{"id":23158,"date":"2023-06-05T13:44:35","date_gmt":"2023-06-05T11:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.220triathlon.com\/?p=139387"},"modified":"2023-06-05T14:39:57","modified_gmt":"2023-06-05T12:39:57","slug":"george-peasgood-90-of-people-with-my-brain-injury-dont-wake-up-again","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/rss_feed\/george-peasgood-90-of-people-with-my-brain-injury-dont-wake-up-again\/","title":{"rendered":"George Peasgood: \u201c90% of people with my brain injury don\u2019t wake up again\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

In October 2022, Paralympic medallist George Peasgood was involved in a freak bike accident that resulted in traumatic brain injury \u2013 the type most people don’t recover from. Miraculously, George did. Here, we hear from George and his girlfriend Frankie Hall about that fateful day, why he thinks he survived and what comes next\u2026 <\/p>

By Tim Heming\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 05 June 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

On a bright, sunny day on a quiet country road near Cambridge, George Peasgood<\/a> was 200 yards from his parents\u2019 home having just completed a training session with his girlfriend, elite cyclist Frankie Hall<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It was the day before his 27th birthday and final preparations for the para-cycling track world championship in France where, once again, he\u2019d be a medal threat.<\/p>\n

Attempting one last sprint, his foot slipped from its cleat and he was catapulted over the handlebars. It was a split-second accident that changed his life<\/strong><\/a>. George doesn\u2019t remember any of it.<\/p>\n

It must be the brain\u2019s self-protective way to cope with trauma, but the last George remembers before the now infamous crash on 1 October last year is chuckling along at a Jimmy Carr stand-up gig a couple of days earlier.<\/p>\n

His parents, Teresa and David, had bought him tickets for his birthday and the show\u2019s intermission presented an opportunity to text the host. As is a mother\u2019s wont, Teresa couldn\u2019t resist.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the f*** did you message?!\u201d George remembers asking. \u201cJust to give a shoutout to our son who\u2019ll be 27 in a few days\u2026\u00a0 and is a double Paralympic medallist,\u201d a proud Teresa replied.<\/p>\n

Carr, of course, made his stock-in-trade, un-PC quip querying George\u2019s credentials for parasport \u2013 the truth being a lawnmower accident when George was two years old that resulted in a lower left leg that couldn\u2019t develop fully.<\/p>\n

Sitting in the auditorium, a strapping 6ft-plus athlete in his prime, a multiple world champion with a paratri silver and para-cycling bronze from Tokyo, it would\u2019ve been hard to tell, but either way, George would get his own back.<\/p>\n

More than two months later, as he slowly regained consciousness, British Triathlon asked if he\u2019d like to receive a video message from any well-wishers. Tour de France winning cyclist Geraint Thomas and Carr were nominated, both obliged, Carr calling in person as he left a theatre performance with his son.<\/p>\n

\u201cJimmy said: \u2018You\u2019ll never guess who I just saw\u2026 Peppa Pig!\u2019\u201d George recounts. \u201cI replied that it sounded funnier than the last show I saw.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s tales like this that bring more than a smile. Rather, a reassurance that despite suffering a traumatic brain injury, despite the occasionally compromised inflection, despite the lingering tiredness of a man who has spent months in a hospital bed in an \u201caltered state of consciousness\u201d<\/p>\n

George is thankfully, wonderfully, healing. \u201cI\u2019m a lot better than I have been, and I\u2019m improving,\u201d he explains, having returned home to Leicestershire just days earlier.<\/p>\n

All he knows about the events leading up to the accident is that he was attempting a final sprint before the end of the training session. \u201cI\u2019ve been told I wanted a higher peak power, but I haven\u2019t got my file uploaded, so I don\u2019t know \u2013 and if it\u2019s not on Strava, did it even happen?\u201d<\/p>\n

The wry humour is again welcome.<\/p>\n

At first I thought he was staying down because it hurt. But there was no noise. Nothing