ALANA Forster knows she has a long battle ahead, but the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club criterium champion is just thankful to be alive.
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The 35-year-old is slowly recovering after a horrific, head-on car accident at 100km/h near Seymour on her way to a cycling event in Jindabyne late last month.
The crash almost claimed her life just one week after she won the Ballarat Sebastopol club title in March.
ALANA FORSTER SPEAKS TO THE COURIER HERE
Forster said she remained conscious and remembered the incident.
"I was heading to Jindabyne for a bike race up there. The other car I believe was on the other side of the road, I don't know why," she said.
"Obviously I blacked out at the time of the accident, but came to. It took the paramedics and SES half an hour to get me out of the car, then I was choppered off but was conscious the whole time."
Forster, herself an orthopedic registrar by profession, spent eight days in ICU, followed by a week in the trauma ward with injuries including a broken pelvis, femur, patella, ulna and ribs which led to a collapsed lung.
"Everyone keeps thinking I was on my bike when I got hit, but a high-speed accident is certainly much worse," she said.
"I didn't flip the car, so I was fortunate. I see plenty of head injuries caused by flipped cars which have rolled."
After numerous surgeries, she is hoping to take her first tentative steps on her left leg in two weeks, however her right leg will require more time.
"I've had surgeries to fix everything, it's a long slow process of rehab which starts now," she said.
"It's an unknown timeframe; as I'm a medic, I know better than most that the timeframe is going to be variable.
"I had pretty bad rib injuries that needed fixing - you wouldn't normally operate on ribs except for the fact they were pretty displaced and had caused a collapsed lung. It should mean your recovery is a lot quicker if you fix them.
"Certainly, mobility-wise being young and fit definitely does help."
After battling a hip injury throughout the summer months, Forster was just reaching her peak fitness when the accident occurred.
While it has ended her dream of riding in Europe this season, her goal is now a lot simpler: to just get back on the bike.
"I got an offer to go to Europe this year to race on an UCI team, that was plan and the goal, but obviously that's not going to happen now, so it's a bit devastating," she said.
"Particularly in the COVID time, the offers don't come around thick and fast, so it was something I'd had my hopes set on.
"It's disappointing and devastating to say the least, but I guess the thing is if you have something you really enjoy in life, it gives you motivation to get back to it."
Forster moved to Ballarat in December to take up a position at work but also to get involved in the cycling community. She said she had been blown away by the numerous messages of support from the club and the Ballarat community which had kept her spirits up.
"There was a bit of everything that bought me to Ballarat, the local racing scene, racing in Victoria, the club, my coach, a good hospital environment, people I knew.
"There's been lots of messages, it's been really nice that the whole club has gotten behind me. Being away from home has been hard, obviously being stuck in a Melbourne hospital, but there's been plenty of messages of support which is great for encouragement."
She said while there was no timeframe on her return home and she was already planning to return to the bike as soon as possible
"I know the recovery timeframe, but there will be motivation to get back on the bike as soon as possible."
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