Ironman
My greatest challenge: Matt Trautman
It was supposed to be a regular training day out on the bike. Then a car took me out and I crashed my bike and broke my back. I was determined to get back to racing; this is how I did it...
It was late January 2017 and I was riding out towards Franschhoek Pass. I was on the hard shoulder of a big, open road. It was around midday, sunny, with no wind - a beautiful day to be out on the bike in the Winelands preparing for the upcoming 70.3 in East London.
One moment I was down in the TT position on the bike enjoying the ride and the next I was flying through the air. Initially I thought I’d hit a pothole and fallen off, I was in a bit of shock really. .
As I lay there on the tar I could taste blood in my mouth and feel that something wasn’t quite right with my back so I just stayed put on the side of the road and waited for help
Thankfully it didn’t take too long for an ambulance to arrive. They secured me on a stretcher and took me to the Mediclinic in Stellenbosch. On the way the paramedics called my wife for me and I told her what had happened and apparently through it all I was really stressed that I had lost the house keys. Once the shock had worn off, my initial thoughts were, ‘I hope I’m going to be ready to race East London the following weekend.’
Then they did the X-ray and an MRI which showed the real extent of the damage to the vertebra and the torn ligaments between the vertebra. That’s when the reality of the seriousness of the situation really set in.
Matt Trautman
© Graeme Murray / Red Bull Content Pool
The surgeon told me, in no uncertain terms, that he didn’t think I would be able to race at a competitive level ever again.
The damage was a burst fracture of the L1 vertebral body and torn ligaments between the T12-L2 vertebra.
They informed me that they were going to have to do a posterior spinal fusion between the T12-L2 with transpedicular screws and stabilising bars to secure the area.
Pretty much from then on it was a rollercoaster of feeling sorry for myself thinking that I’d never race again and thinking that I was going to get over this in no-time and prove everyone wrong.
Of course, there are many examples of patients defying the doctors’ prognosis, so deep down this is what I was banking on. Pending the outcome of my first six-week review, I was restricted from any training and exercise during that time, besides walking.
Right from the beginning the easiest way to deal with things was just to focus on the short term and take those initial baby steps.
Once I was out of the hospital, I settled on the goal of just being able to run again. I told myself if I could just do that, I would be happy and could deal with the situation.
Once I was allowed to start my rehab and slowly introduce a bit of bike and swim training, things started to look up and seeing the progress from week to week was great motivation.
At that early stage I would have been happy just to be fully mobile again and live a normal lifestyle, even if it meant not competing at the top end of the sport again.
I tried not to think too hard about what would be possible in the future. It’s similar to how I approach training (and always had before the accident) - focusing on the process rather than the outcome.
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Matt Trautman is on the comeBACK trail
To have been able to get back to racing and to winning was amazing of course, but I could not have done it without my friends, family and loyal sponsors - everyone was instrumental in the whole recovery process. Thankfully my wife is also an Occupational Therapist, so she is used to dealing with these kinds of injuries and was very good at making sure I didn’t push things too far too soon. The huge support from the triathlon community also really helped me stay positive and strive to return to the sport one day.
Ironically running took the longest to get back to full form after the accident. The fused discs no longer act as shock absorbers and this places a lot more load on the other discs and the muscles above and below the fusion. But now, after more than two years my ‘new’ running form is something I’m very happy with. Personally, I know I took my mobility for granted and having such a close call was a real wake up to appreciate running, racing and the life we’re able to live.
