Belgian remains in medically induced coma in Murcia
Kris Boeckmans (Lotto-Soudal) in the mix zone (Image credit: ASO)
Lotto Soudal's team doctor Servaas Bingé has revealed a CT scan has shown that Kris Boeckmans avoided any serious brain injuries from a heavy crash on stage 8 of the Vuelta a España that saw the 28-year-old placed in a medically induced coma. The 28-year-old suffered severe facial trauma and fractures, a concussion, broken ribs and a punctured lung in the crash and was escorted to a hospital in Murcia for testing.
"A new CT scan showed that Kris didn’t have any brain injuries other than the severe concussion he incurred yesterday," Bingé said in a team press release.
The team doctor also revealed that Boeckmans has undergone several other tests in the 24 hours since the crash to determine the severity of his injuries.
"Further tests showed that apart from a bleeding in the lung Kris also had a pneumothorax, next to the facial fractures and three rib fractures that already were reported yesterday. To keep the lung injury under control a drain was introduced in the thorax yesterday evening," he added.
Boeckmans was apparently taking a drink from his bidon when he hit a pot hole and crashed, causing a reaction in the peloton that saw Dan Martin (Cannondale-Garmin) and Tejay van Garderen (BMC) also hit the ground and suffer race ending shoulder injuries.
Bingé explained the condition of the Belgian sprinter remains a "day by day" situation but is confident he will regain consciousness in the coming days.
"At the moment Kris is still in an induced coma. From now on the sedative medication will be reduced gradually, so we can expect he’ll wake up within 24 to 48 hours. It’s too early to predict anything regarding the repatriation or any surgery," he said.
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