Saul Raisin fighting for his life

For those of you who speak French:

L' Equipe published this story about the crash:
Raisin dans un état grave

Le coureur de l'équipe Crédit Agricole, Saul Raisin, est entre la vie et la mort à l'hôpital d'Angers. L'américain a fait une grave chute mardi lors de l'arrivée de la 1re étape du Circuit de la Sarthe. Il souffrait d'un traumatisme facial et d'une fracture d'une clavicule.

La nuit dernière, son état s'est détérioré après avoir été victime d'un oedème cérébral. Le directeur de l'équipe française, Roger Legeay, est à son chevet. Il a même pu discuter avec Raisin, mercredi, mais l'oedème a grossi subitement, et le coureur est retombé dans un coma profond.

And for those who speak German:

radsportnews.com:

[font=Helvetica]BERLIN, 06.04.06 (rsn) - Der amerikanische Radprofi [/font][font=Helvetica]Saul Raisin[/font][font=Helvetica], der nach seinem schweren Sturz beim Circuit de la Sarthe am Dienstag im Krankenhaus liegt, befindet sich nach Angaben der Ärzte in einem "kritischen Koma", wie seine Credit Agricole-Equipe am Donnerstag vermeldete. [/font]

Der 23 Jahre alte Raisin wurde inzwischen in die Universitätsklinik Nantes gebracht, wo er auf der Intensivstation liegt. Die erste Diagnose gleich nach dem Sturz lautete neben einem Schlüsselbeinbruch "Schädeltrauma ohne Bewusstseinsverlust, Prellung im Stirnbereich mit posttraumatischer Blutung". Am Mittwoch noch hatte Credit Agricole-Teamchef Roger Legeay seinen Fahrer im Krankenhaus besucht und konnte mit ihm sprechen. Doch dann verschlechterte sich der Zustand des jungen Amerikaners, bei dem sich am Donnerstagmorgen ein Gehirnödem verschlimmerte. Raisin war am Dienstag bei der ersten Etappe der Sarthe-Rundfahrt, die der Leipziger Robert Förster gewann, zwei Kilometer vor dem Ziel in Saint-Mars-la-Jaille (Department Loire-Atlantique) in einen der vielen Stürze verwickelt. Der Amerikaner ist seit 2003 Radprofi und gehört zu den besten Talenten seines Landes. Der kletterstarke Rennfahrer aus Dalton (USA) gewann im Februar eine Etappe der Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia und zeigte sich auch bei der Kalifornien-Rundfahrt sehr aktiv.

Finally something in English...

eurosport.com:

American Credit Agricole rider Saul Raisin has slipped into a "critical coma" after crashing on the first stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe race, his team announced on Thursday. The 23-year old native of Dalton, Ohio is suffering from a brain haemorrage after losing consciousness in the fall.

Raisin was able to speak to team director Roger Legeay who visited him at Nantes Teaching Hospital on Wednesday, but the American's condition deteriorated Thursday morning when the blood clot grew.

"After the doctors detected a haemorrhage, they attempted surgery which turned out to be impossible to conduct. He is in a coma and we are very concerned," Credit Agricole team official Michel Laurent said.

According to other riders, the 23-year-old Raisin was on his own when he fell from his bike towards the end of Tuesday's Circuit de la Sarthe's stage.

Doctors have not given a prognosis, according to the French outfit.

Raisin is one of the rising stars of American cycling. After turning professional in 2003, he joined Credit Agricole one year later.

A good climber, Raisin won a stage back in February in the Tour of Langkawi and performed strongly in the Tour of California.

Link to Saul's website:

saulraisin.commainsiteOpen ↗

Raisin's crash happened because of an epilepsy crisis, something he had three years ago in the Ronde de l'Isard.

"After the doctors detected a haemorrhage, they attempted surgery which turned out to be impossible to conduct. He is in a coma and we are very concerned," Credit Agricole team official Michel Laurent said. According to other riders, the 23-year-old Raisin was on his own when he fell from his bike towards the end of Tuesday's Circuit de la Sarthe's stage.

Very sad.

Hope Saul's able to come out of this.

In his short career he has emerged as a bright new talent - hopefully he'll make a speedy recovery

bicycling.combicycling.comOpen ↗ : Doctors are statisfied with operation but nobody knows if he is gonna recover...

I hope he will overcome. His folks must be in terrible condition.

I wonder though if it was sane to let him compete if what was written, that he had had already a similar crisis during a race 3 years ago, is true!

cyclingheroes said:

bicycling.combicycling.comOpen ↗ : Doctors are statisfied with operation but nobody knows if he is gonna recover...

Thanks for the updates CH. How scary and terrible. One of our own...

Aye, a terrible misfortune.
hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.

Dimos said:

I hope he will overcome. His folks must be in terrible condition.

I wonder though if it was sane to let him compete if what was written, that he had had already a similar crisis during a race 3 years ago, is true!

If he had a seizure...thats weird but thank Gosh he didnt take anyone else down. Lets hope for the best.

cyclingheroes said:

Finally something in English...

The 23-year old native of Dalton, Ohio

actually, he is from Dahlonega, Georgia. One of the finish towns last year of the TDGeorgia. It was great seeing the hometown crowds cheering him on last year. Such a young kid, doing so well, now this... terrible stuff.

This brings back to me how little Americans understand about cycling. sports journalists will debate whether it's a sport because it doesn't require hand eye coordination... try pack descending a mountain at 100ks without hand-eye. And it is more dangerous than NASCAR and NFL combined.

Anyway, sad news.

Conflicting reports about Saul's condition this morning:

radsport-aktiv.de reports that he woke up from his coma, others that he still is in a coma. There are also reports about a second operation and AFP reports that doctors are afraid that Raisin has severe brain damage.

procycling.com reports:

Following the operation to ease the swelling on Raisin's brain, Crédit Agricole team doctor Dr Menard said "there is no longer any danger to his life" and described his condition as "stable".

At velonews.com9707.0.htmlOpen ↗you will find an interview with the team doctor about Saul Raisin's condition.

There is an update about Saul's condition on his website ( saulraisin.comsaulraisin.comOpen ↗ ):

Saul had a good day Written by Administrator Tuesday, 11 April 2006 Saul has had a good day, responding to questions about events and people and things from his past by squeezing his parents' hands. He was also able to move all of his fingers and toes. Please keep him in your thoughts as there is still a long road ahead.