TASMANIAN cyclist Louise Yaxley was clinging to life last night as the
shocking details of her injuries began to emerge.
Doctors revealed Yaxley and her Australian road cycling teammate Alexis
Rhodes were being kept alive on automatic ventilators and had been
unconscious for at least the past two days.
They said Yaxley, 23, of Penguin in the state's North-West, had suffered
"even more complex" injuries than Rhodes in Monday's horrific accident in
Germany that killed their teammate Amy Gillett.
Yaxley had been flung so hard from her bike her abdomen had been partly
impaled on a tree branch at the side of the road.
She suffered severe head injuries, chest trauma and severe arm and leg
damage that will require extensive plastic surgery.
She also has a small clot on her brain.
Doctors warned both girls faced the risk of "life-threatening" complications
emerging in coming weeks but they held high hopes for their recovery from
the crash, which occurred when a runaway car ploughed into the Australian
team during a training ride near the village of Zeulenroda.
"These two girls have very complex injuries," said Jena University Hospital
intensive care doctor Gernot Marx.
"There can be complications in due course so it's very difficult to predict
how long they need to stay.
"They can still develop a life-threatening situation - that's the nature of
intensive care."
But Yaxley's sister, Belinda, denied reports that Louise could lose an arm.
"I still don't know a lot about Louise's condition, but I can say that she
will not lose an arm as some people have been saying," said Belinda, who
spoke to her parents after they saw Louise yesterday.
"She is still critical, but she has improved a little."
Doctors said the impact of the collision was so severe some riders were
thrown more than 30 metres from the impact.
Sports psychologists were counselling the remaining three riders injured in
the accident after some reported suffering nightmares and severe trauma.
It emerged Sydneysider Katie Brown overheard doctors debating whether they
should amputate her leg as she was being transported from the scene of the
accident.
"There was some talk of amputating her leg while she was in transit," said
Katie's father Rod Brown.
"She made Graeme (Katie's brother) ring her every hour at the hospital
because she was afraid if she fell asleep, they would take her leg off."
Graeme Brown, a dual gold cycling medallist at last year's Athens Olympics,
said Katie was in a fragile psychological state.
"She talks about it when she wants to but when she sees someone new, it
makes her cry because she wants to explain it again and remember it," he
said.
"Every time she sees someone new (in her ward) she starts crying but it's
something she has to get off her shoulders.
"She's been having trouble sleeping because the accident keeps replaying in
her mind and she wakes up crying from the nightmares.
"But the psychologist says that's normal in the first 24 to 48 hours
following a trauma like this."
Brown said his sister knew of Amy Gillett's death, and was receiving help
from a psychologist who spent the night in the hospital room she now shares
with Kate Nichols, 20, of NSW, and Lorian Graham, 27, of Queensland.
Katie suffered cuts and bruises all over her body, a broken hand and
required surgery on both knees. But she is expected to make a full recovery
and even one day resume her cycling career.
Doctors expect her to remain in hospital for another three weeks while
Nichols, who suffered cuts and bruises and a damaged tendon in her right
hand could be discharged next week.
Hopes are high for her also to return to racing.
Graham, who broke her collarbone and left knee in the crash, is also
expected to make a full recovery.
Spirits of the injured cyclists have been considerably boosted by the
arrival of families and friends, as well as a visit from other Australian
riders.
Top cyclists Sara Carrigan, Oenone Wood, Olivia Gollan, Kate Bates and
Natalie Bates joined relatives in the room shared by the three riders not
critically injured.