'I'm lucky to be alive', says Irish pro cyclist struck by car in Spain

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Professional cyclist Imogen Cotter, who recently moved to Spain, was struck by a car suffering a broken arm, broken leg and a number of other injuries. Imogen who was hit by the car while training said the she is lucky to be alive.
The incident took place on Wednesday in Girona, where she moved to last month.
According to Imogen a car was overtaking a cyclist on the opposite side of the road and “drove head-on straight into me at high speed”.
The Team Plantur-Pura rider was transported by ambulance to hospital saying on her Instagram page: “I feel so lucky to be alive. I was taken by ambulance to hospital, where it appears I fractured my patella and broke my radius, as well as needing quite a few stitches.
“I had surgery late last night. I’m just so grateful to still be here to write this.
“It could have been so much worse”.
She has shared photographs of her mangled bike and has uploaded a video update she showing both forearms, one bandaged and one in a cast, while her legs and face were also injured in the accident.
One knee is severely swollen while the other was in a cast after being operated upon on Wednesday night.
Despite the injuries, Ms Cotter said she felt “so lucky” and was “grateful to be alive expressed her gratitude that the outcome could have been so much worse.
She added: “I hardly got any sleep last night as I kept waking up thinking I could have died. I’m feeling very grateful to be here.”
Ms Cotter, from Ruan, Co Clare, and a graduate of the University of Limerick, was a late-comer to cycling and only took up the sport in 2017.
Her endurance background of middle-distance running at 3,000m and 5,000m enabled her to adapt quickly. In 2018 she emigrated to Belgium in search of cycling success working part-time jobs while she worked on her racing.
She participated in e-sports competitions on Zwift landing the national road race title in October last year.
Ms Cotter, became a pro cyclist after signing a one-year contract with Plantur-Pura. Prior to her being struck by the car, the contract allowed her to concentrate solely on cycling.
It is not known when and if she will be able to return to the sport.


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Written by

Peter McLaren-Kennedy

Originally from South Africa, Peter is based on the Costa Blanca and is a web reporter for the Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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