Chris Froome has advised the cycling community to only offer support and prayers to Egan Bernal and his family following his recent accident, these tragedies can be extremely hard to cope with, and Froome personally knows the extent of it all. Bernal’s crash was life-threatening, and the community should not be asking when he would heal or how much time till he gets back on his feet, Egan needs prayers, not these questions.
Froome himself had a terrible accident back in 2019, so he definitely knows how it feels and how the probing questions can hard the loved ones, that is why he has advised all his followers and the wider community to give Bernal and his family a moment of peace and privacy.
Speaking on his latest episode on the YouTube channel, Froome shared his feelings regarding Egan Bernal’s crash.
Before I sign off on this episode, I just wanted to touch on something that happened earlier this week. Obviously, Egan Bernal has had a horrendous crash over in Colombia. I don’t really know the full extent of his injuries, and quite frankly, I don’t think anyone should really be asking for the full extent of his injuries.
Let the kid be. He’s taken a massive hit right now. He’s probably laying in the hospital. He and his family are all going to be asking a thousand questions about what does this means for their lives? What does this mean for cycling? Just let them be. I mean, I would only offer support to him and his family right now. No one needs to be demanding questions about the injuries when he’s going to be back on a bike if he’s going to be at the highest level again.
Egan Bernal’s crash was horrific, to say the least, last week he crashed into the rear of a parked bus and sustained multiple injuries including a fractured kneecap and femur. He was admitted to the Clínica Universidad de La Sabana where he successfully underwent spinal surgery. Days later, his Ineos Grenadiers teammate Brandon Rivera also crashed while training in the same area where Bernal crashed and was admitted to the same hospital in Bogota, Colombia.
Después de haber tenido un 95 % de probabilidad de haber quedado parapléjico y casi perder la vida haciendo lo que más me gusta hacer. Hoy quiero agradecer a Dios, a @ClinicaUsabana , a todos sus especialistas por hacer lo imposible, a mi familia, @mafemotas y a todos ustedes…
— Egan Arley Bernal (@Eganbernal) January 28, 2022
Following the horrific crash, this is the first official statement that Bernal made.
The main reason Froome asked the cycling community to do better in these hard times is that he knows how it feels to be admitted in ICU, and how the vile questions feel, really brings down a person. Froome crashed way back in 2019 at the Critérium du Dauphiné, his injuries were also very severe as he suffered a double femur fracture, multiple other fractures, and a collapsed lung. Needless to say, his recovery process was long and hard but he is still in one piece. Egan Bernal and Chris Froome were close friends and teammates in Team Sky, even now they share a really good bond.
Froome said last weekend,
What [Egan Bernal] needs right now are his friends and family close by and to work through this one stage at a time, and focus on getting back to normal life, first and foremost, and then cycling can be an afterthought, after that.
My thoughts, obviously, go out to him. It doesn’t matter what team you’re on or anything, but to see, especially a youngster like him, take a hit like that, it’s extremely sad for our sport.
Tragedies like these can be really rough, and in these situations, we have to do our best. Our prayers go to Egan Bernal and his family, we really hope that recovers soon.
Also Read: Egan Bernal To Undergo Surgery After Horrific Crash In Colombia
Featured Image Via Instagram/chrisfroome
