Australian BMX star Caroline Buchanan reveals details of life-threatening injuries after car crash
Australian BMX star Caroline Buchanan has revealed how she had an 'eerie' feeling before suffering life-threatening injuries in a car crash in January.
The 27-year-old Canberra resident spoke to The Sydney Morning Herald for the first time about her accident which left her with a broken nose, broken sternum, two collapsed lungs and dangerous bleeding around her heart.
Speaking to Speaking to , Buchanan revealed that it took four-and-a-half hours for her to be transported to Canberra Hospital and she realised she was in trouble after hearing the concern in the paramedic’s voice.
"If you're a paramedic you've seen a lot of things and they handle themselves so well," Buchanan said. "I thought if he's nervous ... that's when I knew it was life-threatening."
"I couldn't talk because I knew I would panic.
"In those situations, you've just got to fight. You've got no option.
"I'm doing rehabilitation now (at the AIS), but my head space is focusing on the human aspect of it rather than the athlete."
Buchanan, a two-time Olympian and eight-time world champion, has kept fans up to date with the progress of her rehabilitation on her Instagram account.
A fortnight after suffering the accident she posted a thread that said: "2 weeks since sitting up for the first time in Intensive care.
"I don't remember anything from my 4 days in ICU. Moving to the ward was the best feeling and steps towards recovery. The body is amazing how it can regenerate and heal!"
More recently on February 11 she posted, "6 WEEK CT scans, X-rays and blood test results get updated tomorrow. Hoping for good news progressions...every day is less pain and I haven't heard my sternum pop and grind in 3 days, so this must be great news!"
