Road Accident Jeopardises Paralympian’s London Hopes

“I feel like everything I’ve worked for has been taken away. I can’t imagine not being there, but I know how long it has taken me to recover from this type of injury before, and it was longer than I now have before the Games.”

Champion hand-cyclist Rachel Morris is facing a battle to get fit for the Paralympics after being hit from behind by a car whilst taking part in a Time Trial near Guildford, British Cycling announced today.

Rachel was six minutes into the event when a car ran into the offside of her hand-cycle, leaving her with whiplash and shoulder injuries.

Rachel had time to get as close to the curb as possible, but the impact was still severe and destroyed the off-side wheel of her bike.

“The bike went up into the air,” she said. “I remember looking across and I was aware that I was at the same height as the passengers in a car passing in the outside lane.”

Rachel had been expecting to compete at the London Paralympics in August, but that is now all in jeopardy. Rachel’s condition, reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), causes extreme pain and related sensory abnormalities. When Rachel suffers an injury, her body reacts in a damaging way, which means that an accident like this impacts her more seriously, making her recovery compromised and uncertain.

“This has totally screwed me up,” Rachel said.

“I feel like everything I’ve worked for has been taken away. I can’t imagine not being there, but I know how long it has taken me to recover from this type of injury before, and it was longer than I now have before the Games.”

Rachel has been a cornerstone of the GB Cycling Team’s paralympic squad for a number of years. She made her Paralympic debut at Beijing, winning a gold medal in the Time Trial. More recently, she won gold at the Time Trial and Road Race double at the 2010 world championships and bronze in the road race in 2011.