Connor Fields, at his home in Henderson, Nev., won the Olympic gold medal in BMX racing in 2016 and was favored to win at the Tokyo Games.Credit...Maria Alejandra Cardona for The New York Times
HENDERSON, Nev. -This is the room , where Connor Fields displays the most precious mementos of his BMX racing victories such as framed jerseys championship trophies, and the Olympic gold medal from the year 2016 -the laundry room. It houses a different type of memento, the other aspect of his success.
On the hanger is a torn staining United States racing jersey. It's torn across shoulders and back of an accident that Fields isn't able to recall. It's cut open at forward, the brutal job of paramedics attempting to save Fields' life.
On a different hanger are the Team U.S.A. racing pants which are chewed up around the knees.
The garage down the street the walls covered in numerous novelty checkbooks that now are hung on the ceiling an unadorned brown box. The box contains the white, red and blue helmet Fields worn when he fell headfirst into the ground in the type of life-threatening accident that every racer fears.
The helmet has saved the life of Fields has confirmed this. It's still intact, but was smashed on the chin and forehead, and a part is missing.
"I'd rather tear each ligament of my body prior to when I got a concussion that was gnarly," Fields said. "This was the worst nightmare I've ever had."
The worst nightmare is a traumatizing brain injury. Doctor. Jonathan Finnoff, the chief medical officer of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee took care of Fields during his stay in Tokyo and guided through his first treatment.
"It was the most severe accident that the Olympics suffered," Dr. Finnoff stated. "Not only the team U.S.A. It was the most serious injury to occur during this year's Tokyo Summer Games."
Fields 29, 29 is recuperating peacefully at home together with his wife, Laura Gruninger, and their two dogs. his outward signs are encouraging. He's back on the road driving, able to talkand even make appearances in public. He is able to fool people into believing that he's back to normal. He's not. He is aware of it.
The words that are lost or unclear. The fatigue. The mood changes. The annoying background noise. The constant need to take naps. Sometimes, you need to be stillness and darkness.
The unanswerable question and troubling, is if his brain will ever go back to the way it was in the past.
"The feeling I'm experiencing today isn't how I want to feel the rest of my life,"" he added.
The greatest improvement after an injury to the brain occurs in the initial three months after the injury, doctors have said. There is no way to quantify it all precisely. Are Fields in the 50th percentile? Eighty percent? Does he know if is completely healed?
As of now, he's not allowed to take on anything that could be considered risky, not even ride a bicycle to take a ride around the neighbourhood. The season pass he purchased several years ago to ski this winter is likely be without a trace.
"We're discussing the remainder of my life," Fields said. "I can put off some time and not suffering from my brain any more."
"There's Nothing We Can Do'
Fields's perspective of the crash can only be seen via replay video. The blank space in his memories extends from a few hours prior to the crash until five days after the event.
He isn't able to recall the two runs in the semifinals on July 30, when the team finished third and the first. He doesn't remember anything about the third run, during which the injury occurred. But his scattered memories are coming back. A short clip from the delay in rain in that morning, when he was wiping his tires with a paper towel came into his head in the last few days, reminiscent of a recently found Zapruder film.
The two
quickly burst to the front. They launched off a jump, one with a big lip and a
short landing area that had vexed riders in practices and races.
Fields had a
slight lead but flew a bit long — a mistake. Mahieu, on the outside, landed
perfectly on the downslope and got a boost in speed. He instinctively saw an
opportunity and angled left, toward the inside, just as the riders hit another
jump.
“We’re both
in the air right now, and there’s zero we can do,” Fields said, pointing at the
screen and playing one frame at a time. “He lands right in front of me and —
bang — hits my tire, and his hip hits my hand. Just looking at how my bike’s
positioned, I’m going down. There’s nothing I can do.”
His tone is
analytical, not angry.
“I don’t
think it was a malicious, intended move,” Fields said.
He still has
the confident voice of a salesman, and he might be selling forgiveness to
himself. He voices the inevitable what-ifs in the frame of chance, not intent.
What if either of us had landed just another inch or two one way or another?
No crash,
probably. Maybe a gold medal. When Fields was hospitalized, he received a
message from Mahieu, offering best wishes. They have not connected since.
Fields clicked to the next frame.
His
handlebars twisted, the front wheel turned sideways. In a blink, Fields flipped
forward, landing squarely on the right side of his face.
“Why it was so bad is that I didn’t have time to
brace for the impact,” Fields said. “It happened so fast, I didn’t have my
hands out. I didn’t have time to tuck. I didn’t have time to do anything to get
ready.”
This past weekend, Fields sat at his kitchen table and watched the live version of the event on his laptop.
"At this point, we're pretty evenly matched, me and two Frenchmen," Fields said before putting the camera down following the first few seconds.
The race took place in the Ariake Urban Sports Park with an elongated track with three banked corners as well as four straightaways that are filled with jumps and rolls. Top racers made it to the finish line without injury in just 40 minutes.
BMX racing is thrilling and also dangerous. Similar to racing in NASCAR Speed and tight corners can raise the stakes but there are other racers who are random ones. BMX riders weave and dip like birds in a crowd. One rider who isn't in the rhythm can create chaos.
Since Fields was the winner of the second race Fields was able to choose one between three lanes. He chose Lane 1 which was which is the inside track leading to The first major turn.
Romain Mahieu who is 26 years old and a racer, who is known for not being as aggressive took place in Lane 8 which was located at the opposite side of the start gate.
Sylvain andre and Twan Van Gendt of France as well as Twan Van Gendt from the Netherlands crashed into Fields. They arose, untangled themselves and their bikes and continued riding.
Mahieu won comfortably in the semi-final and placed sixth in the final race.
Fields and his body, splattered by road rash, stood in a trance for a few seconds, then collapsed in a state of unconsciousness. Medical personnel huddled around him. Fields were lying on the track in a trance for several minutes until being carried off on a stretcher, and then placed in an ambulance. The delay was further aggravated because of the uncertainty about the hospital that would be taking Fields.
All the time Fields's brain was bleeding.
The medical diagnosis is subarachnoid hemorrhage as well as subdural hematoma , bleeding and the accumulation that of brain blood at the top. There were numerous contusions as well as Axonal traumas that resulted from the breaking, or shearing of nerve fibers which were scattered throughout in the cerebral cortex, stretching from the top of the right frontal cortex up to the deep recesses of corpus callosum.
The variety of loss of memory he experienced since the time of the accident and up to a few days after it puts his brain injury into the class as "moderate." However, "moderate" is the most appropriate description for the severity of an injury that occurs to another person. read more.....
