Fabio Jakobsen "very grateful" to be alive after Tour of Poland horror crash
Dutch road race champion Jakobsen gives thanks for his medical care, but faces long road to recovery with "multiple surgeries" ahead.
Cycling Road
Fabio Jakobsen admits he was "afraid of not surviving" his terrifying crash at the Tour of Poland two weeks ago.
The reigning Dutch road race champion was sent crashing through a barrier after colliding with countryman Dylan Groenewegen in a sprint finish at the end of the first stage.
He was rushed straight to hospital, where surgeons battled to save his life before being placed in an induced coma.
In a message on his Deceuninck-QuickStep team website, the 23-year-old said, "The trauma doctors and nurses at the finish line in Katowice saved my life, for which I am extremely grateful to them.
"I spent a week in the intensive care unit at St. Barbara hospital in Sosnowiec. Here they immediately operated on me for five hours and gave me the chance to live. I am very grateful to all employees of this hospital. It was a difficult, dark period for me in the ICU, where I was afraid of not surviving."
"I want to let everyone know that I am very grateful that I am still alive." - Fabio Jakobsen
"Multiple surgeries" for facial injuries
Jakobsen was transferred to hospital in the Netherlands and is now back at home recuperating.
He revealed that his condition is slowly improving, but that there is a long way ahead of him on the road to full recovery.
He said, "Step by step I can start to live more independently. Currently I am at home, where the wounds in my face and my injuries can continue to recover. In addition, I have to rest a lot in the coming months because of a severe concussion. In the coming weeks and months, I will undergo multiple surgeries and treatments to fix facial injuries.
"Hereby, I want to let everyone know that I am very grateful that I am still alive. All the messages and words of support have given me tremendous strength. Step by step I can slowly look to the future, and I will fight to recover.”
Groenewegen, who made a tearful apology for his part in the incident, has been suspended by his Jumbo-Visma team pending a UCI investigation into the crash while Deceuninck-QuickStep have started legal proceedings against the Amsterdam-based sprinter.