{"id":481,"date":"2019-03-20T10:19:42","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T10:19:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/ie\/?p=481"},"modified":"2019-03-20T10:19:42","modified_gmt":"2019-03-20T10:19:42","slug":"he-ended-up-in-a-wheelchair-but-refused-to-give-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/ie\/2019\/03\/20\/he-ended-up-in-a-wheelchair-but-refused-to-give-up\/","title":{"rendered":"He Ended Up in a Wheelchair but Refused to Give Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ten years ago, Pavel Kovar had a tragic accident that left him in a wheelchair. These days he is preparing for the Para-Cycling Track World Championship in Italy. We had a chat about dealing with sudden body paralysis, struggling with rehabilitation and rebuilding an active life.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2009, you had a serious accident\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Yes. In August 2009 I took a header into the water and hit the bed of the lake with my head. I was paralyzed right on the spot, and if it hadn\u2019t been for my friend, I would have drowned. Waiting for a helicopter, I realized I couldn\u2019t move at all and I would no longer be able to do what I love most: playing basketball. In the hospital they had to operate on me for an injured vertebra in my neck \u2013 a fragment of it pressed against my spinal cord. After two days of induced coma I woke up and began to realize what had happened.<\/p>\n

How long did the rehabilitation take?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The rehabilitation starts almost straight away after the injury. Doctors say the first two years are crucial. It\u2019s when the patient makes the biggest progress. My diagnosis was against me: my fifth vertebra was injured (the closer to the brain the injury, the more extensive the paralysis). In practice it means that you will either become a bed-ridden patient or maybe you will be able to move your shoulders. The doctors implied my case would be a bed-ridden patient.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

That was the moment when I realized that even before, when I had been playing a losing basketball match, I had never given up and always believed in a turn for the better. So, three days after the injury my hard struggle with rehabilitation and my mission to change the prognosis started.<\/p>\n

The first round of rehabilitation at a spinal injury ward took two months. Then I was transferred to a specialized department where I stayed six months. Since then I have been rehabilitating as an outpatient \u2013 it\u2019s been over nine years and I still have to rehabilitate.<\/p>\n

When were you able to come back to sports, then?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I wanted to come back to sports right away, but that wasn\u2019t possible: I was too weak, and the first couple of weeks it was a huge success when I was able to sit for a longer period of time. After some time, I managed to partially move my hands and the top of my back. Unfortunately, there are not many sports activities for people with my disability \u2013 my fingers don\u2019t work, so I cannot grasp anything tightly. What\u2019s more, I keep having troubles with stability (I cannot keep my posture), it\u2019s a constant struggle not to fall down.<\/p>\n

So why did you end up hand biking?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

When I was looking for a new sport, it was quite straightforward. I wanted to make my body sweat as it used to when I was playing basketball. There were two options: riding a hand bike or playing quad rugby. I\u2019m not really a fan of aggressive games and I like nature, so the choice was obvious.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There were two other things that helped me make the decision: my friend is a cycling fanatic and he put together his own team. Also, my brother-in-law is Richard Kreuziger, a World Tour professional rider. I loved the buzz around races and wanted to experience it myself.<\/p>\n

Did you consider racing right from the start?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I got my hand bike four years ago. After a year of riding in my free time, I plucked up the courage to register for the Czech Cup where I learnt how hard it actually is. So, in my first \u201cracing year\u201d I just rode two races and was never sure if I would ever get to see the finishing line. In my second year I tried to ride four races and even one race of the European Cup. I won the Czech Cup in my disability category. Now I am at the beginning of my fourth season. As I\u2019ve been really putting a lot of effort into it, I want to try the World Cup races and qualify for the World Championship.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your training routine?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

As I ride hand bike, I focus on strengthening my arms, shoulders and the top of my back. It\u2019s been over a year since I decided to train in a professional manner with the goal of making it to the World Cup. Recently I transferred to Roman Kreuziger Cycling Academy team where they help me with preparations. If everything goes as I wish, I would like to qualify for Paralympics. So it\u2019s not just riding the hand bike, it\u2019s training for a specific goal. I made a big progress over the year. I go to the gym, ride the bike, do physiotherapy and swim. I ride more during the season. In the winter season (October – April) there\u2019s less riding and more gym, swimming and physio. I think my regime is quite tough, but if I want to catch up with my rivals, it\u2019s the way it has to be.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So what do you have to accomplish to qualify?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It means hard training and raising enough funds to train professionally. I created a photo calendar and want to use the profit for the preparations for this season. Thanks to a public fundraiser, I was able to get a race carbon hand bike last year. The price of these bikes is as high as the price of racing bikes for healthy cyclists. If I manage to find sponsors, I will get a bigger car to stuff all the gear in and travel to the World Cup with a companion.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s ahead of you this season?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The first race of this season takes place in April, and then there\u2019s my first trial of the World Cup in Italy. I mean, I\u2019ve been training for more than a year, so I want to pit my strength against racers on a higher level. But I would also love to enjoy the atmosphere. I want to set my goals high, but also feel good about myself. I want to make sure that I did everything I could to enjoy it without embarrassing myself, the Academy or the Czech Republic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ten years ago, Pavel Kovar had a tragic accident that left him in a wheelchair. 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