Johnny crashed in Canada from 25 feet in the air onto his head and didn’t move. He didn’t move for weeks. He lay in a coma in hospital, no one knowing the extent of his injuries. It was unlikely he’d ever ride again. Then, 26 days later, Johnny woke up.

Johnny began his career at 13, “I loved riding my bike, went to a race and my competitive drive took over.” A few years later he was a pro downhill rider in the US, getting 5th in the World Champ’s in ‘02 and winning the final NORBA (US National Series) race at Mt Snow, “...it was an awesome race run, I fully punched it, wicked feeling!”

The ‘03 season started well. Then he went to Mont Saint Anne, Canada in July. He’s barely touched a downhill bike since.

But Johnny’s not one to give up what he loves and grab a desk job. He decided he wanted to get into endurance racing. “To be able to race a 24hr solo requires a great deal of determination, willpower and dedication. These were all things that I felt I had. It was good to have something new to focus on.”

So, recovering from a near death experience, Johnny began clocking up the training, “...there was no messing around, I was straight into it.”

Straight into it he was. He raced the Australian Solo 24hr Champ’s in ’05, and finished 12th. The next year he was 9th, qualifying him for the World Solo Champ’s. “I’m a goal setter. The Solo World’s was a goal and it had to be done. I’d qualified, now I had to race.”

A year later Johnny was crossing the line of the World Solo Champ’s in 6th place, the highest placed Aussie in the Elite field. “Yeah it was a massive success for me, way beyond my expectations.”

From a serious crash in July ’03, Johnny has re-built himself as one of the most competitive 24hr riders in the world, inspiring plenty along the way.

“It’s impossible to understand the steps I’ve gone through unless you’ve walked them with me. It’s been massive, it’s still going. The brain is weird; it just gets better by itself. You’ve gotta guide it and make sure you don’t do anything stupid – like meth or crack – but time and patience are the best things for recovery.”

This relaxed Aussie has clearly developed through the tough times and is happy to be where he is, “I’m not any particular sort of rider, I don’t do downhill, I don’t do cross country, I’m a rider. I’m for the sport.”

Paul Crake, the fastest man to ever run up New York’s Empire State Building, was nearly killed when a gust of wind blew him off his bike in November 2006 while racing in the New Zealand Tour of Southland road tour.

Waking in hospital with fractured vertebrae in his back and neck, two punctured lungs, a broken nose and a crushed bottom lip, Paul was in terrible shape. “I was never fully aware of how close I was to death because by the time I was conscious, I wasn’t so serious.” The surgeon who operated on his spine said he’d never walk again.

“I woke up and my main goal was to get back on my feet. A year later, that’s still my goal.”Paul Crake won the Empire State Building climb five times in a row before shifting his focus to cycling. It didn’t take him long to get competitive in this sport either, finishing 3rd in the Australian Road Champ’s in 2005 and signing with a European pro cycling team for 2006.

He was on his way back to a summer holiday in Australia when he stopped by New Zealand to race the Tour of Southland.

“It’s cruel what life can throw at you sometimes, I mean it’s all very hard to deal with, very, very hard.”

“Statistically there is a chance for me, and a chance is all I need. I can walk again, I will walk again.”

Paul has moved thousands of people with his tragedy and more still with his determination and character following the accident, “I go up and down, there are tears some days – it’s all part of it.”

“I’ve trained hard and raced harder but this is the biggest challenge of my life, nothing else comes close.”

Tarek Rasouli hit the ground hard in Canada, July ’02. “...I just overshot a gap. It was a big gap and I just went too fast.” He fractured his lumbar vertebrae, breaking his spine. The emergency surgery in Vancouver hospital did all they could, but since that day Tarek has been in a wheelchair.

Born in Munich, Germany, Tarek got into BMX in 1983 and mountain biking in the early ‘90’s. He raced both BMX and mountain bikes until he signed with Rocky Mountain bikes as a ‘Fro rider’ at the end of ’99. These guys were paid to ride massive jumps and drops, fast and with style.

Two and a half years later Tarek had the accident. As a professional rider since high school, he’d never
really considered any other way. “Bike magazine Germany called me up to write a column in their magazine every month so I started with that.”

With the riding scene cranking in his veins since the early ‘80’s Tarek began organising races and has since set up his own company – Rasoulution. “The guys are all my friends, the organisers, riders, photographers...by running events and being in contact with riders I feel part of the sport...it’s like a passive sort of riding.”
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With his company, Rasoulution, Tarek aims to promote mountain biking and get riders better paid for the risks involved. “...when I see what these guys do and know what we risk when we ride, I know we should be on the same money as the soccer players.” Tarek is also an ambassador for Wings for Life.

“...people have come to respect me because I suffered an injury from the sport but I’m still here. So, everyone knows it could happen to them, maybe it’s also the fact that they see how much I love the sport and I stand behind it...maybe I stand ‘for it’. I’m just here for real I suppose.”

www.rasoulution.com

On September 1st 2007 Tara crashed at Beaver Creek, Colorado, host to the Jeep King of the Mountain Finale, and was airlifted to hospital. Despite 7 hours of surgery, she had no feeling from the waist down.

Tara grew up in Southern California and began racing BMX bikes at 12 years old. She moved to mountain bikes a few years later, travelling the world from ‘98 racing for teams Specialized, Yeti and Giant.

In her website blog in 2006 she explains life as a pro mountain biker:

“I’ve had some unreal food in some of the finest cities and I’ve I also had plenty of cereal for dinner when I couldn’t afford anything else. I’ve seen overwhelming crowds of 20-30,000 people at races such as the World Cup in Japan and even at the Red Bull race in Portugal this year. I’ve signed autographs for little girls and for grey haired men and enjoy and appreciate every minute of it... Honestly the list could go on and on. And you know what, I hope it does.”

Then Tara crashed. A few months later she recalls watching the footage of her crash for the first time.

“After I watched it and cried, and cried, and cried, and couldn’t understand why I didn’t put my hands out, or why I didn’t pull up on the roller before the lip. Then I stopped crying. And the very next thing I thought about was this past year in Whister, B.C where I had a chance to ride some of the best trails in the world with some of the fastest racers in the world and I smiled. I remember that feeling of being in the air just floating over and over and over again. The only girl holding her own just like I always wanted to do. I was doing it and loving absolutely every second of it. I will never ever forget that feeling.”
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Tara is undergoing rehab three times a week doing everything she can to get walking again. She has re-signed with her bike sponsor Giant and will be working with them and Shimano over the coming year. She has also established the Road to Recovery Fund to provide financial support to female extreme athletes hurt in accidents.

“Follow your dreams dammnit and don’t ever,
ever give up!”

www.tarallanesroadtorecovery.com

Saul Raisin got married on the beach of Maui, Hawaii on the 1st of December 2007. This symbolised an amazing revival for this former pro road cyclist who, just a year and a half earlier, was re-learning how to eat and walk.

Saul was having a good year of racing in 2006, with a stage win in the Malaysian Le Tour de Langkawi and 17th overall in the Tour of California. On April 4th, he was racing in the Circuit de la Sarthe in France. Two kilometres from the finish he crashed heavily, landing on his head and braking his hip and collarbone.

It was a scary few days after the crash. His brain was seriously injured and initially it looked like he could go either way. Saul woke from his coma six days later. “My first thoughts were flashes in time. I remember seeing my dad, then everything went dark, I’d see my mom and then darkness again.”

But it was a long, slow grind back to normal life. “I was in a sleep status for a long time. It wasn’t until two months after the crash that I realised I’d had a brain injury and was in a coma, I read about it on the internet after I’d checked some emails.”

He began training on the road again in November ‘06, “For a long time I didn’t think it was possible, I figured even riding a bike was about as likely as me walking on the moon. Getting back on the bike again was magical, it was a dream come true. I was doing over twenty five hours a week on the stationary trainer before I got to ride on the road for the first time. I worked so hard for that day, I felt like I was flying.”

Having achieved what he thought almost impossible, Saul attended the Credit Agricole team training camp in January ’07 with a plan to return to pro cycling. Things were looking promising until a pivotal day in November. Following neuro-psych tests it was decided he couldn’t race again because the risks to his health were too great. He documented the day on his website, “My dreams to be a professional cyclist are dead. I do not know where to begin…I always say that if you do your best in anything be happy and content knowing you did your best…I’m content that I did my best.”
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So he set about re-structuring his life. “It was a blow but I wouldn’t call it a massive blow. Now I have time to devote to my loving wife Aleeza. I’m also able to focus more time on the Raisin Hope Foundation and give hope to people who’ve had brain injuries.”

Saul told his friends and family during his recovery that if he ever lived a normal life again he’d want to help people in a similar situation. Through this he started the Raisin Hope Foundation. The Foundation has organised the annual Raisin Hope Ride to raise awareness of the cause. “The ride symbolises celebrating life – le Viet et Beau! Life is Beautiful! I want to send out the message and tell people to never give up.”

“With my new life comes an opportunity for me to have more of an impact on people’s lives. For that I’m very grateful and lucky. I’m excited about my new life.”

“Life always gets better! Sometimes I feel like the luckiest man in the world.”

www.saulraisin.com

Anna Meares has two world championship titles under her belt and took Olympic Gold by setting a new world record in Athens in 2004. But on a personal level, these results are eclipsed by her recent Silver medal in Beijing, only six months after an almost career-ending crash.

Anna crashed at close to 70 kph in Los Angeles in January 2008 breaking her neck. She fractured her vertebrae near the base of her skull and came very close to never being able to walk again, “The doctors told me that if it was two millimetres more I would have been in a wheelchair.” 

On hitting the wooden surface of the velodrome her skin – including her face – was basically burnt by the high speed impact. “They had to scrub my face really hard to get the dirt and wooden splinters and burnt skin out. If they didn’t clean it I’d be left with terrible scarring on my face.”

Anna returned from Los Angeles to Australia with doubts of ever being able to ride again. “I was very emotional, the seriousness of the accident had a big effect on me; I was contemplating giving it away.”

Anna and older sister Kerrie are both world class track riders. The two young girls grew up in the remote coal mining town of Middlemount in Northern Australia and faced a 300km drive to the nearest cycling track to train, but that didn’t deter them from pursuing their dream. Inspired by Aussie Kathy Watt’s Gold medal at the Olympic road race in 1994, Anna followed her sister into riding when she was 11 years old.

The talent of Anna Meares didn't show itself quickly but she persisted and she was awarded the Australian Junior Women’s Track Cyclist of the Year award in 2001. She continued to prove herself on a world scene until January 2008 where it all came crashing down.

But that determination that Meares showed on the velodrome in Northern Australia showed itself again as she gradually began to rebuild. She went from being able to ride only two minutes a day to an Olympic qualifying time just weeks before the Beijing Olympics. “It was an emotionally draining time from the crash until Beijing but I made an effort to not dwell on it too much and just get on with what I had to do.”

Anna is a proud ambassador of Ride Calendar. “Having been though a horrific crash I know how one's life can change forever, in seconds. Ride Calendar is a great way to show my support for the cycling community through the passion that we all share.”

Dan van der Ploeg was a natural sportsmen – as long as it was a physically gruelling sport, he’d dominate. He was one of Australia’s promising young cross country skiers and also, when he dabbled in it, proved to be one of Australia’s best junior cross country mountain bikers. He represented Australia at the World Mountain Bike Championships at Vail, Colorado in 2001 where he finished 22nd, and was making a strong transition into the senior ranks.

But then it all came crashing down on a typical morning training ride with a mate in early 2005. A driver was momentarily blinded by the morning sun and collided with Dan. It was a horrific accident with Dan copping the brunt of the impact, “I can’t remember anything from the accident in February until the hospital in July.”

The first nine months in hospital were very serious for Dan. The crash had caused significant swelling to his brain. He was held in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Royal Melbourne Hospital where he was put under induced paralysis and all his body functions were handled by a machine. Dan caught pneumonia which, in his own words, “almost finished me.”

After nine months he was taken out of the ICU department but was still being fed through his stomach and wasn’t allowed to eat – “I wanted to eat but they wouldn’t let me. I was so desperate I even tried to eat an Easter egg wrapper and all!”

Dan was not expected to walk again; it was even doubtful whether he’d ever be able to talk. But, after years of rehabilitation which involved re-learning the English language, learning to walk and later, run, he’s made an amazing recovery.

Dan had to quit his university degree. He’s also had to put his sporting dreams on hold and isn’t allowed to drive due to the severity of his brain injury. You don’t have to talk to Dan for long to get the sense that none of this really matters though. Ever the optimist, Dan puts it all in perspective, “I’m more determined and I certainly know how to see the bright side of things now!”

“I’m even competing again, just for the fun of it!”

Stephen Murray crashed on the 22nd of June 2007 at the age of 27 while attempting a double back flip at the Dew Actions Sports Tour in Baltimore, Maryland. People at the scene described the crash as “one of the worst crashes seen in BMX.”

Stephen was 6-time UK BMX Champion before he was sixteen. He started out as a BMX racer but made the move from the UK to the US where he switched to Dirt Jumping and Freestyle BMX. He quickly built a reputation for his amazing stunts like double back flips and 360 degree back flips and won the BMX Dirt in the Extreme Games in 2001.

Stephen sustained serious injuries to his spinal cord in the crash at Baltimore and was rushed to the hospital. The crash was so horrific that family members were concerned about Stephen surviving the night. But Stephen Murray fought for his life as he fought his way to the top of the BMX scene – “I go 110%, go big and send it!” He saw it through the night and despite a level of injuries that’s seen him paralysed below the neck, has been fighting to walk again ever since. This father of two young boys dreams of holding his children again one day.

"I was probably going 50 or 60km/h. As soon as I hit, I couldn't remember anything. I remember waking up in the ambo, or somewhere, I’m not sure, it was a fair bit later. That’s when I realised I couldn't feel my legs.

"Then I passed out again. The pain was just incredible. I've never been through that much pain before."

Renee Junga was hoping to represent Australia at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing for BMX racing. That was before she crashed heavily at the 2006 World Mountain Bike Championships in Rotorua, New Zealand.

The 2005 Australian Female BMX Cyclist of the Year was in hospital from August ‘06 through to February ’07. She underwent a 10 hour operation after breaking two bones in her neck, breaking her sternum and permanently damaging her spinal cord paralysing her from the waist down.

Since then her focus has been on getting mobile again, something she approaches with a amazing perspective, “Seriously though, I learnt not to take anything for granted. After seeing how bad off some of the people in the hospital are, you really start to appreciate the little things like just being able to feed yourself and having even just a little bit of independence.”

"The medical staff don't want to say if I will walk or not. I always have hope – I hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”

“I moved ahead of Steph as she took her time negotiating the terrain - the usual boy testosterone thing kicking in I suppose, or perhaps I was in more of a hurry for lunch.

“Anyway, I rode off a sandstone ledge that was only about a foot high and landed... well, badly. The next thing I remember I was looking at my feet and bike and back up the track. I had gone over the handlebars and landed on my head. My next move was to try and right myself. It didn’t work. Then I noticed that I was taking mouthful-sized breaths and I quickly realised that unless Steph came along soon, I was going to die.

I’m 38 I thought, I’ve had a great life. I’ve done more things than most people fit into an entire lifetime. What I’ve done to myself now is really serious and perhaps the best thing to do is just let go...”

Sean Fitzgerald was exploring trails at the Litchfield National Park, south of Darwin in Northern Australia. Along with his wife Steph, they planned a day ride over rough 4WD trails.

That’s when his life changed forever.

His wife, Steph, reached him on the trail after over a minute, Sean was unable to talk or breathe. He mouthed the words “I can’t breathe” and Steph began to realise how serious the situation was. She managed to get Sean on his back and began mouth to mouth. Air gradually filled Sean’s lungs again and he was able to speak – “You’ve got to be strong for me now, I love you.”

It took over two hours of mouth to mouth before a car came past on the outback trail. By the time the helicopter arrived Shaun had been receiving mouth to mouth from Steph for over five hours.

Once at the hospital the doctors revealed that Sean had smashed his C3 vertebra, paralysing almost his entire body, including his diaphragm.

It’s been a long road of gradual recovery since – learning to breath again and experiencing small pleasures like eating and feeling the outside air.

While Sean is hopeful of a cure, the couple haven’t put their lives on hold to wait for it, “we make the most of every opportunity that comes our way!”