Injured Australian BMX star Sam Willoughby to start rehabilitation in effort to walk again

SERIOUSLY injured Australian BMX rider Sam Willoughby has been transferred to a rehabilitation centre in the US to begin the long road back to hopefully being able to walk again.

BMX star Sam Willoughby in hospital.

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SERIOUSLY injured Australian BMX rider Sam Willoughby has been transferred to a rehabilitation centre in the US to begin the long road back to hopefully being able to walk again.

Willoughby was left without movement from his chest down after fracturing two vertebrae and compressing his spinal cord in a freak training accident on September 10.

Now just 17 days later and after extensive surgery the Adelaide 25-year-old has been photographed sitting up and in good spirits holding the trophy he won on Friday night at an international BMX awards night in Las Vegas.

While Willoughby was being transferred from hospital to the Colorado rehabilitation centre, his fiancée Alise Post and family were collecting his trophy for ‘racer’ of the year — as voted by his peers — at the rideBMX Nora Cup Awards.

Post said Willoughby, a two-time world champion and Olympic silver medallist, was honoured to win the award and looking forward to his first day of “work” which involved his rehabilitation.

“Thank you to everyone who voted and continue to support Sam as a champion on his bike and as a champion in life,” Post said in an update on Willoughby’s condition.

“It was such a pleasure to surprise him with yet another award to add to his collection, with this specific one showing how much respect and support he has from his peers within the sport.

“As he is now faced with his most challenging race, I know this small token served as a great reminder to him as to who he is and what he is capable of with the people around him.

“The whole clan is now settled in at the rehabilitation facility, and Sam is super excited for his first day of ‘work’ to commence.”

It comes as the fund-raising and support page set up to help with Willoughby’s recovery costs passes $17,000 since it was launched last Thursday.

News of his injuries triggered an outpouring of support from the Australian and international sporting community with Olympic gold medallists, world champions and high profile footballers, cricketers and soccer stars lending their support with the hashtag #strengthfor91 on social media.

Willoughby was training at the Chula Vista BMX track this month when he crashed and was airlifted to hospital where surgeons removed his C6 vertebrae and replaced it with a titanium cage and fused his C5-C7 vertebrae to decompress his spinal cord.

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Originally published as Injured Australian BMX star Sam Willoughby to start rehabilitation in effort to walk again