BMX ace Sam Willoughby out of ICU and fighting ‘like the champion he is’

AUSTRALIAN Olympic medallist and world champion BMX racer Sam Willoughby is out of intensive care in a US hospital and recovering from surgery “like the champion he is”, his fiancee says.

Olympian Sam Willoughby at the Adelaide Super-Drome before the Olympic Games. Picture: Mike Burton

AUSTRALIAN Olympic medallist and world champion BMX racer Sam Willoughby is out of intensive care in a US hospital and recovering from surgery “like the champion he is” according to his fiancee Alise Post.

While specific details of his injury remain unclear, Post said Willoughby had injured his neck in a routine training accident at Chula Vista in San Diego on the weekend.

He was airlifted to hospital where he had surgery and remains in a stable condition.

On Wednesday night Willoughby’s family said there had been some positive news in that a second surgery was not required and he had been moved into his own room where he would be monitored closely by doctors.

“We will provide further information once his recovery progresses and prognosis becomes a little clearer,” the statement said.

Post — who is also an Olympic silver medallist from Rio last month — said Willoughby was coherent and overwhelmed by the messages of support that have flooded his way since the accident.

American star Post took to social media to provide an update on Willoughby’s condition.

“I want to thank you all for the outpouring support of Sam during this trying time,” she wrote on Instagram.

“As you know, he was amidst a routine ride out at Chula Vista BMX on Saturday September 10 when he looped out in the rhythm and was airlifted to a hospital to care for the neck injury he sustained.

“As athletes, accidents like this are a risk we take every time we get out there, and there’s no way to predict or prevent when they occur. They are just that, accidents.

“Although I was in Minnesota at the time of the incident for my charity MS Race For A Cure, Sam luckily had the helping hands of good friends and Chula Vista BMX track operators Tyler and Kasandra Brown by his side immediately to tend to him and keep myself and his family updated until we could arrive.

“Fortunately, I was able to get right on a flight and be there that same night when he was waking up from his successful surgery, and his family arrived late the next evening.

“With his team of loved ones at his side, Sam is currently out of the ICU in a stable condition and handling this like the champion he is.

“We cannot thank you all enough for the posts and messages, he is fully coherent and asks to see them often. They are truly a source of comfort and inspiration to Sam and all of us. He actually joked that he didn’t think he had so many friends!

“For now, Sam needs lots of rest, recovery and feelings of support, so please keep sending all of those positive healing thoughts his way, and we will update again when we know more.”

Willoughby is the face of BMX racing in Australia having won world titles in 2012 and 2014 and an Olympic silver in London.

He was sixth in the men’s final in Rio last month and later revealed he had been racing with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee which he had injured six months earlier.

[e-mail]

Originally published as BMX ace Sam Willoughby out of ICU and fighting ‘like the champion he is’