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Team GB decathlete Ben Gregory (Instagram, Ben Gregory)Team GB decathlete fighting for his life after serious crash while riding bike
Team GB decathlete Ben Gregory is fighting for his life after being involved in a serious crash while cycling this weekend.
Some initial news stories, including this one, reported Gregory had been hit by a driver, a statement informed by a tweet by Kelly Sotherton. However, the exact circumstances around the incident are unconfirmed and it is not yet known if another road user was involved.
The 31-year-old, who has competed in three Commonwealth Games for Wales, is currently in a coma and on life support after suffering a fractured neck and skull, as well as multiple brain haemorrhages in the collision.
Gregory’s partner Naomi Heffernan shared the news on social media, writing on Instagram: “Ben was in a serious bike accident. He has a fractured skull, neck and multiple haemorrhages to his brain. He’s in a coma and on life support.
“I’ve never felt so scared, helpless and sick to the stomach.
“Ben needs your positive thoughts and prayers right now. Those who know Ben know how strong he is mentally and physically, he’s a fighter and he’ll get through this. Please pray for him and send all the positive energy and thoughts you can muster.”
Sad to hear the news about @bengregz. Hoping he pulls through. One of the nicest and most positive people I've had the pleasure to be around at the track ❤️ keep fighting Ben pic.twitter.com/9OCsUjSEvH
— Dai Greene (@DaiGreene) August 20, 2022
Multi-eventer Gregory, a Welsh national record holder in the decathlon, represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at international events during his career and competed for Wales at the Commonwealth Games in 2010, 2014 and 2018, finishing in the top seven on each occasion. He has since become a coach and personal trainer.
According to WalesOnline, Gregory was struck by a car when cycling in London in October 2020, but escaped serious injury.
Three-time Olympic bronze medal winning heptathlete Kelly Sotherton was among a number of British athletes who sent their well wishes to Gregory through social media.
“Ben was hit by a car on Friday and now on life support and a coma. He’s the energy that we all love on the team. Sending all my prayers to you to fight this one… you’ve got this Ben,” Sotherton wrote on Twitter.
Former world champion hurdler Dai Greene described the 31-year-old Welshman as “one of the nicest and most positive people I've had the pleasure to be around at the track” and urged his colleague to “keep fighting”.
Ben @bengregz was hit by a car on Friday and now on life support and a coma. He’s the energy that we all love on the team. Sending all my prayers to you to fight this one .. you’ve got this Ben xxxx 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/SVo2zzqDKj
— Kelly (@KellySotherton) August 21, 2022
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Ben’s friends and family at this time,” Welsh Athletics said in a statement.
“Ben’s accomplishments as an athlete speak for themselves: Wales’s greatest ever decathlete – three Commonwealth Games, the Welsh record holder and representing Wales and Great Britain multiple times.
“The outpouring of support across social media is testament to his popularity as a person and as an athlete. Everyone who has had the privilege of training or competing alongside Ben will speak of his incredible love of life, his kindness, support and loyalty.
“We will all continue to pray for a full recovery for Ben.”
This story was updated on 22/08/2022 at 13.10 to reflect the fact the exact circumstances and parties involved in the incident remain unconfirmed. road.cc will update this story with further information as and when it is released.
After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.
Latest Comments
- Rendel Harris 13 min 15 sec ago
A few years back I had a police officer stop me (they were looking for a recently stolen bike and I had one from the same manufacturer, although...
- chrisonabike 13 min 41 sec ago
But... the last is only not the case with drivers on normal roads because driving on the cycle path / footway / rolling a vehicle up there is seen...
- wtjs 20 min 9 sec ago
YOU'VE RUINED MY LIFE! WHAT FOR?!...
- mdavidford 51 min 41 sec ago
I think you're missing an opportunity to pack even more tech into it - add accelerometers that can detect whether they're pedalling or stepping....
- chrisonabike 1 hour 16 min ago
Thanks. I guess the question is "need". If the road is busy, it sounds like it is a desired route between places? In which case (given this an...
- mdavidford 1 hour 24 min ago
Don't know what you mean. I thought my suggestion was entirely practical.
- mdavidford 1 hour 26 min ago
...and a square of faux sheepskin for the back of your saddle.
- Rapha Nadal 1 hour 58 min ago
I'd buy a motorbike fo rthat kind of money!
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26 comments
Seems like a car was involved:
https://www.islingtontribune.co.uk/article/athlete-left-fighting-for-life-after-road-collision
Even the Guardian are calling it a "bike crash" which is worrying. So was he actuallyhit by a car? If so, say so!
best wishes to Ben here.
however, there is a whole thesis to be written on the different reporting of this incident (accident, collision, crash) which may have also involved something else (a car, a driver) across different media sites
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/62623762
Shit headline on BBC website, it's not a 'bike accident' if you're hit by a car.
His bike was involved in a collision with a car is what the BBC wrote. That sounds like a way of avoiding writing that he was hit by a car, which is almost certainly what happened.
Ben was hit by a car on Friday and is now on life support and a coma writes Kelly Sotherton on Twitter. Although I will be criticised for this, we could do without all this 'prayers are with him' stuff- it's the sort of thing the police trot out as an unthinking routine- what we need, those of us who are in line for this type of 'accidental collision' ourselves, is some effective law enforcement
The headline says he was in a bike crash, doesn't mention a car, which is what most people see, that's my point.
The only issue is that there is a lack of direct knowledge of the incident. We have a third or fourth hand claim from Kelly sotherton.
The initial statement (twitter photo) does not mention a car.
It would be useful if the ambiguity was removed.
That would involve the BBC actually doing some proper journalism rather than just copy and paste Twitter.
If it says in the article that he was hit by car then the headline should reflect that. I'm not arguing the details of the event, just the biased reporting.
It didn't, though - it referenced a previous incident where he'd been hit by a car, but didn't say that he had in this case. At the time, nor did any of the other articles on other news sites. The sole source for that in the road.cc article appears to have been the tweet referenced.
A couple of outlets have now updated their stories to reference a car in this incident, but mostly using scare quotes, so it still doesn't seem clear that it's confirmed.
I had to reread the article to be clear and the reference to a car is in the previous incident. The only reference to a car in the current incident is from a third or fourth hand tweet.
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Agreed. Likewise with the tired and meaningless phrase 'our thoughts are with him / her / them'.
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If it's true then it's not meaningless, and as this was a statement by Welsh Athletics, from people who would know him well, it would presumably be very true. Try not being nasty for once.
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Golly gosh. Mr. Always-right, NEVER nasty, partial, and inconsistent Trendy honours us again with his infallible judgement!
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If only everyone had the same opinion as Trendy, why ... the world would be perfik!
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Trendy really, truly doesn't like it if people have a different view to him. It sets him off - and not in a good way!
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LAAAAAAY Bah, yeah?
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LOLs.
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Taraa.
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Flinty.
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I don't disagree with the rest of your post, but surely cyclists, of all people, should be able to find a bit of sympathy (or at least empathy) for someone in this condition after a cycling accident, whatever the cause. As a cyclist I know that every time I go out for a ride there is a small possibility of something like this happening (whether through my incompetence or another's stupidity), and so I will say it, my thoughts are with Ben and his family and friends.
I would agree with you if it was a statement put out by the police, but it's actually a statement from Welsh Athletics, which I assume is a pretty small organisation and one in which many of the staff, perhaps even the person who put out the statement, would know Ben well and will genuinely be thinking of him, in which case I don't see the harm.
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Hey, Trend. Interesting that you don't take the time to tell wtjs to stop being 'nasty'!
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You're not exactly Mr. Consistent, are you (except in so far as you ALWAYS consider any views different to your own to be self-evidently wrong)?
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There's not much personal awareness there, it seems.
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Work on it, eh?
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Best, Flinty.
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You dragged this up from 3 months ago to have a pop at someone ?
Are you bored today ?
And it's not even Best, Flinty anyway. Certainly not after a three month wait. More like bit crap, Flinty.The football is going on a long time. Oh Messi has just scored. I think.
This is the best Flinty:
I'm curious. Did Rendel bang FB's mom? What's the other explanation for the weird fixation?
Fairly sure not, Mrs H would frown on that sort of thing. Very odd. Not sure they're quite well.
As shown on the weekend warrior article, FB's comprehension is worse than their grammar.
You wouldn't know a vehicle was involved from that headline and intro. It's disgraceful, shameful reporting and sadly typical of not just the BBC.
Hoping the lad pulls through. My prayers are with him.
“Ben needs your positive thoughts and prayers right now."
He has mine.