OLYMPIC gold medallist James Cracknell’s brain injuries are so severe that
doctors say he’s incapable of looking after his own children following the
cycling accident that nearly killed him.
James, 38, almost died when he was struck from behind by the wing mirror of a
truck during an endurance race being filmed for the Discovery Channel last
July.
Doctors even told his wife, TV presenter Beverley Turner, to say goodbye to
the father of two, whose skull was broken in two places and who had bleeding
all around the brain.
James, who will not be fully recovered for years, is father to seven-year-old
son Croyde and two-year-old Kiki. But since his accident he has been advised
by medics not to be alone with his children because of his memory problems,
which could see him leave something dangerous lying around.
The double Olympic rowing gold medallist told the Radio Times how he fears for
the impact of his injuries on his family life.
He said: “I feel a bit useless. I can’t help out.
“I regret that the injury has had such an impact on everyone. Bev and I talk
about nothing else, which takes the fun out of our relationship. That must
be hard for her.”
Devastated Bev found out that she was pregnant with the couple’s third child,
who is due in the next few weeks, while Cracknell was in hospital in the US.
Her husband is not allowed to drive, takes a long time to do simple tasks and
gets annoyed easily with the children because of the accident.
He said of the driver that caused the collision in Arizona, in the US, in July
last year: “I’m grateful that he stopped, but I really wish he hadn’t hit me
in the first place.
“I was lit up like a Christmas tree, for God’s sake. How didn’t he see me?”
The adventurer became convinced that the nurse monitoring him in hospital in
the aftermath of the accident was sports broadcaster Gary Lineker, and tried
to interview her. He said: “I can’t imagine what questions I was asking her.”
James has previously told how he caught MRSA following an operation to repair
his hand which broke in a fall, in the months following the accident.
However, he has since taken part in a new challenge – competing in a 400-mile
bike race in the snow of Northern Canada.