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Sam Willoughby in a fight to walk again after horror crash

23rd September, 2016
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Roar Guru
23rd September, 2016
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Australian 2012 silver medallist and two time BMX champion Sam Willoughby has suffered a horrific crash that may prevent him from ever walking again.

At a routine training session on September 10th in America, Sam Willoughby crashed his bike into a barrier before being airlifted to a Californian hospital. The 25 year-old then went immediately went into surgery to decompress his spine and to re-align his vertebrae. His C6 vertebrae was removed completely and replaced with a titanium cage.

His C5 and C7 also needed plates and screws inserted. With only little sensation in his legs but otherwise no feeling below his chest, it looms as a very serious possibility that Sam Willoughby may never walk again. On a less sour note, he still has the ability to use his arms which is said to be positive.

Sam’s parents, Colin and Sharon, said surgery was “successful enough at decompressing his spinal cord and aligning his vertebrae that a second operation for further stabilisation was not necessary”.

“Sam still had no movement from his chest down but has regained use of his arms and is slowly regaining some sensation in his legs,” the statement said.

Within a few days, Sam Willoughby will commence a long bout of rehabilitation to give him the best chance at walking again. Considering what has happened, he deserves the utmost respect for the positivity he has approached the situation.

(The medical costs are going to be hefty, so if you want to donate or send a letter of support, click here.)

Getting married next year, his ultimate dream at this stage would be to have the ability to walk his new wife, American silver medallist, Alice Post, down the aisle. The BMX couple have been dating for seven years.

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After growing up in Adelaide, he now calls San Diego home where he trains and lives with his fiancée. He fell in love with the sport when he was six, citing that his childhood dream was always to be an Olympic BMX rider. He did Australia proud in 2012 when he became the first Aussie to win a BMX medal, with silver.

This success was not before he won successive junior titles in 2008 and 2009. Not long before the 2012 Olympics, he won his first senior title, the World Championships.

He has been ranked number one in BMX riding for a lot of his career, he is yet to win Olympic Gold. He has placed in the top four in almost every major meet he has been involved in since he burst onto the scene in 2007.

He’s been a phenom in the sport and Australia will be pulling for him to recover and walk down the aisle with his wife-to-be.

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