend crashed and punctured lung he healed up pretty quick
  • 2 0
 I just wish you the best ,you are gonna be fine cause you are a fighter.
  • 2 0
 Caroline, heal well! We need you back on the bike!
  • 2 1
 That explains why she didn't arrive in the church, we were gonna get married. Oh wait...
  • 1 0
 I'm ride too with a medical problem too but I really wish you get better and return to the field !!!!
  • 1 0
 What in the world was she doing and why didn't the airbag deploy? I hope you recover quickly.
  • 2 0
 Glad to hear she'll make a full recovery! I hope its quick and painless!
  • 2 0
 Best Wishes to Caroline, and hopes for a speedy recovery.
  • 2 0
 Dang...... Get better and a full recovery.
  • 2 0
 Poor Caroline. Heal up soon!
  • 2 0
 Heal up well Caroline you trooper!
  • 1 0
 Been there done that got the hospital bills. Best wishes in 2018 hoping a speedy painless recovery.
  • 2 0
 Heal fast and strong!
  • 2 0
 Speedy recovery!
  • 2 0
 Heal fast! Ride faster!
  • 2 1
 Damn! Hopefully she was wearing her seatbelt.
  • 1 0
 Best wishes for a quick recovery. Hope to see you at a track soon!
  • 1 0
 Wow Scary.....Wishing for a quick and full recovery.
  • 1 0
 Buchanan clan don’t get hurt WE get pissed, on your feet girl!
  • 1 0
 All the best and good improvement, you are still very pretty!
  • 2 0
 Get well Frown
  • 4 3
 All the best, wishing fast recovery!
  • 1 0
 Peep therapy to the rescue!
  • 1 0
 The collapsed lung is no fun!!! I've been there... makes you feel mortal
  • 1 0
 Heal up! Come back strong
  • 1 0
 wow! speedy recovery!
Below threshold threads are hidden







Copyright © 2000 - 2024. Pinkbike.com. All rights reserved.
dv42 0.046690
Mobile Version of Website