From Death’s Door to the Medal Podium – NYTimes.com
Twenty-six years after a near-fatal bicycle accident left her comatose for two months and with permanent brain injuries, the saleswoman, Barbara Buchan, performs many actions more slowly than others. But on Wednesday in Beijing, she did one thing in world-record time.
Buchan, at 52 the oldest member of the United States Paralympic team, broke the record and won the gold medal for her disability class in the individual 3,000-meter cycling pursuit. For a woman who has lived without a quarter of her left-temporal brain and with serious physical and cognitive problems since her accident in 1982 while competing for a spot on the United States cycling team, the moment capped a remarkable comeback that has lasted longer than many of her competitors have been alive.
… She became a top American cyclist by July 1982, when a horrific road-race crash shattered her skull and left doctors doubtful she would survive. She was wearing only a soft leather helmet at the time; her accident spurred the rule that cyclists wear the hard-shell helmets that are now common.
This woman is inspiring. Returning to competition after horrible injury. I see people during acute injury. It makes me wonder what happens to them after they make it home.
