Tree Root Pierces Harriet Harnden's Foot at Round 1 of the British National Downhill Series
Harriet Harnden was competing at the first round of the British National Downhill Series at Rheola in Wales over the weekend when she had a nasty crash. She was just cruising down after a rear puncture when her foot clipped a root sticking out into the track and went though her shoe, flipping her over the bars in the process.
Harnden says that her bones are intact, but she did break a ligament in one of her toes. She isn't expecting recovery to take too long.
 | Not the end to the weekend I was expecting. Don’t swipe through the photos if you’re squeamish Was having a great time slipping and sliding at Rheola, until I had a nasty crash in seeding. After a rear puncture in the second corner I decided to just cruise down my seeding run, when my foot clipped a root sticking into the track. This root went through my shoe and into my foot, flipping me over the bars in the process Didn’t realise the extent of my injury until I cross the finish line and instantly realised something was definitely wrong. After a thorough scrub in hospital, a few stitches and a box of drugs, I’m back together. Fortunately the root missed most of the important stuff, all bones are intact. However it did break a ligament to one of my toes, luckily very minor. Looks like recovery shouldn’t take too long. Although taking it one day at a time, as hobbling around on one leg is proving difficult and very painful Funny how something so small can be such a nuisance ♀️ Thank you for everyone’s help As finals ended up being cancelled I somehow managed to slide into P3, despite the most eventful race run of my life |
Harnden finished third in the overall standings for the 2023 UCI EDR World Cup and capped her season off with a fifth place at the Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup. We wish her a swift recovery and look forward to seeing her back on the race track again soon.
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Member since Mar 30, 2011
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Hopefully she recovers quickly. Doesn't sound pleasant at all
If you think about it. From the bottom would blow you foot off the peddle and likely not go through. But from the top it could trap your foot on the pedal and momentum of the bike would push it into the foot.